Trephina Gorge Nature Park

Location and Access
Trephina Gorge Nature Park  is reached via the Ross Highway, driving east from Alice Springs.Coach tours are available on most days.

Landscape
The park, covering 1700 ha in the east MacDonnell Ranges, features the rugged and secluded Valley of the Eagles, John Hayes Rockhole and Trephina Gorge.It is noted for excellent scenery which varies from the spinifex hills and bare ridges of the ranges to the shady river beds and waterholes of the gorgr floors and the towering broken cliffs which surround them.

Flora and Fauna
In the river bed avenues of whitewoods, ironwoods and ghost gums thrive.The sandstone ledges support hardy desert plants while spinifex and low-growing scrubs cover the higher slopes.The waterholes are thronged year round by seed-eating birds such as the vivid Port Lincoln parrot as well as cockatoos,galahs,kingfishers and magpies.Kangaroos and other native mammals as well as feral cattle may be found throughout the park and reptiles abound in the rocky landscape.

Climate
Summer is especially hot so the best time to visit the park is in the cooler dry autumn to spring period when the wildflowers are blooming.

Other Activities
Picnicking, camping, walking, rock climbing and sightseeing are the chief activities at Trephina Gorge Nature Park.

Simpsons Gap National Park

 

 

Ormiston Gorge and Pound National Park

Landscape
Apart from a couple of large waterholes, Ormiston Creek is little more than a string of shallow puddles in the dry season.The creek and another tributary meander over the basin floor from near the encrate of the park towards Ormiston Gorge where the hillsides rise steadily higher and more steeply until they become sheer cliffs glowing red in the sun.The floor of the gorge is strewn with huge rounded boulders which sweep through after summer storms.Upstream, a rugged natural enclosure known as Ormiston Pound that spans across 10 km is surrouned by high ridges of quartzite which reflect a myriad of colours  from the jasper and other silicate compounds forming the high rim.Beyond this, Mt Giles(283 m) is the highest point in the park.

Climate
Midsummer temperatures range from 23"C to 38"C . Autumn to spring is a more pleasant time to visit the park when daytime temperatures averate 19"C. Night time in winter brings very cold temperatures down to as low as 4"C.

http://www.nt.gov.au/westmacs/stories/nature/all/55

Ormiston Gorge and Pound National Park

www.ipuzzle.pl/u/79513