Painted Desert (Arckaringa Hills)

The Painted Desert lies in the Arckaringa Hills, where sediments laid down beneath an inland sea some eighty million years ago have been eroded into low mesas and gullies streaked with yellow, orange, white and deep red, the colours coming from iron and other minerals in the different layers. The effect is strongest in low sun, when the bands separate sharply, and flattest at midday. Access is by unsealed road through Arckaringa Station, a working cattle property that provides camping and accommodation, and there is a lookout over the formation. The area is remote, unserviced and very quiet, and most visitors combine it with Coober Pedy or the Oodnadatta Track.

What you actually see

• The banded hills - mesas streaked in ochre, white and orange.
• The lookout - the viewpoint over the main formation.
• The seabed layers - sediments from an inland sea eighty million years old.
• Arckaringa Station - the working cattle property providing access and camping.

When to go

April to September; summer is extremely hot with no shade. Early morning and late afternoon give the colours their strength; midday washes them out. Rain closes the roads, sometimes for several days.

Honest expectations

Access is over a hundred and fifty kilometres of unsealed road with no fuel or water. Conventional vehicles can manage in dry conditions but the surface is rough. There are no facilities beyond the station, and no phone coverage.

Nearby

Coober Pedy lies southwest; Oodnadatta and the track are north.