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Ochre Pits, West MacDonnell Ranges: ochre, ancient rock and Arrernte country

Brief answer

The Ochre Pits, 110 km west of Alice Springs, are a free, culturally active Arrernte ochre quarry where visitors look but never touch the ochre.

Ochre essentials

  • Ochre ranges from white to yellow, orange, red and browns3
  • Interference with the ochre can bring heavy fines4
  • Tjoritja is the Arrernte name for the ranges92

Check out 51 stops

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Map of the Ochre Pits and other sites with their Arrernte names

  1. Simpsons Gap is Rungutjirpa to the Arrernte people, the home of giant goanna ancestors.

    Google Maps

  2. Angkerle Atwatye means the Gap of Water.

    Google Maps

  3. The Aboriginal name for Ellery Big Hole is Udepata.

    Google Maps

  4. Serpentine Gorge is the site of the Carpet Snake Dreaming.

    Google Maps

  5. Ochre from the pits is the primary material for traditional rock art in the region.

    Google Maps

  6. Ormiston Gorge is a sacred site for the Western Arrernte people.

    Google Maps

  7. Glen Helen Gorge is known to its traditional Arrernte owners as Yapalpe.

    Google Maps

  8. Mount Sonder is Rutjupma to the Western Arrernte, for whom it is sacred.

    Google Maps

Map © OpenStreetMap contributors

The Ochre Pits are a small stop with a long story: a quarry of coloured earth used by Arrernte people for generations, set in ranges whose rock is among the oldest on the road west.

Editorial team, westmacdonnellrangestour.top · Updated November 8, 2026 · 7 mins to read

Essentials

  • Where110 km west of Alice Springs, on a sandy creek bank.1
  • CostFree to visit, signposted off Namatjira Drive.2
  • ColoursWhite, yellow, orange, red and browns.3
  • RuleHands off: never touch, take or use the ochre.4
  • AgeRock components of the ranges date back nearly 2,400 million years, by some estimates.5

Where the Ochre Pits are and what you see

The Ochre Pits in the West MacDonnell Ranges sit 110 km west of Alice Springs, where a sandy creek has exposed a bank of coloured ochre.1 They are free to visit and signposted between Ellery Creek Big Hole and Ormiston Gorge.2 The site is open daily, 24 hours, with a barbecue, car park, picnic area and public toilet.6 Most people stop for half an hour, but the walls reward a slow look.

What you see is a creek bank cut into bands of colour. An information shelter at the site explains how, why and when the pits were used.7 Read it before you walk down to the wall. Without that context the place looks like a pretty geological curiosity, and with it the layers of colour become a quarry that people have returned to for a very long time.

Local Aboriginal people have quarried them for generation after generation.8 Tourism NT calls them a long-standing quarry for important ochre pigments, one of the features of the landscape that are significant to the Arrernte people.9 On the site's day trip the Ochre Pits are a guided stop of 15 minutes, while two other GetYourGuide day tours give them 30 minutes.

Names on the land

Arrernte names of the main stops, as official sources give them

PlaceArrernte nameWhat the sources share
Simpsons GapRungutjirpa23Home of giant goanna ancestors23
Standley ChasmAngkerle Atwatye24The Gap of Water24
Ellery Creek Big HoleUdepata25Fish and honey ant dreaming trails26
Serpentine GorgeUlpma27Carpet Snake Dreaming28
Ormiston GorgeKwartatuma29A sacred site30
Glen Helen GorgeYapalpe31Itye, a moon ancestor32
Mount SonderRutjupma33The pregnant lady33

Names and stories as Tourism NT and Tourism Central Australia publish them; spellings differ between sources.

What ochre is for

Ochre occurs in earthy colours ranging from white through yellow, orange and red to browns.3 Painters and ceremonies both depend on it, for artwork and for decorating the body.13 Tourism Central Australia says this ochre is the main material of the region's traditional rock art, and of contemporary art as well.14 That link between this creek bank and the art you see in Alice Springs galleries is worth keeping in mind.

Ochre also had everyday uses. Weapons were painted with ochre to improve hunting success and to protect wooden weapons from termites.15 Spears and other tools were decorated with it, as were rock surfaces and bodies in ceremony.16 Red ochre was mixed into an ointment to relieve congestion, and white ochre was used as a charm.17 Few materials in any culture carry so many roles at once.

The site matters as a living place, not a museum piece. The Ochre Pits have been an important cultural site to the Arrernte people for thousands of years.18 The significance of such places is expressed through Dreamtime stories and ongoing traditions of rock art, dance and hunting rituals.19 What visitors are told at the shelter is what the owners choose to share, and that is the right amount to know.

Deep time

Published age estimates in the ranges, in million years

  • Oldest rock parts2,400
  • Section 2 outcrop2,000
  • Ranges begin1,000
  • Glen Helen geology500
  • Tnorala crater143

Estimates as Tourism Central Australia publishes them, not exact dates.5,20,21,22

Why this ochre is prized, and why you must not touch it

Tourism Central Australia regards the Ochre Pits as one of the best quality ochre sources in the country.39 The ochre here has a silken texture and a glimmer that come from Mica and Heavitree Quartzite.40 Look closely at the walls in the low light of morning or late afternoon and you may catch that sheen in the reds and yellows.

The rule is simple and firm. The Ochre Pits are a culturally active site, so visitors must not touch, use or remove the ochre, and interference can bring heavy fines.4 That includes rubbing a finger along the wall for a photo, scraping a sample or picking up a fallen piece. Photograph from the path and leave the colours where they are for the people who still use them.

It helps to think of the pits the way you would think of a working quarry or a sacred building. The ochre is not decoration put there for visitors, and it is not abundant. Keep children close, stay off the soft banks, and if a group is using the site, give them room. Respect here costs nothing, and it is the whole point of the stop.

Plan your visit

How to get the most from the cultural stops

Pick the line that matches what you want to understand.

  • If I want the ochre itself

    Read the shelter first

    It explains how, why and when the pits were used.7

  • If I want to hear it from the owners

    Ask at Standley Chasm

    Guided tours cover bush foods and traditional knowledge.35

  • If I love painting

    Look for Namatjira

    He used watercolour to paint his Arrernte homeland.37

  • If I am into rocks

    Ellery and Glen Helen

    Ellery is an internationally significant geological site.12

  • If I have little time

    The day trip's guided stop

    The day trip makes a guided 15-minute stop at the pits.

Learning on Country

Three ways to understand the ranges better

Free stop

The Ochre Pits shelter

Self-guided, free

  • CostFree2
  • OpenDaily, 24 hours6
  • LearnHow, why and when it was used7
See this day

Guided

Standley Chasm guides

Aboriginal-owned

  • OwnersWestern Arrernte people34
  • TopicsBush foods, plants, wildlife35
  • BookContact the owners first36
See this day

Site tour

The site's day trip

Guided ochre stop

  • At the pits15 minutes, guided
  • Whole day9 hours
  • Pricefrom $175
See this day

Tjoritja and the Arrernte names along the road

Tjoritja is the traditional Arrernte name for the West MacDonnell Ranges, and official guides use the double form Tjoritja / West MacDonnell Ranges.92,93 Arrernte people have lived here for tens of millennia, and their dreaming stories make many sites in the ranges sacred.94 The ridges themselves are said in Arrernte creation stories to have been created by giant caterpillars, Yeperenye.38

Most of the main stops have an Arrernte name, and the official sources share some of the stories behind them. Simpsons Gap is Rungutjirpa, where giant goanna ancestors made their home.23 Angkerle Atwatye, Standley Chasm, means the Gap of Water.24 Ellery Big Hole is Udepata, a gathering place of the Aranda people, on dreaming trails of the fish and honey ant.25,26 Serpentine Gorge is the site of the Carpet Snake Dreaming.28

Further west, the regional hiking page names Ormiston Gorge as Kwartatuma.29 Glen Helen Gorge is Yapalpe to its traditional Arrernte owners, and its story relates to Itye, a moon ancestor.31,32 Mount Sonder is Rutjupma, the pregnant lady, sacred to the Western Arrernte.33 For Redbank Gorge the sources differ: Tourism NT gives Rutjupma, while Tourism Central Australia gives Yarretyeke.95,96

From rock to ochre

How the ranges and the pits came to be

  1. Deep past

    Rock laid down

    Rock components dating back nearly 2,400 million years.5

  2. Folding

    The ranges rise

    Tectonic plates pushed together and forced the ranges upward.10

  3. Long erosion

    Worn down

    From over 4,500 m to a fraction of that today.11

  4. Floods

    Gorges carved

    Thousands of years of floods cut Ellery Creek Big Hole.12

  5. Generations

    Ochre quarried

    Mined for generations by the local Aboriginal people.8

  6. Today

    Look, do not touch

    A culturally active site with heavy fines for interference.4

How old are the West MacDonnell Ranges?

How old are the West MacDonnell Ranges? Tourism Central Australia reports estimates that the 500 km stretch of the MacDonnell Ranges began forming 1,000 million years ago, from rock components nearly 2,400 million years old.5 The ranges are thought to have risen in a folding event, where tectonic plates pushed together and the meeting points were forced upward.10 The figures are estimates, and they are presented that way.

Time has worn them down hard. Tourism Central Australia says the ranges once stood over 4,500 m high and that erosion has cut them down to a fraction of that; the highest peak, Mt Zeil, now reaches 1,531 m.11,97 Along Larapinta section 2 the rock outcrop landscape is around 2 billion years old.20 Glen Helen Gorge's geology is thought to be 500 million years old, carved by the ancient river.21 Standley Chasm's owners add that the Finke river system ranks with the oldest anywhere.98

Water did the carving you see today. Thousands of years of massive floods cut Ellery Creek Big Hole, today ranked a geological site of international significance.12 Relics of a bygone tropical forest survive in many of the cool gorges.99 Further west, Tylers Pass Lookout overlooks Tnorala, an ancient crater from a comet impact, which scientists believe formed some 143 million years ago.100,22

Video

A walk around the Ochre Pits in the West Macs

The Travel Junkie on YouTube · The clip loads only after you tap play.

The ridges of the MacDonnell Ranges are the focus of their important Dreamtime creation stories and are said to have been created by giant caterpillars (Yeperenye).
Tourism Central Australia38

Visit with respect

A checklist for the Ochre Pits

At the site3

  • Do not touch, use or remove the ochre4
  • Read the information shelter before the walls7
  • Keep children on the path and off the soft banks

Plan the stop3

  • Carry your NT Parks Visitor Pass for the park90
  • Turn off Namatjira Drive at the signposted turn-off2
  • Carry water and a hat whatever the month91

Art, Namatjira and learning on Country

The landscape has a famous painter. Albert Namatjira was an Aboriginal artist from the Arrernte people of the West MacDonnell Ranges.101 He founded the Hermannsburg School of painting and used Western watercolour techniques to paint his homeland.37 Tourism Central Australia credits his art with making this ancient landscape famous.102 Seeing the real ridges after his paintings is a strange and good experience.

If you want to learn more than a sign can say, the best place is Standley Chasm, fully owned and run by the Western Arrernte people.34 Its guided tours cover local bush foods, traditional knowledge, native plants and wildlife.35 Availability varies through the year, so contact the owners before you go.36 Art classes are also offered at the chasm.103

For the Ochre Pits themselves, timing matters less than manners. Visit in the cooler months if you can, since the most popular season runs April to September, and carry water whatever the month.104,105 Read the shelter, walk the path, photograph without touching and move on quietly. Pair the stop with Ormiston Gorge to the west or Ellery Creek to the east.

Fitting the pits into a day

By car, the Ochre Pits sit on the Namatjira Drive stretch of the park, 110 km from Alice Springs.1 Most of the park, including the best-known stops, can be reached in a 2WD.106 The turn-off is signposted, and the stop pairs naturally with Ellery Creek Big Hole to the east and Ormiston Gorge to the west.2 Carry your NT Parks Visitor Pass, as entry to the park needs one.90

On a tour, the pits are a short guided stop. The site's day trip gives them 15 minutes with a guide, between Standley Chasm in the morning and lunch at Ormiston Gorge. Two other GetYourGuide day tours allow 30 minutes there. A guided stop is a good way to hear what the shelter only hints at.

However you arrive, slow down at this stop. The colours change with the angle of the sun, and the creek bed is a pleasant place to sit after the drive. Read the panels, look at the layers, and think about the hands that have taken ochre from this bank over generations. Then leave it as you found it, which is all the site asks of a visitor.4

FAQ

Quick questions get quick answers.

Where are the Ochre Pits?
110 km west of Alice Springs.

They are signposted off Namatjira Drive between Ellery Creek Big Hole and Ormiston Gorge.1,2

Is there a fee for the Ochre Pits?
No.

The pits are open to visitors for free.2

Can I touch or collect the ochre?
No.

It is a culturally active site; interference with the ochre can result in heavy fines.4

What was the ochre used for?
Art, ceremony, tools and medicine.

Ochre is the raw material for paintings and body decoration, was painted on weapons and used in an ointment.13,15,17

What does Tjoritja mean?
It is the Arrernte name for the ranges.

Tjoritja is the name the traditional Arrernte owners give the West MacDonnell Ranges.92

Who painted the West MacDonnell Ranges?
Albert Namatjira.

He was an Arrernte artist who founded the Hermannsburg School of watercolour painting.101,37

Why does the ochre sparkle?
Mica and quartzite.

The ochre has a silken texture and glimmer from Mica and Heavitree Quartzite.40

Sources

  1. Tourism NT · Ochre Pits ↩
  2. Tourism Central Australia · Indigenous Culture in the West MacDonnell Ranges ↩
  3. Tourism NT · Ochre Pits ↩
  4. Tourism Central Australia · Ochre Pits ↩
  5. Tourism Central Australia · A Dive into the Geological History of the Red Centre ↩
  6. Tourism NT · Ochre Pits ↩
  7. Tourism NT · Ochre Pits ↩
  8. Tourism NT · Ochre Pits ↩
  9. Tourism NT · Tjoritja / West MacDonnell Ranges ↩
  10. Tourism Central Australia · A Dive into the Geological History of the Red Centre ↩
  11. Tourism Central Australia · A Dive into the Geological History of the Red Centre ↩
  12. Tourism NT · Ellery Creek Big Hole ↩
  13. Tourism NT · Ochre Pits ↩
  14. Tourism Central Australia · Indigenous Culture in the West MacDonnell Ranges ↩
  15. Tourism NT · Ochre Pits ↩
  16. Tourism Central Australia · Things to Do in the West MacDonnell Ranges ↩
  17. Tourism NT · Ochre Pits ↩
  18. Tourism Central Australia · Indigenous Culture in the West MacDonnell Ranges ↩
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  20. Tourism Central Australia · A Guide to Simpsons Gap ↩
  21. Tourism Central Australia · Your Guide to Glen Helen Gorge ↩
  22. Tourism Central Australia · A Dive into the Geological History of the Red Centre ↩
  23. Tourism NT · Simpsons Gap ↩
  24. Tourism NT · Standley Chasm Angkerle Atwatye ↩
  25. Tourism NT · Ellery Creek Big Hole ↩
  26. Tourism NT · Ellery Creek Big Hole ↩
  27. Tourism Central Australia · West MacDonnell Ranges Hiking ↩
  28. Tourism NT · Serpentine Gorge ↩
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  31. Tourism Central Australia · Your Guide to Glen Helen Gorge ↩
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  33. Tourism Central Australia · A Guide to Hiking Mount Sonder ↩
  34. Standley Chasm (Angkerle Aboriginal Corporation) · Our Story ↩
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  47. Tourism NT · Serpentine Gorge
  48. Tourism Central Australia · Must-Do Stops in Tjoritja/West MacDonnell National Park
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  50. Tourism NT · Ormiston Gorge
  51. Tourism NT · Glen Helen Gorge
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  58. Tourism Central Australia · Ormiston Pound & Gorge Walk
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  60. Tourism NT · Finke River Trailhead
  61. Tourism NT · Glen Helen Gorge
  62. Tourism NT · Mt Sonder (Rutjupma)
  63. Tourism NT · Simpsons Gap Bicycle Path
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  84. Tourism Central Australia · How to experience all of Ormiston Gorge
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  86. Tourism NT · Redbank Gorge
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  93. Tourism Central Australia · West MacDonnell Ranges Hiking ↩
  94. Tourism Central Australia · Must-Do Stops in Tjoritja/West MacDonnell National Park ↩
  95. Tourism NT · Redbank Gorge ↩
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  98. Standley Chasm (Angkerle Aboriginal Corporation) · Our Story ↩
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  100. Tourism Central Australia · Must-Do Stops in Tjoritja/West MacDonnell National Park ↩
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  103. Tourism Central Australia · West MacDonnell Ranges ↩
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Related guides

More to read before the ranges

GuideWest MacDonnell Ranges tours: half day, full day, pricesGuideWest Macs, East Macs or Kings CanyonGuideDriving the West MacDonnell Ranges yourselfGuideOne, two or three days in the West Macs

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