Uluru National Park (Ayers Rock) Travel Forum

Looking for some firsthand info regarding this level of fitness required for this walk. Am booked to do it next month but now having second thoughts having read some postings.

I have read that the path is very rocky but is there a lot of climbing involved als?? Have read that at one point, one must climb a sheer cliff. This would not be for me. Just want to make sure that I book the right tour. I am a 56 year old woman with no physical limitations.

THanks for any info!!!!!!

Hi Helen,
There are two walks at the Valley. I have done the smaller walk which was fine.
I hope someone that has done this bigger walk can help you.
On this link it does say it's steep etc. I think if it got too much you could always turn around and meet them back at the bus/car park area.

http://www.deh.gov.au/parks/uluru/activities.html

My wife and I just got back from the walk, and enjoyed it very much. I would definitely recommend that you still do it, however halfway through the walk, you can choose not to go down into the canyon (where there is in fact a fairly steep cliff you walk up). There were several 50+ people on the first part of our walk, but most declined the more advanced second portion.

Enjoy it!

HI! Helen:

Already replied to your email...hope my answers are helpful. Cheers!

HI! Helen:

I am reproducing my email reply here just in case:

..."The walk can be strenuous as the trail winds and a fair bit of climbing is
needed. The most difficult point would be the part of climbing up a huge
boulder. I am not sure if there are alternatives paths to get pass the boulder.
I was just following the route arrows and the Park authority had placed an "up"
arrow on the face of the boulder. Perplexed, I tried to source out alternative
paths to no avail. In the end, I just picked a little momentum and went up the
boulder at about 45 degree. I cleared it with no problem. A few folks came
behind me after they saw me navigating pass the boulder successfully.

The view from the Lookout (the apex of the trail) was fantastic but if you are
afraid of heights, I am not so sure if that is a good idea since you will have
to descend from the Lookout with the view of the valley right before your eyes.
Of course, you could descend by just looking at the ground (which is important
due to loose rocks) but it would be a little wasted.

However, if you think you're up to it, I would suggest you give it a go. The
climbing part dominates about half of the trail - the remainder were done on
flat grounds.

As a alternative, if you are really concerned, perhaps you could consider doing
the Gorge hike instead? It's less strenuous as advised by the Park authority.

Hope this is helpful, Helen"...

Hi, We just got back last night and did this walk on Wednesday (4 days' ago).You don't need to book it unless you don't have a car, and it is not as difficult as the info says. We found that everything was rated more risky or taking longer to walk than we achieved it ourselves. You can do this walk in 2 directions. We did the harder, rocky part only {Karingana lookout)which takes you to the summit and the best view. An Aussie family (parents with 3 young kids) were up there with us, and said it wasn't worth doing the other half of the walk as its just a long and fairly boring flat walk.You need good, comfortable shoes as a lot of the path is loose rocks/stones. The "sheer cliff" part is not at all difficult and at no point are you required to go up using both hands and feet. It is approx. 20 metres to climb and I found it best to descend using a sideways pattern where you can find good footholds. My husband and I are just a little younger than you and we had no problem at all, although I was nervous too, until I had got to the summit. We commenced the walk at 3.40pm. (after completing Uluru base walk) and finished at 5.30pm. in time to view the Kata Tjuta sunset from the viewing area car park. Hope you enjoy your trip.