Visiting Uluru: The Climb Australia Ended
Published: August 17, 2026.
Uluru’s traditional owners spent more than three decades asking visitors not to climb the rock before the climb was permanently closed in October 2019. The request came from the Anangu people, and for most of that period, tens of thousands of tourists each year climbed anyway, following a chain bolted into the sandstone in 1964. What eventually closed the climb was not a change in the rock or a new discovery about its danger, but a shift in who Australia decided got to answer that question.
A Rock Older Than Understanding
Uluru rises 348 metres above the surrounding plain in the Northern Territory, in the arid centre of the Australian continent. That figure understates the monolith considerably. Geologists estimate that a comparable stretch of the same rock extends far beneath the surface, meaning the visible dome is a small fraction of a single continuous mass of arkose sandstone that has been accumulating and eroding for hundreds of millions of years. The rock’s colour changes through the day, from ochre to deep red to almost violet at dusk, caused by the oxidation of iron minerals in the stone and the low angle of desert light rather than any pigment applied to the surface.
For most of the twentieth century, this geological scale was the story visitors were told, framed as a natural wonder to be measured, photographed and, until 2019, climbed. It is a true story. It is also an incomplete one, because it treats Uluru primarily as a landform rather than as a place that has been continuously inhabited, interpreted and governed by people for tens of thousands of years.
The same forces that shaped Uluru also produced Kata Tjuta, the domed rock formation visible from Uluru’s summit and base walk alike, though the two sites are made of different material and eroded into strikingly different shapes. Uluru’s smooth, continuous surface comes from the even grain of its sandstone, while Kata Tjuta’s conglomerate rock, containing chunks of older stone bound together, erodes unevenly into separate domes rather than a single dome. Seeing both formations within the same short drive gives a visitor a rare, direct comparison of how similar geological origins can produce entirely different landscapes depending on the composition of the stone itself.
Tjukurpa: The Law Written Into the Land
The Anangu, comprising the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples, are the recognised traditional owners of Uluru and the surrounding land. Their relationship to the rock is organised around Tjukurpa, a body of law, knowledge and story that explains how the landscape was formed by ancestral beings during creation, and that continues to govern correct behaviour, kinship and land management today. Tjukurpa is not presented to visitors as folklore sitting alongside the geological explanation. It functions as an active legal and moral system, in the same way a nation’s constitution or common law functions, and much of it is restricted, shared only among those with the appropriate cultural authority to hold it.
Certain sites around the base of Uluru are associated with specific Tjukurpa stories and are considered sacred enough that photography is prohibited, a restriction enforced by signage and by park rangers. The summit itself sits on a route connected to a men’s ceremonial pathway, which is one reason the Anangu objected to public climbing on grounds that went beyond safety.
The Climb and the Request That Went Unheeded
Climbing Uluru became a fixture of Australian tourism from the 1930s onward, and the practice intensified once a chain handhold was installed along the steepest section of the ascent in 1964, later extended in 1976. The climb was strenuous, exposed to wind, and dangerous enough that, by some counts, at least three dozen people died attempting it over the following decades, mostly from falls or heart attacks in extreme heat.
In 1985, ownership of Uluru and the surrounding national park was formally handed back to the Anangu under Australian land rights law, a moment now referred to as the Handback. The land was immediately leased to the Australian government’s national parks service on a 99-year agreement, and the park has since been jointly managed by an Anangu majority board and government park staff, an arrangement that remains unusual among the world’s protected natural sites. From the moment of Handback, the Anangu asked visitors, through signage at the base of the climb, not to attempt it, explaining that Uluru held deep cultural significance and that they felt a responsibility for the safety of anyone who climbed on their land.
The sign asking people not to climb stood for 34 years before the request became a rule. Tourist numbers on the climb declined gradually over that period, helped along by growing public awareness and by tour operators who chose not to promote it, but the chain remained in place and the choice remained with each visitor.
October 2019: The Closure
The Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board voted in 2017 to close the climb permanently, setting the closure date for 26 October 2019, the 34th anniversary of the Handback. In the months before the deadline, visitor numbers rose sharply as people sought a final opportunity to climb before it became impossible, producing long queues at the base on some of the last open days, an outcome the Anangu had specifically hoped to avoid.
On the closing afternoon, the chain was removed from the rock face, and a small ceremony was held at the base attended by Anangu elders, park staff and members of the public. It marks one of the more significant moments in Uluru history, not because the physical rock changed in any way, but because it was the first time a sustained request from an Indigenous Australian community to change how a major tourist site was used had been enforced as policy rather than left to individual conscience.
Walking the Base Today
With the summit closed, the primary way to experience Uluru on foot is the base walk, a roughly 10.6 kilometre loop that circles the entire rock at ground level. The walk passes through a sequence of environments that are easy to miss from a distance: shaded rock overhangs where ancient art remains visible on the stone, waterholes that fill briefly after rain and support small ecosystems in an otherwise arid landscape, and sections where the rock face is fluted and scalloped by millennia of water runoff rather than smooth, as it often appears in photographs taken from the road.
Guided walks led by Anangu rangers or cultural guides are available at several points and tend to focus on the sections of the base walk where sharing information is culturally appropriate, explaining plant use, water management and selected creation stories rather than attempting a complete account of Tjukurpa, most of which is not intended for public disclosure.
Sunrise and sunset are treated as structured viewing events rather than incidental moments, with dedicated car parks and viewing platforms positioned to catch the colour change across the rock face without visitors needing to approach it directly. In the evenings, the nearby Field of Light installation, more than 50,000 solar-powered stems spread across a section of desert near the resort, has become a fixture of the modern visit since its 2016 opening, extended repeatedly due to demand.
Kata Tjuta, a formation of 36 domed rock structures roughly 40 kilometres from Uluru and part of the same national park, is often visited on the same trip. It holds its own body of Tjukurpa, much of it restricted to Anangu men, and its Valley of the Winds walk offers a different scale of landscape than Uluru’s single mass, a series of narrow gorges between towering domes rather than one continuous surface.
None of this is visible from a hotel window near the rock itself, because there is no hotel near the rock. All commercial accommodation was deliberately relocated to Yulara, a purpose-built township roughly 20 kilometres from Uluru, when the resort was developed in the early 1980s specifically to remove hotels, shops and infrastructure from the immediate vicinity of the site. The decision predates the Handback by only a few years and reflects an early recognition, even before Anangu ownership was formally restored, that treating Uluru as a backdrop for conventional resort development sat uneasily with what the site meant to the people who had always lived around it.
Joint Management and the Ongoing History of Uluru
The joint management structure established after the Handback continues to shape how Uluru is presented to visitors. Interpretive material throughout the park, including at the Cultural Centre near the base, is developed with Anangu input and frequently distinguishes explicitly between what can be shared publicly and what remains restricted, a transparency about the limits of the visitor’s access that is unusual for a major tourist site anywhere in the world.
The park’s board is required by agreement to maintain an Anangu majority, giving traditional owners a formal, ongoing role in decisions about tourism infrastructure, research access and land management, rather than a one-time settlement followed by government control. This structure is part of why the closure of the climb happened when it did. It was not a sudden policy reversal but the outcome of a governance system in which the people asking for change held the authority to eventually make it happen.
What Uluru Asks of Its Visitors Today
Uluru, Australia’s most recognised natural landmark, now presents visitors with a different kind of experience than it did before 2019. There is no summit to reach, no view from the top to photograph, and no obvious way to test oneself against the rock physically. What remains is a walk around its base, a set of stories told only in the parts their custodians choose to share, and a landscape that rewards attention rather than ascent.
Some visitors arrive expecting the old version of the site and are disappointed to find the climb gone. Others find that the closure changes the nature of the visit for the better, replacing a physical challenge with something closer to what the Anangu have been describing all along: a place to be walked around and looked at carefully, not conquered.
Tourist Information
Location: Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia, approximately 335 kilometres southwest of Alice Springs.
Opening hours: The park operates on seasonal hours tied to sunrise and sunset, generally opening before dawn and closing shortly after dusk. Exact times change monthly and are posted at the park entrance and online.
Typical visit duration: Most visitors spend two to three days in the area to allow time for the Uluru base walk, a Kata Tjuta walk, and at least one sunrise or sunset viewing, though the base walk alone can be done in half a day.
How to get there: The nearest airport is Ayers Rock Airport (Connellan), served by direct flights from several major Australian cities. From the airport, it is a short transfer to Yulara, the purpose-built resort town that serves as the base for park visits. Self-driving from Alice Springs takes around four to five hours.
Admission: A park entry pass is required and is valid for three consecutive days. Visit the official Parks Australia website for current pricing and to purchase passes in advance.
Accessibility: The base walk is largely flat and unpaved, suitable for most fitness levels, though sections can be uneven and exposed to sun and heat. Wheelchair-accessible viewing areas exist at the main sunrise and sunset car parks. There is no climb to accommodate, as the summit route has been permanently closed.
Facilities: Toilets, shaded rest areas and water refill points are available at intervals along the base walk and at the main viewing car parks. The Cultural Centre near the base has a café, shop and interpretive displays. Yulara offers the region’s main accommodation, dining and shopping options.
Dress code: No formal dress code applies, though modest, sun-protective clothing is strongly advised given the desert climate. Visitors are asked to respect photography restrictions at signed sacred sites around the base.
Best time to visit: The cooler months from May to September offer more comfortable walking temperatures, with daytime highs typically well below the extreme heat of the Australian summer. Early morning is the most comfortable and popular time for the base walk regardless of season.
Things to know before visiting Uluru:
- Photography is prohibited at specific sacred sites around the base, marked clearly by signage.
- Summer temperatures can exceed 40 degrees Celsius; carry more water than seems necessary and avoid walking during the hottest part of the day.
- The base walk has minimal shade for long stretches, so sun protection is essential.
- Mobile phone reception is limited throughout the park.
- Alcohol is not permitted within the national park itself.
Nearby places of interest:
- Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), part of the same national park, roughly 40 kilometres from Uluru.
- Kings Canyon, part of Watarrka National Park, a common addition to a Red Centre itinerary.
- Alice Springs, the region’s main town, with its own cultural and natural attractions.
Further Reading & Resources:
- Books: Uluru: An Aboriginal History of Ayers Rock by Anthropology writers documenting Anangu oral history and land rights history.
- Documentaries: Australian Broadcasting Corporation coverage of the 2019 climb closure and Handback anniversary.
- Museums: The Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre, located within the national park near the base.
- Official websites: Parks Australia’s Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park pages for current entry, hours and booking information.
