Kids on board A Red Centre road trip the whole family will enjoy

This week-long road trip highlighting the best of the Red Centre is guaranteed to keep even the fussiest child interested.

There’s nowhere like the Red Centre for a family adventure. Driving from Alice Springs to Uluru via the scenic Red Centre Way, through the West MacDonnell Ranges and via Kings Canyon, is one of the country’s best road trips, a journey through an extraordinary landscape that will introduce the family to the oldest living culture in the world. This is one road trip where getting there really is half the fun.

Pick up your hire car in Alice Springs and spend a couple of hours meeting the animals at the Alice Springs Desert Park on the outskirts of town. The highlights include the birds of prey flying display and the nocturnal house full of bilbies and other night-loving creatures.

Drive out to Simpsons Gap – the gorge is spectacular by day, but if you’re up for an adventure, come back at night with a couple of torches and go bat spotting at the waterhole.

Pack the swimsuits and sneakers because today is all about exploring rocky gorges and splashing about in secret waterholes. Make your first stop at Standley Chasm and follow the 20-minute walking trail to the gorge, followed by a snack (or lunch) in the café. The kids may even spy a wallaby.

Ellery Creek Big Hole is 60km down the road, and the perfect spot for a swim – you can also take a dip at Serpentine and Ormiston Gorges, and there’s a large waterhole at Glen Helen, where you can camp.

If you have a 4WD you can press on via the Mereenie Road (grab a permit from the Hermannsburg store). The road gets a bit dusty as you wind your way to Kings Canyon, with stops along the way at lookouts and Tnorala (Gosse Bluff), a huge crater formed by a comet more than 130 million years ago. Stay the night at Kings Canyon Resort or Kings Creek Station.

If you’re in a 2WD stick to the tarmac and follow the sealed route to Kings Canyon via Alice Springs. Stop at Erldunda to feed the emus – you can pick up a bag of emu food from the shop counter.

Take a break from driving today and stretch the legs at Kings Canyon. The 3-hour walk around the rim of the canyon is a must, but if that seems a bit too much for little legs, try the one-hour Kings Creek Walk into the floor of the canyon. You can also explore this stunning part of the Outback via a quad bike tour, camel ride or helicopter flight.

It’s a decent drive today, about 3 hours, but worth it – seeing Uluru for the first time is one of those moments you never forget. Stop at Curtin Springs Wayside Inn for lunch – kids will love meeting the resident emu that seems to wander though the restaurant like he owns it. Once you get to Ayers Rock Resort, check out the night sky with the resident astronomer on the Astro Tour – the stars out here are amazing.

A sure-fire family hit is a sunset or sunrise camel safari. There are also guided tours around the base of the rock that will teach kids all about the cultural significance of the landscape and a range of family-friendly activities on offer, including dot painting workshops and free Aboriginal storytelling.

A 2-hour bush-tucker and reptile tour with an Aboriginal guide – tasting traditional bush foods, learning about desert survival and getting up close and personal to desert wildlife – is a fantastic way to finish off your Red Centre adventure.