From icons seen in a new light to moments few experience, the Red Centre rewards travellers who visit when most don’t. Consider this your guide to the Red Centre in low season.

Looking down on our small group of walkers from all sides are the cliff faces we just scrambled over. They form cake-like layers of deep, earthy reds and surprisingly vibrant greens, with a few splashes of black and white where the elements have had their way.

One holds a more resounding presence than the rest as we stand at the bottom of this natural amphitheatre. Another hiker has dubbed it ‘the sphinx’ and I can’t think of a better description for its rocky form. It appears to swivel its head, watching us as we continue our rocky trail along the Mpaara Loop within Finke Gorge National Park – stopping occasionally to admire colourful wildflowers and dancing birdlife. Later, we discover we didn’t imagine its presence. Traditional Owner Conrad Ratara confirms over dinner that it’s part of an important story. But he can’t tell us any more than that.

Eco-camping in Finke Gorge National Park

We’re staying the night at Conrad’s glamping site, Yalka Ratara Eco Camp. He’s opened it exclusively to Intrepid Travel and guests on the six-day Red Centre & Uluṟu Tour. In return, Intrepid has helped him turn this long-time dream into a reality. “I had my dream for more than 30 years," Conrad tells us that evening. “I’m proud and happy to be standing with all you people."

The camp sits within Finke Gorge National Park, on the oldest river system in the world and near Palm Valley. Eight eco-designed tents have been set up around camp, all with front-row seats to the landscape around us. The riverbed is currently dry as a bone, despite recent rain in the region. Soft buttery sand gives way to smooth light-coloured rocks, which give way to scraggly spinifex grass.

Ghost gums care not for where the river may choose to flow and dot themselves along the entire way. Locals make themselves known in quiet moments – like the perentie goanna that wanders slowly in front of my tent.

Hiking the Red Centre in low season

We’re travelling in November at the start of the Red Centre’s low season, which extends through the summer months. While weather that oscillates from dramatic storms to blistering heat keeps most tourists away, there’s a special magic to this time that so few get to witness. We experience that magic in full flow at Kings Canyon/Watarrka. “Look out there," says John Stafford, our tour guide. He is pointing to the dark grey clouds rolling towards us as we stand at the base of the infamous Heartbreak Hill – a name given to the steep climb at the beginning of the Kings Canyon Rim Walk. They seem to be swallowing up the blue sky at a pace, making their way towards us.

We make it to the top before the rain breaks. Up here, it almost feels like we’ve left Australia behind and hit the craggy rock walls of Sedona, USA. Yet the almost hut-like domes of rock are so uniquely Australian. The storied beauty of this walk has not been overstated. The deep reds of the rim juxtapose with the greens and whites of the cycads, gum and witchetty trees, and bush tomatoes in the canyon below. The keen eyes of our guide spot a little rock wallaby gazing in our direction with disinterest.

We just make it through Priscilla’s Gap (a section of the trail made famous in the 1994 film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) when the heavens open again. Within minutes, what had been parched earth flows with temporary rivers that pour into the canyon below as a series of waterfalls. It turns the striking landscape into one of ethereal beauty – almost like a mermaid might pop out of the filling pools at any moment. Pools like the iconic Garden of Eden, always beautiful, are now full to the brim thanks to a thundering waterfall. It’s a natural phenomenon so rare that most hikers don’t ever set eyes on it. “I’ve been [leading tours here] for 28 years," says John, in awe, “and I’ve never seen this."

As strange as it may sound, being soaked to the bone, crossing flowing waterways that hadn’t been there moments before and seeing this desert beauty in its low-season form was an experience that would have been worth the trip on its own.

Exploring Indigenous stories and ancient landscapes

Kings Canyon is not the only icon we get to visit on this journey through the Red Centre, where history is quite literally written into the earth.

That history can be seen in the Jukurrpa stories shared by our Aṉangu guides, Sascha and her uncle Phillip, along the Kuniya Walk from one edge of Uluru into the Muṯitjulu Waterhole tucked into its jellybean-like folds. We see Uluṟu in every light, from the soft colours of sunrise to the vibrant glow of sunset. I’m not sure Uluṟu will ever be empty of tourists, or minga (ants), as Sascha calls them. But this time of year does thin out the crowds.

History can also be seen in the landscape’s scars from unearthly events. Like the 20-kilometre-wide crater of Gosse Bluff/Tnorala, left by the impact of a comet striking Earth around 150 million years ago. Or the jagged layers of sediment, pushed up from underground by tectonic plate activity and left reaching out of the earth to create the MacDonnell Ranges, which we wind our way through to reach the culturally significant Simpsons Gap/Rungutjirpa. And Ormiston Gorge, a picture-perfect swimming hole that we almost have to ourselves.

Stargazing in Alice Springs

History is written in the skies above, something we get a first glance at during a stargazing experience at the Earth Sanctuary World Nature Centre in Alice Springs/Mparntwe on our final night. Looking up at this dark sky, sparkling with stars uninterrupted by human lights, it feels just as vast as the land we’ve been road tripping over.

Up there, the more scientists learn, it seems, the more there is still to learn. Down here, in the heart of this vast country, the same holds true: the more of it I witness, the more there is still to discover. Come rain or shine.

A traveller’s checklist

Getting there

Most major Australian cities have direct flights to Ayers Rock Airport, with free shuttle buses to accommodation. Alternatively, fly to Alice Springs/Mparntwe, then drive for about 4.5 hours.

Playing there

Intrepid Travel’s six-day Red Centre & Uluṟu Explorer runs year-round. Prices start from $2583 per person, with all accommodation, transport and some meals and activities included.

Low season is an incredible time to visit the Red Centre. Burnt landscapes are transformed by thundering waterfalls – a sight very few get to see – and there are fewer crowds than in the peak season. Walking trails are typically open, as are iconic experiences such as Bruce Munro’s Field of Light (an optional extra if you travel with Intrepid).