Where Are The Devils Marbles Found

In a historic ceremony held here on 27 october 2008 ownership of the karlu karlu devils marbles conservation reserve was officially given back to the site s traditional owners.

Where are the devils marbles found. The devils marbles are an iconic landmark in australia s outback. The devils marbles are of great cultural and spiritual significance to the traditional aboriginal owners ree of the land and the reserve protects one of the oldest religious sites in the world as well as the natural rock formations found there. Ok the devils marbles are 393 km north of alice springs and 760 km south of katherine. This name is shared by the kaytete warumungu warlpiri and alyawarra traditional owners of the area.

Camping at the devils marbles is highly encouraged but despite its extremely rural location it still gets really busy in the winter months. The folding of the earth s crust lead to the lifting of the granite and the erosion of the sandstone after the. A dreaming story says the devil man created these features when he left twirled clusters of hair on the ground that became round boulders. The local indigenous australians call the region karlu karlu round boulders and consider it a sacred site.

Karlu karlu is the local aboriginal term for both the rock features and the surrounding area. In other words in the middle of nowhere. The devils marbles are a collection of massive granite boulders strewn across a valley south of tennant creek. The formation of the devils marbles are a result of the erosion of the sandstone on top of granite which was formed millions of years ago due to the hardening of magma within the earth s crust which the marbles are made up of.

Traditional owners ask that the karlu marbles are not climbed. The devils marbles reserve is home to many kinds of animals including snakes of variety e g. Standing at up to 6 metres high and formed over millions of years they continue to crack and change. Black snake red belly black snake and brown snake lizards such as blue tongue and spiky black lizards birds including the koel dollarbird rainbow bee eater.