Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu)
Giant Granite Boulders of the Outback
schedule 1 min read / Updated Apr 2026
Hundreds of enormous granite boulders scattered across a shallow valley beside the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory's dry heart. Sacred to the Warumungu, Kaytetye, Alyawarra and Warlpiri peoples, who call the site Karlu Karlu.
Karlu Karlu, also known as the Devils Marbles, are a collection of giant granite boulders scattered across a shallow valley beside the Stuart Highway in the central Northern Territory. The boulders are the remains of a granite mass that solidified deep underground roughly 1.7 billion years ago. As the surface above weathered away over hundreds of millions of years, the granite was exposed and then split apart by repeated thermal expansion and contraction.
The site is sacred to four Traditional Owner groups: the Warumungu, Kaytetye, Alyawarre, and Warlpiri. "Karlu Karlu" means "round boulders" in the Warumungu language. The traditional creation story attributes the boulders to the Rainbow Serpent's eggs. The site was returned to its Traditional Owners in 2008 and is now jointly managed.
The Karlu Karlu Conservation Reserve is a 105 kilometre drive south of Tennant Creek. There are short walking tracks between the largest boulder clusters, and basic camping is available on site. The boulders glow deep red at sunrise and sunset, which are the best times to visit.
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Trip plans that include Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu).
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- Karlu Karlu (Devils Marbles) - Northern Territory - Australi... · Martinis41 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Karlu Karlu - Devil's Marbles, Australia.JPG · Namiac · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Karlu Karlu 1.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
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