Glen Helen Gorge, Natural gorge in Tjoritja National Park, Australia.

Glen Helen Gorge, known as Yapalpe in Western Arrarnta, is a natural gorge along the Finke River in Tjoritja / West MacDonnell National Park, 132 kilometres west of Alice Springs. The river cuts through the MacDonnell Ranges, with red cliffs rising above a permanent waterhole. The Glen Helen Lodge and a campground are nearby.

The rock formations here date back roughly 800 million years, making this one of the world's oldest river systems. Water has slowly carved and shaped this landscape across unimaginable spans of time.

The Arrernte people are the traditional owners, and the gorge is known to them as Yapalpe in the Western Arrarnta language. The name records their long association with this stretch of the Finke River.

You can swim in the permanent waterhole and walk several trails of varying difficulty around the site. It sits roughly 130 kilometers west of Alice Springs and has lodging options available for overnight stays.

The permanent waterhole acts as a critical refuge for water birds and fish species across the otherwise dry Central Australian landscape. This water source sustains animal life specially adapted to the region's extreme conditions.