Central Australia's popular walking track, the Larapinta Trail, has been temporarily closed due to concerns walkers could get lost because long grass has grown over the track.
Sustained, heavy rain that fell over the centre early this year caused fast growth of several varieties of grass, transforming the typically red desert landscape.
Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife's senior director of operations, Chris Day, said it was not safe to encourage visitors to explore the tourist trail, which covers 230 kilometres of rugged terrain through the West MacDonnell Ranges.
Mr Day said there was some erosion, flood debris along parts of the track, and damage to infrastructure at some of the campsites, but the main concern was "massive seas of grass obscuring the trail."
"It's really about getting the marking done and the grass cut. It sounds simple, but over 230 kilometres, [that's] a lot of brush cutting to be done."
He said sections of the trail would be reopened as they were cleared, with the entire trail set to reopen by the first of April at the latest.
Crews and volunteers had already cleared most of section one, from Alice Springs Telegraph Station to Simpson's Gap, as well as parts of section two, from Simpson's Gap to Jay Creek.
The final section of the trail, from Redbank Gorge to Mount Sonder, was fully inspected and due to reopen on Friday.
Mount Sonder received about 212 millimetres of rain over a five-day period a month ago.
The entire trail had been closed previously due to fire damage, but Mr Day confirmed this was the first time the full track was closed due to flooding.
What does it mean for tourism?
The closure was announced on the cusp of the region's peak tourism season, when visitors from all over the country travel to Central Australia to attempt multi-day hikes on the remote trail.
"We know how important this season is to everyone — it's important to us as well," Mr Day said.
"We are opening the online booking and registration system [compulsory for all people accessing the trail] from Tuesday.
"So this will be the first time we'll actually have a really good handle on numbers, and we'll be collecting some revenue to put back into the trail as well."
Mr Day said the West Macs Monster ultra marathon event, scheduled for the third week of May, would be able to go ahead as planned.
