Uluru rises 348 metres out of the flat red plain, a single block of arkose sandstone 3.6 by 2.4 kilometres at its base and with a circumference of just over 9 kilometres. The rock is sacred to the Anangu — the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara owners of the land — and many of its caves, springs and overhangs are associated with Tjukurpa, the ancestral law that explains the landscape.
The full base walk (10 kilometres, flat, about 3.5 hours) is the best single thing you can do in the park. It takes you past Mutitjulu Waterhole, the Kuniya rock-art shelter, and through silent gum forests on the rock's shaded side. Climbing Uluru has been permanently closed since October 2019, at the long-standing request of the Anangu. Photography is forbidden in a small number of sacred sites — signs make it clear where.