Place Names Register Extract

Glen Helen

Extract date: 10/11/2026

Name Glen Helen
Type Designation Gorge
Place Id 19441303
Place Type Feature
Status Recorded
Date Registered
Location (Datum GDA94)  
Latitude: -23° 41' S (Decimal degrees -23.68828)
Longitude: 132° 40' E (Decimal degrees 132.67647)
Locality / Suburb  
  Mount Zeil
Local Government Area  
  MacDonnell Shire Council
Alternate Names  
  Yapalpe
History/Origin In the mid 1870s, explorer Ernest Giles recorded a gorge along the Finke River in the West MacDonnell Ranges during his explorations of Central Australia. Although he observed the feature, he did not approach it closely or assign it a name.

European interest in the region continued, and in 1875 or early 1876, Richard Warburton traversed the area while tracing the Finke River to its source. During this expedition, Warburton named the gorge Glen Helen, reportedly in honour of Helen Grant, the eldest daughter of his employer, Alexander Grant.

Long before European exploration and settlement, the site was known to the Aranda people as Yapalpe. It has long been an important meeting place for Aboriginal people from the West and Central MacDonnell Ranges, serving as a gathering site for cultural and social exchange.

Register & Gazettal information

Date Gazettal Comment
  (None Found)  

The Northern Territory Gazetteer is maintained by the Place Names Section,
Department of Lands, Planning and Environment.
GPO Box 1680, Darwin NT 0801. Ph 08 8995 5333.
place.names@nt.gov.au

© Northern Territory of Australia
The Northern Territory of Australia does not warrant that the information in this extract or any part of it is correct or complete and will not be liable for any loss damage or injury suffered by any person as a result of its inaccuracy or incompleteness. You are encouraged to notify any error or omission in the material by calling the Place Names Section.