Tnorala Conservation Reserve is 175 kilometres west of Alice Springs.

Gosse Bluff is a relic of a large crater formed when a speeding extra-terrestrial body (possibly a comet) about 600 metres in diameter, plunged to Earth about 130 million years ago (during the time of Dinosaurs).

The body hit with a force estimated to equal to 15,000 megatonnes of TNT, and blasted a crater 20 kilometres in diameter.

Almost all evidence of the crater has been eroded away. Indeed, the crater you see today is 2 kilometres below the original impact surface. The remnant crater was named Gosse's Range by the explorer Ernest Giles in 1872, after P. H. Gosse, a fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1988, the crater was explored for what was believed to be extensive reserves of natural gas and oil. However, after several months of exploration, the site was found to have insufficient quantities to justify commercial exploration.

The straight lines (shot lines) that can be seen crossing the crater are evidence of this exploration.

Gosse Bluff was gazetted by the Northern Territory Government as a special conservation area. On 18th April 1991, Gosse Bluff was handed back to the traditional Aboriginal owners, who now assist the CCNT with the management of the site.

The best place to view the crater is from the Tylers Pass trigonometric station. The original crater extended out to the base of the hills on which the trigonometric station is erected.

Gosse Bluff, or Tnorala to the Aboriginal people, is a registered Aboriginal sacred site. The registered area contains at least five identified sites of cultural significance to Aboriginal people.

At least five rare plant species are found in this area, including the western desert grass tree, Xanthorrhoea thorntonii, which also occurs immediately outside the boundary. A stand of fire sensitive mulga occurs in the north-west corner of the crater.

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