The 33-year-old is believed to have taken a wrong turn, and Australian police are not treating the death as suspicious

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

An American tourist has died during a hike on the popular Larapinta Trail, west of Alice Springs, in Australia.

The 33-year-old Californian was reported missing late on Wednesday, on the trail near Mount Sonder. His body was found at the base of the mountain just after 5pm.

It is believed he took a wrong turn, and the death is not being treated as suspicious.

Police said the US embassy had been informed and a report would be prepared for the coroner.

Play Video 4:04 End to end: Hiking the Larapinta Trail – video

The Larapinta Trail is a 223km bushwalking track that runs west from Alice Springs to Mount Sonder along the West MacDonnell Ranges.

Duty superintendent Rob Burgoyne told ABC Darwin: “It’s about 1,300 metres tall and the actual walk that they undertook was about 16km there and back – so quite a hike.”

Temperatures reached more than 40C in Alice Springs on Wednesday.

“It wouldn’t be a terribly advisable thing to do in 40-degree heat – to actually sprint away,” Burgoyne said.