Walking in the Drakensberg
75 walks in the Maloti-Drakensberg Park
Walking in the Drakensberg
75 walks in the Maloti-Drakensberg Park
This guidebook presents 75 day walks of 1 to 26km in South Africa's Maloti-Drakensberg Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located in KwaZulu Natal and easily accessible from Johannesburg, Harrismith, Pietermaritzburg and Durban, the region boasts dramatic cliffs, gorges and waterfalls, abundant wildlife and 2000 year old rock paintings.A guidebook to 75 walks in South Africa’s Maloti-Drakensberg Park and Royal Natal National Park. Graded from easy to strenuous, the routes explore the dramatic scenery of this stunning UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Walks range from 1 to 26km (1–16 miles) and can be enjoyed in 1–10 hours. Highlights include Giants’s Castle, Cathedral Peal, Monk’s Cowl and 2000-year-old Bushman paintings.
- Clear route description illustrated with 1:50,000 sketch maps
- Safety advice and information on specific challenges that may be encountered, such as navigational difficulty, exposure and chain ladders
- All you need to know before visiting the parks: getting there, accommodation, permits, etc
- Notes on the region’s rich geology, history and wildlife
Printed book
A guidebook with detailed route descriptions, stage breakdowns, accommodation listings, profiles and maps - everything you need on the trail.
ISBN
9781852848811
Availability
Published
Published
18 Apr 2017
Edition
Second
Pages
256
Size
17.20 x 11.60 x 1.45cm
Weight
280g
eBook
The complete digital edition of the guidebook, with full route descriptions, accommodation listings, profiles and maps, ready to use on any device.
INTRODUCTION
Geography
Geology
Mammals
Snakes
Birds
The habitats
Bushman Paintings
The development of the Park
About the walks
Getting there
Accommodation
The climate – when to visit
Health matters
Safety
Security
Telecommunications
Using this Guide
Maps
THE WALKS
1 Royal Natal National Park
Walks 1 to 13
2 Cathedral Peak
Walks 14 to 25
3 Monk’s Cowl
Walks 26 to 37
4 Injisuthi
Walks 38 to 43
5 Giant’s Castle
Walks 44 to 47
6 Highmoor
Walks 48 to 51
7 Kamberg
Walk 52
8 Lotheni
Walks 53 to 57
9 Cobham
Walks 58 to 68
10 Garden Castle
Walks 69 to 74
11 Bushman’s Nek
Walk 75
APPENDIX A: Walk summary table
APPENDIX B: Facilities within the Park areas
APPENDIX C: Useful contacts
APPENDIX D: Further reading
Seasons
the walks in this book can be undertaken at any time of year. The limitations imposed by adverse weather conditions can occur in any month. However, snow is most common in June and July and there are frequent and sometimes severe thunderstorms in summer.
Centres
The key centres for the walks are the entrances to the individual areas of the Park and usually have nearby accommodation of all types. They include the Royal Natal National Park, Cathedral Peak, Monk's Cowl, Injisuthi, Giant's Castle, Highmoor, Kamberg, Lotheni, the Himeville and Underberg districts, plus Bushman's Nek.
Difficulty
These are all day walks from 1km to 20km, easy strolls to strenuous day hikes. A simple classification of difficulty is used which takes into consideration distance, height gain, expected duration and any physical issues such as scrambling, ladders and exposure.
Must See
A dramatic, exciting and unique mountainous region of South Africa nestling on the eastern side of Lesotho. Stunning scenery, towering basalt cliffs (eg the Amphitheatre), 3000m mountains (eg Cleft Peak), deep gorges (eg Thukela with the second highest waterfall in the world); abundant wildlife; 2000-year old Bushman rock paintings.
November 2019
Walk 20
This amendment to the route description is for p102 of the 2nd edition book.
Turn R (W) and follow the Contour Path, still gaining height slowly, as it curves into a deep re-entrant.This is where things get confusing because the KZNW map is incorrect. Keep going until you find an obvious old jeep track heading N. This isn’t marked on the map. Take this, ensuring you are indeed generally heading N. It leads you to the junction marked on the KZNW map as C27 2050m, the junction with the path from Ribbon Falls.
Now it is decision time. Either turn N and head down past Ribbon Falls (following Walk 17, the quickest route) or continue NW along the old jeep track towards Tarn Hill and Mushroom Rock (Walk 19).
October 2019
Walk 18 Xeni Cave
2nd para of route description states:
"Fork L here and follow the obvious path until, after 300m, you meet the Xeni stream. Cross over and 50m up re-cross to the E bank. Keep on a faint path on this side of the stream until it disappears and then take to the boulders along the stream itself. Flooding regularly removes paths and cairns hereabouts."
A visitor in late 2017 reports that the Xeni stream has indeed moved a lot of material in this area. Instead of the crossing and re-crossing referred to in the route description, it's a case of boulder hopping for a few hundred metres up the stream to pick up cairns further on. These will take you to the rocky wall pictured in the guidebook and a ladder stile.
On the return route, the "obvious path" mentioned above - and the point at which you leave the stream - is found about 1km from the ladder style by the rocky wall.
Free Royal Mail 48 postage on UK orders. European postage is £3.50 per item. Worldwide postage is £5.50 per item. If you're not happy with your purchase for any reason, we'll give you a full refund.
Learn morePopular related guides
