Drakensberg Grand Traverse

Drakensberg Traverse
Distance
220 km (137 miles)
Countries
South Africa, Lesotho
Difficulty
Very challenging
Type of trip
Hiking trail

There’s no official, marked trail called the Drakensberg Traverse. What hikers mean by it is the Drakensberg Grand Traverse, a route agreed among hikers along the top of the escarpment. It runs from the Sentinel car park above Witsieshoek, in South Africa’s Free State, to the Bushman’s Nek border post in KwaZulu-Natal, and the only fixed points are the summits you have to reach: Mont-aux-Sources, Cleft Peak, Champagne Castle, Mafadi, Giant’s Castle and Thabana Ntlenyana. How you get between them is up to you. Most of the walking is on the high basalt plateau at around 3,000 m, and the top of the escarpment is Lesotho, not South Africa.

There are no huts, shops, waymarks or resupply points. You carry everything and camp, following cattle paths, grassy ridges and river beds. The only people you’re likely to meet are Basotho herders. Hiking South Africa puts the total climbing at about 10,000 m and says fit hikers take 8 to 12 days, averaging about 23 km a day. Navigation is the hard part: fog can come in at any time, so carry the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife 1:50,000 Drakensberg maps (sheets 1 to 6) and a GPS. The South African side is the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, run by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. Check permits, mountain registers and fees with them before you go. You finish at a border post after days in Lesotho, so carry your passport and check the current border rules. Check recent security reports for the Lesotho highlands too.

Highlights along the way

  1. Chain ladders and Mont-aux-Sources: the walk starts at the Sentinel car park at about 2,500 m and climbs to the plateau by chain ladders. Mont-aux-Sources, the first summit, is 3,282 m.
  2. Tugela Falls and the Amphitheatre: the Tugela River drops about 948 m in five falls from the edge of the Amphitheatre, a wall of cliffs more than 5 km long. The falls are seasonal, so in dry months there may be little water.
  3. Mafadi: at 3,446 m, the highest point in South Africa, on the border with Lesotho.
  4. Thabana Ntlenyana: at 3,482 m, the highest mountain in southern Africa, inside Lesotho on a ridge north of Sani Pass.
  5. Bushman’s Nek: the finish, usually reached by going down the Thamathu Pass to the border post.

Distance

At least 220 km for most hikers, and often nearer 240 km, depending on the line you take between summits. The shortest line through the checkpoints, used for speed records, is about 205 km.

Best time to go

March to May and September to November are the most popular months. From December to February, most of the year’s rain falls as thunderstorms, with lightning on open ridges. June to August usually brings clearer, more settled weather, but nights are well below freezing and snow is possible. The weather can change fast in any month.

Flybys from South Africa, Lesotho

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