Tugela Falls
Tugela Falls is the second tallest waterfall
in the world. The Tugela River drops over 3000
feet in 5 major cascades.
Tugela Falls hiking trails
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The first route is to the base of the Tugela
Falls and is called the Tugela Gorege Trail.
This walk from the Tugela car park is a wonderful
experience of ‘climbing’ into the
mountains. Although it may seem a flat walk
do not let this distract you from the magnificent
scenery. For the first 4 km there is a very
good path and no special directions are needed,
the path winds along, above and parallel to
the Tugela river. The scenery is spectacular,
and in spring and summer, the valley is a carpet
of indigenous flora. The path meanders in and
out of lush forests cascading down the hills
into the river below. View sites of the Amphitheatre
wall get increasingly more magnificent as you
approach the Gorge – the wall rises over
1800m from the valley floor. The last kilometre
through the Gorge entails three boulder crossings
of the river – simple enough unless in
flood. Do not make the mistake of turning back
at this point. With a little bit of effort the
most picturesque scenery in the park lies at
the far end along with a welcome cup of tea
from The Cavern guide. Once at the Gorge, one
encounters the Tunnel where the river flows
through an impassable rock formation. This can
be bypassed by a scramble up a chain ladder
to the right. Use the chain ladder to skirt
the tunnel and get into the Amphitheatre and
boulder hop up the Tugela for about half a kilometre,
where for each step you are rewarded with a
complete change of scenery. Remember to keep
an eye out for thunderstorms which quickly brew
above the Amphitheatre wall, but all else remember
to enjoy yourself in this special place. The
return down trip to the carpark is faster than
the uptrip so make sure that you enjoy yourself
and the scenery.
The second route brings you to the point where
the Tugela Falls start their tumble down the
escarpment. The spectaclarly beautifull mountain
hiking trail to the top of Mount-Aux-Sources
starts at the Sentinel car park at Witsieshoek
via Phuthadjhaba from where it is a relatively
short climb to the top of the Amphiteare. (About
5 hours return) Via two chain ladders you can
can gain easy access to the summit. This is
the only day hiking trail which will take you
to the top of the Drakensberg escarpment.
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