Camdeboo National Park: the ultimate guide

By Roxanne Reid
Deep in South Africa's Karoo heartland is a national park that entirely surrounds the town of Graaff-Reinet. It's probably most famous for the spectacle that is the Valley of Desolation, a rocky landscape formed millions of years ago. But there are lots of other reasons to visit too; find out more in Camdeboo National Park: the ultimate guide. 

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​Getting there
Camdeboo National Park is 600km from Cape Town via the N1 to Beaufort West, the R61 to Aberdeen and N9 to Graaff-Reinet. From Port Elizabeth it’s 250km via the R75. The Lakeview entrance gate near the tented camp and campsite is 4km from Graaff-Reinet on the N9 that goes to Middleburg.

Getting around
You get to the Valley of Desolation along a tar road, but there’s a network of gravel roads in the park too. The gravel roads in the game area around the dam are accessible to 2x4 vehicles, but you need high clearance for the Diepkloof trail in the south-east and 4x4 (compulsory) for the Koedoeskloof 4x4 trail in the far west of the park. 

Best time to visit
The 19 405-hectare park lies in the semi-arid Karoo, which gets most of its admittedly limited rain in summer, often in the form of afternoon thundershowers. It’s very hot in summer (October to March), with temperatures well into the mid-30s degrees Celsius or higher, so try to keep your energetic activities for the cool of early morning or late afternoon. The park is also very cold in winter (around 5-8 degrees Celsius), especially in June and July, and sometimes there’s snow on the high mountain tops. Unless you particularly enjoy extremes of heat or cold, autumn and spring are gentler, more comfortable times to visit.

Where to stay
You currently have two choices for your Camdeboo National Park accommodation – a campsite and a tented camp, both of which make a nature-filled alternative to Graaff-Reinet accommodation even for those visiting the town.

​Nqweba Campsite

At Nqweba Campsite, 15 campsites are carved into the natural bush to create your own private enclave that’s plenty big enough for a caravan or mobile home. Thorn trees provide a little shade on some of them. All sites have a power outlet, light and braai unit. The ablutions (showers and loos) and kitchen (with freezer, hob and microwave) are communal. 

Viewing deck at Nqweba Campsite

My favourite spot in the camp is the raised viewing deck, which looks out over the dam and is gorgeous at sunset. From here you may spot some springbok or other antelope grazing nearby.

Lakeview Tented Camp

Lakeview Tented Camp

If you don’t fancy the hassle of pitching your own two-sleeper tent, Lakeview Tented Camp is the perfect glamping alternative. There are just four tents, each snuggling up in its own patch of bush, with proper beds and white sheets – bliss. You get a four-seater picnic table, a braai unit and a fridge, as well as two camping chairs on the wooden deck outside your tent. Showers (towels are provided in your tent) and toilets are a short walk away, as is a communal kitchen with kettle, stove plates, microwave and chest freezer. 

Inside your tent - a fridge is just out of frame on the left

​There’s also a locker for each tent with all pots, crockery and cutlery you’ll need. If you’re with a bunch of friends, you can use the larger communal braai area near the kitchen. Sit quietly in your patch of nature, as we did, and you may spy small birds, randy rats chasing each other through the sweet-thorn thicket or a scrub hare bobbing around in search of food.

Small tip for those not used to camping: bring a torch/head torch to get to and from the ablutions and kitchen in the dark.

Lakeview Tented Camp's enormous communal kitchen

There is also a cottage in the western section of the park where the Valley of Desolation is, but it’s currently being renovated and not yet open for bookings. Once it opens you’ll have the area all to yourself after the gates close. Known as the Winterhoek cottage, it’s an early 19th century self-catering cottage that will come with the convenience of modern appliances like a fridge and en suite bathrooms. It sleeps six, so will make a great option for families. The park’s communications staff could give me no indication of when it might open so keep an eye on the park’s accommodation page. Once the cottage is open for bookings, it will appear there.

Facilities

• There are six picnic areas in the park, each with braais and ablutions.
• Note that you can’t buy fuel in the park. The closest fuel station is at Graaff-Reinet about 5km away.
• There’s no restaurant, shop or ATM in the park either, but Graaff-Reinet is so close by that this is not exactly a hardship.
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​Things to do at Camdeboo National Park
1. Go for a game drive 

You won’t find any of the Big Five here, but their very absence makes your game drive a more restful experience. Go for an early morning game drive in the hope of spotting bat-eared foxes hunting insects underground, or black wildebeest, blesbok and springbok in the open areas. You’re more likely to see the timid kudu and grey duiker in thicker bush. By mid-morning, the waterhole is a good place to catch antelope coming to drink. There are 43 mammal species in the park, including black-backed jackal, Cape buffalo (which usually hides away in the thicket), red hartebeest, gemsbok and eland, as well as klipspringer and Cape mountain zebra in more mountainous areas. Our best sighting on a recent visit was a clan of meerkat, which we watched foraging in the early morning light. For me, they’re even more exciting than the Big Five because they’re so interactive and busy.

2. Visit the Valley of Desolation ​

To see the power of volcanic activity 150–190 million years ago and the results of erosion since, visit the Valley of Desolation. Take the tarred road from the entrance gate on the R63 just 5km from town. The best time of day is late afternoon, when the setting sun lights up the rocks in warm gold and copper tones. Stop at the toposcope and walk to the top of a koppie to look down on Spandaukop, Graaff-Reinet and the dam spread out below. Continue to the parking area about a kilometre further on. From here you can walk to various viewpoints over the Valley of Desolation, where you’ll marvel at the steep cliffs and dolerite pillars that soar up to 120m from the valley floor, the plains of Camdeboo beyond.

3. Spend time at Khwalimanzi hide ​

Not far from the tented camp and campsite is the Khwalimanzi hide, which looks out over the veld towards Nqweba dam. You’re almost sure to see gemsbok, blesbok or springbok, and some birds (see point 4).

4. Go birding
Almost 250 bird species make their home in the park, with pale chanting goshawk, rock kestrel, Diederik cuckoo, Karoo korhaan, Ludwig’s bustard, cardinal woodpecker, brownhooded kingfisher and ant-eating chat often spotted in the main game area. In the western section, near the Valley of Desolation, look out for blue cranes or Verreaux’s eagles. Drive the roads near Nqweba dam for a chance to see water birds like black-winged stilt, sacred ibis, flamingo and Kittlitz’s plover.

5. Go hiking ​

Lace up your walking shoes and stride out on one of the three walking trails in the park. The shortest and easiest is the 1.5km Crag Lizard Trail, which starts at the parking area at the Valley of Desolation and takes in many surreal viewpoints out over the valley.

The Gideon Scheepers Trail is about 2km long and starts at the Gideon Scheepers Monument on the R63 to Murraysburg. This was erected in memory of a Boer commandant the British executed by firing squad near here as a traitor to the Cape Colony during the Anglo Boer War. The trail climbs a steep hill to a plateau from where you can see the dam. You might spot a few Cape mountain zebra or kudu along this trail.

The circular Eerstefontein trail starts and ends at the Spandaukop gate, with 5km, 11km and 14km options, depending on how energetic you’re feeling. Eerstefontein and Agtersfontein make good rest spots along the way. Walk silently so as not to startle kudu, Cape mountain zebra or mountain reedbuck.

6. Smell the flowers
On your drives and walks around the park, keep an eye out for some of the 336 plant species that grow here, from Karoo num-num, kapokbos and Karoo viooltjie to spike-thorn, spekboom and sweet thorn. When they’re in bloom, they will brighten up the Karoo landscape with their yellows, pinks and mauves.

7. Drive a 4x4 trail
​The Driekoppe 4x4 Trail in the south-eastern section of the park winds through dense kloofs and open spaces where you might see Cape mountain zebra, kudu, klipspringer, mountain reedbuck and black wildebeest. There’s a good view over the Karoo from Hanglip. It’s a grade 2 trail, so not very technical – even 2x4s with high clearance will make it. No booking needed.

Photo: SANParks

The 7km Koedoeskloof 4x4 Trail in the western Valley of Desolation/Winterhoek section of the park is much more serious stuff (grade 3 to 4) and definitely requires a proper 4x4 with low range. It’s quite steep in places, and rocky. Depending on how often you stop to drink in the scenery or watch wildlife like red hartebeest, kudu, Cape mountain zebra and grey rhebok, it could take you anything from three hours to most of the day. Don’t rush. Rather bring a picnic lunch to enjoy at the top of the mountain, where there’s a picnic spot and a pit toilet. No booking needed but it would make sense to let someone know where you’re going.

​Note: Do NOT enter this route without a proper 4x4 vehicle (no, not your 2x4 with diff lock!) and then blame the park if you get stuck or damage your vehicle.

8. Enjoy fishing and watersports 

Although the 1 000-hectare Nqweba Dam attracts birds and animals, who come to drink, it’s also the focal point of angling and watersports in the park. To fish for carp, barbel and freshwater mullet in the angling zone, get a permit from the SANParks office at the Lakeview Gate on the N9. Watersports like boating, canoeing, and windsurfing are allowed from the spillway at the Graaff-Reinet Boat Club, where you need to pay for a permit.

9. Have a picnic ​

Pack a picnic basket and cooler box and head to one of the park’s six picnic areas to enjoy an alfresco lunch. All of them have braai and ablution facilities. We had a picnic brunch at Impunzi in the game area, which had picnic tables and shade shelters. Other picnic areas include Ribbokberg on the way to the Valley of Desolation, Babergat near the Nqweba dam wall and Piekniekbos on the western shore of the dam.

10. Spend a day in Graaff-Reinet 

Don’t miss spending a day in the town of Graaff-Reinet nearby. South Africa’s fourth-oldest town, it’s a treasure-trove of museums and historical buildings, and has a beautiful Victorian-Gothic church, a wealth of restaurants and coffee shops, etc. Read 12 things to do in Graaff-Reinet in the Karoo to find out what to do when you visit.

Need to know
SANParks central reservations
Tel (012) 428-9111
Email: [email protected]
www.sanparks.org

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