Royal Natal National Park — Attraction in Okhahlamba Local Municipality

There are many hikes available, this review is of the Tugela Gorge day hike.

The Royal Natal National Park’s main geographical feature is the Drakensburg Amphitheatre. A 5km long and 1.2km high rock wall. The source of the Orange and Tugela rivers are found here.

The trailhead starts at a car park situated about 6km past the parks office. The hike was about 22km in & out trip. The trail starts off on a very gradual accent through a well graded open footpath, leading through a forest section leading to a boulder hop followed by chain ladder and rock nailed staircase onto the last section with view of the gorge and Tugela Falls.

There is great viewpoint of the gorge where we had a quick lunch on a boulder along the footpath just before the forest section. Once you make it to the short and stable chain ladder on the right-hand side continue the trail and climb the narrow section making use of the wire hand support and fixed steel rock nails in the rock face. ( this is mildly difficult; take it slow and steady) once you have passed this continue down through the now dense footpath until you find a small diversion in the path – head left and walk with caution as you come to the gorge, with views into the gorge of around 30m below – there is no side railing. After this, walk back and continue the walk, traversing the river a few times until you can see the Tugela falls at the peak of the Amphitheatre (it was very faint to see) this was about 2km past the chain ladder to this view point. You can continue the trail if you wish to get closer and more unobscured view of the falls if you wish.

Make your way back and have a swim in the gorge.

Quick highlights of the trail: standing under a small waterfall, swimming in the gorge, looking down into the 30m gorge, walking through the gorge and admiring the potholes in the rock face’s on either...

We love the Royal National Park - the scenery is absolutely beautiful. The main paths e.g. to the Gudu falls are well maintained and easy to follow. However last year, when we attempted to go to the Grotto (one of the easier walks), the path was hard to follow, and some signposts not visible. Probably under the grass? We got lost and it was no joke. Because the paths were so overgrown, one could not see them from a distance, to try and find you way back. We complained to the office, and will see in March whether there was an improvement, but I am hesitant to go that way again. Mahai camp : the ablutions are clean enough, but they are not well maintained. The hotwater tap of the bath of the ablutions near stand 19 was leaking very badly. I told the manager about it, and the tap was forcefully closed. After opening it and closing it normally it leaked again. Judging by the stains in the bath, this tap has been leaking a very long time. In this time of load shedding, such a waste of electricity and water is absolutely shocking. The doors of the toilets also need attention. Some latches hang by one screw, other doors do not close properly, so one can't lock them. I hope when I go there again in a months time, I will find that these easy to fix problems have been fixed. I shudder to think what tourists must think of South Africa's can't be bothered attitude. Baboons are a real problem. The staff chase them away, but clearly the fence is not electrified to keep them out, so be warned! The fact that we regularly go there, indicates that the place is really wonderful, despite the poor maintenance. I hope that management will take note and do something to maintain this lovely...

Spent my last two Christmas holidays there, amazing place that's crying out for better management and maintenance. A lot of old signage needs to be replaced. The newly refurbished road to Thendele campsite is already breaking up. It was brand new in Christmas 2021 but was obviously not done by a reputable company. The shop is under-stocked and should carry more supplies for camping and hiking (e.g. camping gas canisters, mattress and tent repair kits etc). The shop is also not set up for electronic payments during load shedding.

Both years Mahai campsite never got more than half full, yet we're still being charged peak holiday rates.

Last year the camp staff also did not enforce park rules. One night a group arrived late and started playing load music and braaing when everyone else was going to sleep. And on boxing day the picnic site was overrun by party taxis with loud music playing late into the night. They were also blocking the road for those coming back from the Thendele trail head to Mahai campsite.

There also needs to be a concerted effort with local government to fix the bridge, what if something happens to the alternative route in through Rugged Glen?

Ezemvelo needs to get its act together, this should be a...