We’re standing in the middle of a valley, exploring hiking trails in the Cederberg. On either side of us, large golden coloured sheets of sandstone rock tower above us. We’ve manoeuvred our way up to this point and unsure how to proceed. In fact, many of these rocks are starting to look eerily familiar. Reluctant to utter the L-word, we huddle around a map from reception trying to re-orientate ourselves. We retrace our steps on the map until we get the part of map where, in bold black writing, read the words: “pile of large rocks.”
Crap, I thought, not this again. Years ago, on a scary ravine adventure, I swore that I would not do anymore of these type of hikes – the ones with hand drawn maps, not drawn to scale, with these little ‘cute’ annotations. And, I suppose the map had not been wasn’t wrong. There were large piles of rocks… everywhere.
Hiking in the Cederberg
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” These were words that echoed through the cracks and chambers as we made our way through the Wolfberg Cracks in the Cederberg mountains. I mean, I asked this a lot and even though the answer was inevitably, ‘yes’, I wasn’t always convinced. I love the Cederberg. The rock formations around the Cederberg are incredibly beautiful and complex. Each scene has a familiarity but is also quite different. We always make it a point to never come to this area without a walk to take in the views and explore one of the many hiking trails in the Cederberg.
This time around, we chose something that would be interesting but that also wouldn’t take the whole day: Wolfberg cracks hiking trail. The whole trail, which is about a 10 hour hike, starts at the Sanddrif Holiday Resort (where you can also camp), through the cracks and continues on to the Wolfberg Arch and back. We decided to go as far as the cracks and leave the second part for another day, because we wanted to do more activities later that day – like lounge in and along the river with a drink.
It’s a steep trail that meanders up the mountain before hitting the rocky patches. It was difficult to envision what this was meant to look like and the photos we’d seen up to this point didn’t quite do justice to the experience. Large cracks and crevices in the rocks create a spectacular series of rocks formations. There are small caves, sharp sheets of rock and boulders. It requires a lot of scrambling, crawling and manoeuvring through very tight spaces.
Inside the Cracks
The weathered sandstone really shows off it’s shapes and colours inside the narrow canyons. The immense sheets created a shadows which are a welcomed relief from the scorching sun on the day. It never gets exceptionally dark but there is a noticeable difference in the sections ad you make your way through. This involved a lot of ducking, crawling and taking deep breathes to make it through some tiny, tiny spaces. The gentle crunch of broken rock and stone was the only sound that broke through the startling silence. We didn’t see a single soul.
At one point we got terribly lost, well we thought we did. I actually didn’t look at the map until we started walking in bit of a loop and heard the words “it’s not super clear but I think it’s this way.” The last time but that happened, I literally ended the hike in tears. We’ve done a couple of hiking trails in the Cederberg and dramatics aside, I think this is my favourite one.
Have you ever wondered if you could lift your leg to your ear while pulling yourself up onto a hopefully sturdy rock? All the while holding on to the rope drilled into the rock. Well, exiting the cracks was almost as tricky as entering and required some serious body manoeuvring. We placed a tremendous amount of faith on that rope. It worked out just fine but wow, I didn;t exoect this much stretching!
If you are claustrophobic, do not do this. Seriously, parts of the walk were quite daunting. We did squat walks under huge boulders; took deep breathes to squiggle through tiny cracks; and walked along small stones with towering rock formations on either side of us. It was incredible.
Things to do in the Cederberg
There are so many fun thing to do in the Cederberg. Just driving around and looking at the landscape is already enough to see so much.
Camping in the Cederberg
There are a number of campsites in the Cederberg. We stayed at the Driehoek Farm which had campsites along the river. There campsites and basic wood huts with self catering amenities inside. It was a very tranquil trip an while we started off in a tent, we ended up switching to the huts as a storm was brewing. And as much as I don’t love camping, I did despair at all the effort we put in pitch the darn tent. Obviously, I would have really regretted not moving indoors because the storm than came in was very intense.
If you’re looking for a good spot for a bit of R&R, then this is a great place. We went for walks nearby, basked in the sun with drinks, and took a dip in the water – we’ll, i just dipped my feet because I don’t do well in the cold!
Find a spot to swim
Wine tasting
If you visit the Cederberg, definitely pop into Cederberg Wines for some wine tasting (and buying). The vineyards are over 1000m above sea level, making them the highest in South Africa. The wine tasting venue against the backdrop of the mountains is a lovely spot to enjoy their award winning wines.
Finding the Wolfberg Cracks Hiking Trails in the Cederberg
Entry
The Wolfberg Cracks Cederberg hiking trail is on private land, so you need a permit. This is available from the Sanddrift Holiday Resort reception and cost R50 per person.
“I swore that I would not do anymore of these type of hikes – the ones with hand drawn maps, not drawn to scale, with these little ‘cute’ annotations.” Hahahahaaaaaaaa.
The pics are amazing! I totally want to do this but I have a feeling I’d struggle with the claustrophobic parts
It was really amazing. Going in and out where the tightest parts. The rest had the benefit of being able to see the sky which was very helpful.