Krokodilberg Route

Dogs No Dogs

Features Birding · Cave · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

The Krokodilberg Route follow the Krokodilberg Trail as it runs along the Hennops River. The route is set against a beautiful backdrop of wildlife, boulders and a large variety of plant life. The trail is demanding with the ascents being as challenging as the descents.

Hikers need to pay an entrance fee to access the trail. There is also a small food trailer next to the pay point.

The Krokodilberg Route starts at the Hadeda Camp at the most northern part of this trail, and heads east. The beginning of the trail is dirt path under a canopy of trees and runs along the river until a gentle ascent takes you onto a hill where a Hospital Cave is at the top. The Hospital Cave originates from the Anglo Boer War.

An equally gentle descent on the hill will lead you back to the river, where you'll cross the Hennops River by means of a hanging bridge. The trail heading turns west from here, and you'll reach the beginning of a rather continuous ascent.

Once you reach the first intersection, you'll head southward up the Krokodilberg Trail, as a northern direction will take you down Dassie Escape Connector. Your next stop will be the Kees lookout point, after which the trail will take a western heading. You'll approach the second lookout point quite quickly, and thereafter you'll reach the second intersection that offers another escape route, the Krokodilberg Escape Connector, heading north.

Keeping a western heading, you'll ascend into the Krokodilberg and follow the trail past a few points of interest, such as Dolomite mines and a large mining oven constructed from stone. From this point your heading will be eastward until you reach Kuduskloof. This marker signals a northeastern heading change that gently curves down a dried-up riverbed back to the Hennops River. Here you'll cross the river once more by means of a cable car to reach the starting point at the Hadeda Camp.

The trail is very well maintained and clearly marked, however, you should be vigilant as a large section of the trail is extremely rocky, and you basically descend on fragile rock slide on certain sections of the trail.

This trail has a large variety of plant life, including aloes, cacti, and protea. The trail also has lizards, geckos, and a variety of bird and butterfly species. Mammals on the trail include Kudu, Eland buck and Klip Dassies.

The trail has numerous points of interest, such as a hospital cave from 1899-1902, a once inhabited cave dating back to 1837 and the remnants of a kraal dating back to the Mzilikazi era from the early 1800's.