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Drakensberg Passes

The berg is often subdivided into various areas. Choose the area you want info about passes on, or read on about drakensberg passes

The geology of the berg has created two distinct horizons, know as the little berg and the high berg. Unlike the majority of the Worlds Mountains, this is an erosional range, resulting in these two massive layers. Of course the pictures is really a bit more complex, but to the walker its these layers that are the major obstacles. The lower layer is a sandstone one. Very sheer in places, it is not always continuous and thus passed through relatively easily. However the upper basalt layer is 1000m thick and forms a near continuous wall for 200km. Few gullies are passable through this barrier, and those that are we call passes. Unlike the classical definition, they do not always go through lowest points, but sometimes ascend to the very top of the mountains.

They vary in length and gradient, with the northern berg passes generally being longer and steeper. The basalt's tend to be thinner to the south, while the sandstone layer occurs at greater altitude. This results in a less continuous high berg wall, and indeed in the far south, one can come off the escarpment almost anywhere. Here passes are in fact merely the easiest routs rather than the only ones.

Two distinct seasons present different problems to the aspirant hiker in the berg. Summer is wet and green, and the escarpment is thick in mist most days. Here navigation and river crossings can prove troublesome. Generally this is the time of year for passes to be revisited, or easier passes attempted. Winter has mostly clear and very cold conditions. Although there is very little ice climbing in the berg, a number of passes, especially the narrow rock ones, tend to ice and can become dangerous. Water can also be scarce, and if there is little snow around, the escarpment is very dry. Autumn and spring are often the best seasons for attempting passes, notably in April/May. This is when the weather is often most stable, but the icy conditions have not yet set in. It rarely gets above 0 degrees on the escarpment in winter, and strong winds blow for most months. However, on a windstill sunny day, even in the dead of winter, the escapement is a haughtingly beautiful place to be. The notes on passes are from those that I have walked over the years and some of my impressions of them. Obviously it is by no means complete and the evaluations are purely subjective. I have subdivided each pass up into Introduction, access and pass routes and the presence of water and campsites. Please note that all this comment is not much good without a decent map, and thus it is taken for said that this must be read in conjunction with a map, of which Slingsby's are still the best. Inaccuracies with regards to maps refer to the Slingsby's map series. Also the passes have got a subjective rating by me.

The boots indicate the difficulty of the pass itself. Its difficult to assess these things in absolutes, so take a pass you know, and compare with one you want to walk to get a rough idea. A single boot is for hobble along Sunday strolls, while five boots is a testosterone tester The idea of how beautiful a walk it is even more subjective. So I've just gone for my own cookie rating. It's a great big agglomeration of the sites, sounds, challenge, walk in and a million other factors. One's fitness at the time the pass was walked, and the company can also skewer the whole equation, so don't take it too seriously. Its just to put chocolate chip cookie graphics on the web really!!