The Cederberg Wilderness Area lies about 200km north of Cape Town, stretching from the Middelberg Pass at Citrusdal to the Pakhuis Pass at Clanwilliam.
Encompassing 71 000 hectares of stark, dramatically shaped sandstone rock formations, waterfalls, crystal streams, caverns, peaks and ravines, the Cederberg Wilderness Area is an ancient landscape of spectacular views.
Hiker’s Paradise
A hiker and climber’s paradise, it offers 254 kilometres of unmarked but well-defined mountain footpaths. Looking at the world from the Cederberg’s highest peak - the Sneeuberg (Snow Mountain) at 2 027m - is utterly worth the effort.
One of the most popular hiking trails is to the Sneeuberg peak via the famous natural rock sculpture known as the Maltese Cross. It’s best done in 2 days, overnighting at the rustic Sneeuberg Hut.
A popular climbing route is the Wolfberg Cracks. Featuring 20-metre high stone pillars, it is one of South Africa’s finest traditional climbing venues. Another ‘must’ is Rocklands, on the top five list of best climbing sites in the world, and an essential challenge for experienced climbers.
To access the trails, visitors need to get a permit from Cape Nature Conservation at Porterville, or from the office at the Algeria base, 30km from Clanwilliam.
Where to Stay
The Algeria and Kliphuis camping sites, situated in the Cederberg Wilderness Area, offer an ideal start-off point.
For the less intrepid there are several self-catering cottages to suit everyone’s pocket in the Clanwilliam region (some offer meals by arrangement). There are also plenty of easier walks and hikes, such as at the Ramskop Nature Reserve, just above Clanwilliam Dam, which offers a gentle stroll through a kaleidoscope of fynbos.
Rock Art Gallery
Apart from hiking, the Wilderness holds great interest for the art lover, as the area is abundant with the oldest form of human art – rock paintings by the Khoisan who inhabited this region for thousands of years. Their first contact with Europeans was with the settlers from the Cape who began stock farming here in the early 1700s.
For the Nature Lover
The Cederberg is rich with smaller game, including dassies, grey rhebok, klipspringers, duiker, grysbok and baboons. It is also the only place in the country where leopards are formally protected, though they’re not easily seen.
Flower lovers regularly make the annual pilgrimage to this region for the ten-day Wild Flower Show, starting at the end of August and going through to the first week in September. The Cederberg mountain range falls within the catchment area of the Cape Floristic Region, which has World Heritage status.
A tremendous diversity of wild flowers and trees can be seen around Clanwilliam. Two of the most celebrated species are the Clanwilliam cedar and the snow protea - which grows in the Cederberg mountain snow line.
Other Activities
While there is no snow skiing here, there are plenty of water sports. The Clanwilliam Dam Resort is ideal for waterskiing, motor boating and canoeing.
Set aside some time to visit the historic village of Clanwilliam at the foot of the Cederberg range. World-renowned as the capital of rooibos tea, Clanwilliam is the only region in the world where this uniquely South African tea is cultivated.
While here, make a point of visiting Saint du Barrys, an original old Cape homestead where you can have lunch under a generous 150-year-old fig tree. In nearby Wuppertal – which was established as a mission station in 1829 – you’d do well to invest in some ‘veldskoene’ – traditional Boer shoes made at the local shoe factory.
Something Refreshing
For those who wish to eat drink and be merry, you will not be disappointed. The cuisine in this region matches the best in the Cape. Clanwilliam and Wuppertal offer a choice of quaint, delectable restaurants. There are also two cellars close to Clanwilliam: Cederberg Wines and Citrusdal Cellars. Both produce award-winning wines from the mountain vineyards.
Environmental Rehabilitation
It is greatly encouraging that several local farmers and wine producers have committed themselves to the rehabilitation and environmental conservation of this unique floral kingdom, which was thoughtlessly exploited until the latter 1800s. Thousands of trees, including Clanwilliam cedar trees, were felled and remain on the brink of extinction.
The Clanwilliam Cedar Tree Project, Cape Leopard Project and the University of Cape Town Freshwater Fish Research Project are three of several conservation initiatives in the area.
Several farms in the Cederberg also form part of the Cederberg Biodiversity Corridor, one of three ‘megareserves’ in South Africa where the public and private sector have joined hands to create conservation corridors. These facilitate species migration, create jobs and improve the quality of life for all.
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