Summit Hiking, Clarens
There are several hiking trails on the farms around the quaint mountain village of Clarens, famed for its scenery, arts and crafts and outdoors activities. Some are open to the public through bookings agencies, but many more potential trails are yet to be marked up and marketed, to allow further public access to one of the loveliest and most peacefully inspiring areas in South Africa.
The mountainous farmlands around Clarens are extraordinarily beautiful. Often clad in a snow in winter, they are lush and green in summer, with deep valleys and high orange and yellow patterned sandstone ridges, cliffs and outcrops. Mountain streams with rock pools and small waterfalls play among gorges and through sandstone overhangs – many of which hang over caves once inhabited by San bushmen and still adorned with extraordinary cave paintings – some dating back 20 000 years. Herds of Eland and other antelope roam free and raptors soar above the kranse; rows of poplar trees and dams full of bass dot the landscape, the air is crisp and clean and the views go on forever…
This is hiking country, offering challenging routes to the sandstone summits and overnights in ancient caves, and access to this National treasure is being facilitated by a group in the village of Clarens called Summit Hiking.
Contact Summit Hiking to find out what trails and base camps are available in the area and to make bookings for an unforgettable and soul reviving hiking experience in the Eastern Cape Highlands.
Getting there: From Johannesburg, take the N3 to Bethlehem, then the R26 to Clarens. Total travelling time is about 4 hours.
| More info on the quaint town of Clarens | More info on the Eastern Free State area |
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