Camdeboo National Park

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Introduction

***Camdeboo National Park Campsite Bookings Open 1 March 2012***
...Details to follow soon

Please note: Construction of camping site development temporarily delayed

Formed hundreds of millions of years ago, the Karoo of South Africa is one of the great natural wonders of the world. Camdeboo National Park provides the visitor with insights into the unique landscape and ecosystem of the Karoo, not to mention awesome scenic beauty.

A unique feature of the 19 405-hectare park is its location, practically surrounding the town of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape.

The greater portion of the park is situated between 740 and 1480 metres above sea level on the foothills of the Sneeuberg range, while a small section of the low lying-plains is included. The Nqweba Dam lies within the park and covers about 1000 hectares when full. At some places, dolerites form jointed pillars – the best examples of which are found in the Valley of Desolation where erosion of the softer sedimentary beds has left dolerite pillars which rise to heights of 90 – 120 metres.

Areas of Special Interest

Visitors to the Game Viewing Area are requested to remain in their vehicles in order to protect the interests and expectations of other tourists. Visitors are also advised to leave the area in event of heavy rainfall, in order to avoid the risk of getting stuck or cut off by flash floods.

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Accommodation

Camdeboo National Park encircles the town of Graaff-Reinet, which has a variety of accommodation options including hotels, guest houses and a caravan park.

Contact the Graaff-Reinet Tourism Office:
Tel: +27 (0) 49 892 4248
email: info@graaffreinet.co.za

Accommodation facilities run by the park are limited to the a single hut used on the Driekoppe Hiking Trail and the Camdeboo Environmental Education Centre for school groups which can accommodate up to 40 children.

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Activities & Facilities

Activities

Valley of Desolation

With an estimated 60 to 100 000 people who visit this site each year, the Valley of Desolation is a premier tourist attraction.

The Valley of Desolation was declared as a National Monument of geological and scenic significance by proclamation 2 116 of the Government Gazette dated 22 December 1939.

The original road to the Valley of Desolation was constructed by labourers using picks, shovels and barrows. The road to the top of the valley was tarred in 1978 and today provides tourists with easy access to the viewpoints with their panoramic views of the landscape.

To the north, the highest peak in the Sneeuberg mountain range – Compassberg (2 504m) - is prominent, while on a clear day, the southern horizon stretches as far as the distant Cockscomb Mountains. To the east lies the 'Driekoppie' (in the park) and the Nardausberg (beyond the park boundaries), both of which are often covered in snow during winter. The Plains of Camdeboo lie spread out south of the Sneeuberg from Pearston to Murraysburg. The viewpoints at the valley itself provide a breathtaking view of piled dolerites columns against the backdrop of the plain of the Great Karoo and a timeless sense of wonder at a landscape said to be the product of the erosive and volcanic forces of nature over a period of 200 million years.

Visitors may learn more about the reserve through information displays at parking areas or viewpoints. The Valley of Desolation, sometimes referred to as the 'Cathedral of the Mountains' provides for many visitors an experience ranging from 'spiritual contact' to one of profound awareness of the environment.

Game Viewing

Presently, approximately 19km of gravel roadways provide visitors with the opportunity to view the entire range of indigenous species in their preferred habitats. Through the Poverty Relief Programme, the game viewing road network will be extended and improved.

Impunzi picnic area has four sites suitable for family outings. Each site is provided with a 'braai' stand, picnic table and refuse drum. Water is available and the picnic area is provided with a 'long drop' toilet.

Watersports

The Nqweba Dam, which covers over 1 000 hectares, provides cool relief during hot summer days and a base for a variety of water activities. Boating, canoeing, fishing and windsurfing are allowed on the dam. See watersports tariffs.

Nqweba Dam attracts a wide variety of birds as well as wildlife such as buffalo, gemsbok, springbok and black wildebeest which come to drink from the waters. Fish species which occur in the dam include moggel (Labeo umbratus), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), African catfish (Clarias gariepinus), mullet (Mugil cephalus), round herring (Gilchristella aestuaria), mosquitofish (Gambusia affinus) and river goby (Glossogobius callidus).

Trails and walks

The Crag Lizard Trail (45 minutes) starts at the Valley parking area and extends for about 1.5 km via the Valley viewpoints. It is marked with the Crag Lizard logo.

The Eerstefontein Day Walk starts and ends at the Spandaukop gate. There are three route options of 5km; 11km and 14km with good rest spots at Eerstefontein and Agtersfontein.

The Driekoppe Trail is an overnight trail in the mountains of the Eastern section of the park. The Waaihoek Trail Hut may be booked for up to two consecutive nights and accommodates 8 people.

Facilities

Picnic Areas

Camdeboo National Park has six picnic areas with braai and ablution facilities:

• Impunzi picnic area in the Game Viewing Area has 4 sites.
• Ribbokberg picnic area on the way to Valley of Desolation has 4 sites.
• Mountain Drive picnic area has 7 widely-spaced sites in the Mountain Drive area.
• Babergat picnic area has 2 sites adjacent to the Nqweba Dam wall.
• Piekniekbos picnic area has 12 sites on the western shore of the Nqweba Dam
• The Boat Club picnic area has 4 sites (for exclusive use of boat club members).

Facilities such as fuel stations, ATMs, banks, shops and restaurants are available in the nearby town of Graaff-Reinet. Camdeboo National Park surrounds the town of Graaff-Reinet. For more information on Graaff-Reinet, contact the Tourism Office on info@graaffreinet.co.za or tel: +27(0)49 892 4248.

Camdeboo Environmental Education Centre

The centre and staff offer programmes to any formal group to promote awareness of and sensitivity towards the natural environment. Courses are tailored to meet visitors' needs up to a maximum of 40 people and may extend from one to four days. A nominal tariff is payable. This centre may also be booked for a team building or conference purpose.

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How to get there

Camdeboo National Park surrounds the town of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

When entering Graaff-Reinet, you will enter on College Road. College Road becomes Church Street. The Old Dutch Reformed Church is dead centre of this road and vehicles can only turn left around the church and will come to a stop street. Turn left at the stop street into Caledon Street and proceed down the street. At the four-way stop, turn right into the road towards Murraysburg. Keep going onto the road to the Valley of Desolation. The entrance to the park is 8km from Graaff-Reinet on the Murraysburg road.

The nearest international airport is in Cape Town and the nearest domestic airport in Port Elizabeth.

From Cape Town, take the N1 highway towards Beaufort West. Pass through the town of Beaufort West and then turn right onto the R61 to Aberdeen. At Aberdeen, take the N9 towards Graaff-Reinet.

• Beaufort West to Graaff-Reinet = 209 km.
• Cape Town to Graaff-Reinet = approx. 600 km.

From Port Elizabeth, take the R75 to Jansenville and Graaff-Reinet.

• Port Elizabeth to Graaff-Reinet = 251 km.

Gate Entrance Times

Valley of Desolation Gates

	Jan - Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July-Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
Open	06:00	06:00	06:30	07:00	07:00	07:00	06:30	06:00	06:00	06:00
Close	20:00	19:30	19:0	18:30	18:00	18:30	19:00	19:30	20:00	20:30

Game Viewing Area & Lakeview Gates

	Jan - Feb	Mar	Apr	May	June	July-Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
Open:	06:00	06:00	06:30	07:00	07:00	07:00	06:30	06:00	06:00	06:00
Close:	19:30	19:00	18:30	18:00	17:30	18:00	18:30	19:00	19:30	20:00

 

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Natural and Cultural History

Camdeboo National Park was proclaimed as South Africa's 22nd National Park under the management of South African National Parks on Sunday 30th October 2005.

Following an extensive process of negotiation and discussion between government, conservation groups, and concerned stakeholders, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, announced the intention to proclaim South Africa's 22nd National Park in the area surrounding Graaff-Reinet. This was made possible by the World Wide Fund for Nature in South Africa (WWF-SA), which donated the 14500 hectare Karoo Nature Reserve to be the centrepiece of the project.

A public consultation process was followed to decide on the new name for the park, culminating in the choice of Camdeboo National Park.

The Karoo Nature reserve was established in 1979 when the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the World Wildlife Fund recognised the urgency for conservation measures in the Karoo biome and listed this action as a world conservation priority.

The vision for the future is ultimately to link the Camdeboo National Park with the Mountain Zebra National Park, protecting a huge diversity of plant and animal species. This will assist in the conservation of the endangered Cape Mountain Zebra. The idea is to create a single mega-conservation area over 120km in length and including up to 520 000 hectares of land under conservation and this will be accomplished in the main by public/private partnerships.

Early history of the park includes use of the area by early, middle and later stone age people. Evidence of occupation by these people can be found in the form of stone age industry sites on the south eastern plains of the park. Artefacts found in these sites include bored stones, percussion-made hand axes, scrapers, blades and grinding stones.

Khoisan hunters and herders left evidence of their occupation during the late stone age in the form of rock paintings in the eastern section of the park.

The Inqua tribe occupied the park area during the mid 1600's, grazing their vast herds of cattle and fat-tailed sheep on the apron veld from the Camdeboo River near Aberdeen, across the Sundays River to Agter-Bruintjieshoogte near Somerset East.

White farmers settled the Camdeboo Plains and Sneeuberg in 1770, introducing merino sheep and angora goats, as well as exotic plants. Over the years overgrazing and the effects of exotic plants have resulted in soil erosion and an increase in woody species or unpalatable plants.

Until the park was first proclaimed as a reserve in 1979, it was used as a town commonage with tenants grazing their livestock and contributing to overgrazing and erosion of some areas.

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Park Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tariffs

• General Tariffs Information
• 2011/2012 Tariffs (word document or pdf document)
• Pensioners' Discount
• Cost of a Wild Card

Daily Conservation Fee for 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2012
South African citizens & Residents (with ID)	R22 per person, per day
SADC Nationals (with passport)	R44 per adult, per day R22 per child per day
Standard Conservation Fee (Foreign Visitors):	R64 per adult, per day R32 per child, per day

Once you have paid entry fees at one point of entry into the park, you will not be charged when visiting other park attractions. Please note, this does not include activities.

Environmental Education Fees for 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2012
Camdeboo Education Centre	Education Groups from Camdeboo District:	R5 per child & R10 per adult per night
	Education groups outside Camdeboo District:	R15 per child & R25 per adult per night
	Day Visits	No charge (no conservation fee will be charged)
Camdeboo Education Centre (own educational purposes)	Overnight visitors	R70 per person, per night
	Day visitors	R35 per person
Conference Facility	Day fee	R500 per day

***No Conservation Fees will be charged for use of the Education Centre only***

Other Tariffs for 1 November 2011 to 31 October 2012
Boating Area (Nqweba Dam) entry permit: Motor vehicle Powerboat Jetski Sailboat Windsurfer Canoe Paddleski	Season R80 R80 R80 R50 R40 R40 R40	Day R40 R40 R40 R30 R25 R25 R25
Angling: Permit	R10 per month

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Vital Information

Climate

Camdeboo National Park is located in a summer rainfall, semi-desert area.

Summers are very hot and winters can be very cold. During the summer months, visitors are advised to confine their activities to early mornings and late afternoons. Most of the average rainfall of 336mm per annum occurs in summer and autumn, with a peak in March. Thunderstorms and high temperatures are common during the summer months while snowfalls can occur in the high-lying areas in winter.

Tourism Day Visitors

Day visitors are welcome and can make use of various attractions such as the Valley of Desolation, Game Viewing Area and a number of picnic sites.

Fuel Stations: Petrol/ Diesel

Vehicle fuel is available in all parks (or is available on the park periphery):

• South African legislation stipulates that fuel stations will accept legitimate petrol/fuel/garage/credit/debit cards or cash as a form of payment for any fuel purchase.

The park is located: On N9 towards Middelburg, Graaff-Reinet, 6280

Contact Information

For enquiries e-mail Camdeboo National Park or phone us on the following numbers:

• Tel: (049) 892 3453
• Fax: (049) 892 3456
• Camdeboo National Park
  P. O. Box 349
  Graaff-Reinet
  6280

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Park Newsletters

2011

• July - Issue 2: part I, part II

2009

• Issue 1 - August
  

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Paleontology

The Karoo of South Africa is one of the great natural wonders of the world, formed hundreds of millions of years ago. Millions of years ago, southern Africa was emerging from the grip of a great Ice Age. Thick sheets of ice, which had for thousands of years covered the surface of the subcontinent, were retreating around a newly exposed landscape. The central portion of South Africa was revealed as a low-lying basin surrounded by uplands and mountains, which for 50 million years supported plant and animal life of particular interest today. The fossilized remains of these extinct organisms reveal a saga of success and failures, and the emergence and decline of many varied forms of life.

The uniqueness of the Karoo Basin, as it is known to geologists, lies partly in the fact that its 50-million-year fossil record, covering a period from 240 to 190 million years ago, is largely unbroken, so that the intricate evolutionary pathways followed by different animal groups through time can be more closely traced than in other fossil-bearing systems of rock strata. In the true paleontological sense, therefore, the 'Karoo' is more than just a geographical area: the element of time is inextricably woven into the meaning of the word.

Exposed along the slopes of the karoo koppies and in the sides of river channels, are the fossilized bones of reptiles. These animals lived in the prehistoric Karoo marshlands and in many cases their bones or skeleton were washed into lakes or pools and rapidly covered in mud. The hardened mud has become the Karoo shale of today. These rocks are rich in the fossils of the two main groups of early Karoo reptiles. The Pareiasauria were large bulky herbivores of primitive descent, while most of the fossils in the Graaff-Reinet area are of mammal-like reptiles (Therapsids) that date back to the Upper Permian and Lower Triassic periods from 240 to 190 million years ago.

One very successful branch of the Therapsid family are well represented by Dicnodontia, a distinctive group of mammal-like reptiles with firmly knitted skulls and well differentiated teeth including canines, post canines and molars. This group did not survive the pressure of a changing environment and became extinct. Another group of Therapsids, the carnivorous Gorgonopsia, co-existed with the herbivorous Dicnodontia. These animals had clearly defined canines and temporal openings in the side of the skull to accommodate the large muscles of the jaw. Gorgonopsia did not survive the end of the Permian period. Within the Therapsid family, the progressive Therocephalia did however survive and became the group through which the line to true animals ran.

The Karoo fossil reptiles are of international importance and are studied by scientists from all over the world. They provide a unique insight into the animal life of the Karoo long before the advent of birds, mammals and man. The fossils on discover play in the Reinet Museum in Graaff-Reinet are from an extensive collection made over an 18-year period from localities in the Graaff-Reinet district by Mr. Alex T Bremmer.

Geology

Camdeboo National Park is characterized by sedimentary rocks of the Beaufort series and lies well within the great geological system known as the Karoo Supergroup. Examination of the hills and koppies around Graaff-Reinet soon reveals the layered nature of the rock formations reflecting their origin as banks of sand or clay laid down by stream action. Rocks of the Karoo Supergroup were formed from mud, sand and clay washed by slow meandering rivers into the low –lying marshy Karoo Basin which existed around 200 million years ago. At this time Southern Africa was a vast flat land at the heart of the super-continent Gondwanaland, where lush vegetation supported a large and varied animal population: dinosaurs and the early ancestors of the warm-blooded mammals were abundant. Sand and mud slowly accumulated on the plain and eventually deposits reached great thickness. Time and pressure converted the sediment to hard rock, forming the sandstones and shales, which today is a feature of the Karoo landscape.

A general upliftment of southern Africa many millions of years after the Karoo Period came to an end, caused erosion by fast seaward flowing rivers and streams to carve into the Karoo sandstones and shales. A mass of material eroded from the Karoo Basin was dumped into the sea, where it now constitutes the continental shelf. Today geologists can see much of the history of the Karoo Supergroup by studying sections cut through the rocks by natural weathering. A particularly thick sill of dolerite may be seen in the hillsides surrounding the Valley of Desolation. The Valley itself was formed by erosion along a narrow steep sided cleft on the side of the mountain, probably caused from stresses in the earth's crust a few million years after the dolerite was emplaced. The prominent rock pinnacles were formed by erosion along vertical cracks in the dolerite – cracks that developed as the magma solidified and contracted while cooling

180 – 160 million years ago, volcanic eruptions laid waste to much of Africa. Not all of the molten rock (called Magma by geologists), which was generated deep in the earth's crust was able to find its way to the surface. Enormous quantities were forced into cracks and fissures in the sandstones and shales, while more found its way into the spaces between the layered sediments. On solidification the magma formed the rock known as dolerite, which forms horizontal layers and vertical sheets (sills and dykes) that are characteristic features of Karoo scenery today.

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Mammals

Camdeboo National Park supports a diverse spectrum of wildlife (see also information on birds).

Many of the animals show a variety of adaptations to survive in the arid and unstable environment of the Karoo. The springbok is remarkably well-adapted, deriving its water requirements as a by-product of metabolism and seldom, if ever, needs to drink.

The herpetofauna has been well-documented and includes 5 frog, 5 tortoise, 19 lizard and 10 snake species.

Four fish species are found within the park.

Outbreaks of the brown locust and cyclical eruptions of the harvester termite and karoo caterpillar and their influence on the vegetation, are characteristic features of this unstable but resilient ecosystem.

Forty-three mammal species are found within the park of which 11 are rodents and 13 carnivores.

The crepuscular bat-eared fox is often seen hunting by the use of its large ears to locate insects while the communal behaviour of the suricate (meerkat) can be fascinating to watch.

Vervet monkeys, seen often with tails shortened to varying degree by aggressive interaction within the troop, inhabit the Acacia forests and adjacent plant communities. These primates should never be fed, since this practice subverts their natural behaviour and creates problem animals, which may later have to be destroyed.

Game animals regularly sighted by visitors include steenbok, springbok, blesbok and black wildebeest in areas with an open physiognomy. Thicket inhabitants include the kudu and grey duiker which are common as well as the less often seen Cape buffalo. Red hartebeest and gemsbok are frequently observed in the transitional vegetation types. Cape Mountain Zebra may be seen from time to time but prefer the more mountainous areas of the reserve. The klipspringer is well-adapted to the rocky habitats of the park with hooves adapted to enhance their grip on the rocks due to pneumatic spaces in the tips of the hooves.

Have a look at our species list.

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Vegetation

The Karoo is arid, semi-desert country. The plant composition is unstable and influenced by the variation in rainfall, with autumn and spring rains favouring the growth of karroid plants (karoo bushes), while mid to late summer rains favour grass, taller shrubs and trees.

The system is highly resilient, able to recover rapidly after droughts, insect outbreaks and overgrazing. However, areas of the park are still in a transitional state due to the effects of previous veld mismanagement. Unpalatable species, dwarf shrubs and poor ground cover have replaced palatable grasses and karoo bushes in areas that were overgrazed in the past.

The diverse landscape of the park in relation to altitude, aspect and soil type has led to the development of three distinct physiognomic classes of vegetation: shrubland, succulent thicket and dwarf shrubland.

Shrubland is located on sandstone dominated uplands above 1300 metre elevation. This vegetation displays a gradient from a moist condition, in which shrubs are separated by grasslands, to a dry condition in which inter-clump cover is dominated by dwarf shrubs.

Succulent thicket is dominated by shrubs and succulents of sub-tropical affinity.

Dwarf shrubland is restricted to the bottomlands where alkaline alluvial soils are encountered. It may be grassy, succulent or degraded, depending on the nature of the near-surface substrate, the frequency of precipitation and recent land-use history.

To date 336 plant species have been collected, among which 71 families of flowering plants are represented. The most important of these are daisies (55 species), grasses (36 species), lilies (25 species) and succulent Crassula's (16 species).

A wetland plant community occurs primarily within the water fluctuation area of the dam. The dynamic nature of this short grassland includes patches of either 'fluitjiesriet', Phragmitis communis, tamarisk, Tamarix usneoides or cosmopolitan weeds. The most common grasses in this vegetation unit include the creeping perennials Cynodon dactylon and C. incompletes.

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People with disabilities

No special provision is made for disabled people at this time, however, a new accessible pathway to the Valley of Desolation will be considered in the near future.

(Please see additional information on Wheelchair Accessibility)

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