Cederberg Wilderness

The Cederberg is about 71,000 hectares of Table Mountain sandstone eroded into shapes that look deliberate: the Wolfberg Arch, a free-standing span on a high plateau; the Maltese Cross, a twenty-metre pillar standing alone in scrub; the Wolfberg Cracks, a narrow chimney system you climb through to reach the top. The rock glows orange at either end of the day. San rock paintings survive in shelters throughout the range, some thousands of years old, and several sites are open to visitors with the more fragile ones restricted. The Clanwilliam cedar the range is named for was logged almost to nothing and now survives in scattered stands under a replanting programme. Because the area is dry, high and far from cities, the night sky is exceptionally dark - an observatory operates at Kruispad. Summer heat is severe and water sources are unreliable.

The landscape

• The Wolfberg Arch - a free-standing sandstone span on the plateau above Sanddrif.
• The Maltese Cross - a twenty-metre rock pillar standing alone in the scrub.
• The San rock art - painted shelters across the range, some sites restricted.
• The dark sky - one of the least light-polluted areas in the country.

When to go

March to May and September to November. Two to three days. Summer temperatures over forty degrees make hiking dangerous.

What to expect

Permits are required and numbers are capped for wilderness zones. Roads are rough gravel and some need clearance. Water on the trails is seasonal and unreliable - carry your own. Summer heat is genuinely dangerous and fire closures are common. Rock art sites are fragile: no touching, no wetting.

Nearby

Clanwilliam and its rooibos farms are below; the Biedouw valley flowers in spring.

Key facts