Golden Gate Highlands National Park

Golden Gate protects about 34,000 hectares of the eastern Free State highlands, and the name, given in 1875 by the farmer J. N. R. van Reenen when he saw the last sun on the cliffs, comes from the Brandwag, a buttress of Clarens sandstone that catches late afternoon sun and glows orange-gold. The park is grassland and cliff rather than bushveld: black wildebeest, blesbok, eland and Cape mountain zebra graze at altitudes between roughly 1,900 and 2,800 metres, and bearded and Cape vultures use the cliffs. Its scientific claim is palaeontological - fossils of Massospondylus, an early dinosaur, have been found here including eggs with embryos inside, among the oldest known dinosaur embryos anywhere, and a small vulture restaurant and interpretive material cover this. The park was proclaimed in 1963 and has grown several times since. Snow falls most winters and the road can close. Basotho cultural village sits inside the park, and the town of Clarens just outside is a galleries-and-restaurants weekend destination.

The landscape

• The Brandwag buttress - sandstone that turns gold in late afternoon light.
• The dinosaur eggs - Massospondylus fossils including embryos, among the oldest known.
• The highland game - black wildebeest, blesbok and mountain zebra on grassland at altitude.
• The winter snow - falls most years, occasionally closing the pass road.

When to go

March to May and September to November; winter for snow. Two days.

Good to know

Winter nights are severe and snow can close roads. Summer afternoons bring lightning on open grassland. There are no big predators - this is scenery and plains game. Clarens fills with weekenders and prices rise accordingly.

Nearby

Clarens is west; the Drakensberg Amphitheatre is south over the escarpment.

Key facts