Karkloof Falls

The Karkloof River drops about 105 metres into a wooded gorge north of Howick, and the viewpoint is a simple one: a parking area at the end of a gravel road with a view across at the fall, no infrastructure, no fee. It runs hardest after summer storms. The Karkloof name attaches to a wider area of mist-belt forest and farmland, and the other attraction there is the canopy tour - a set of platforms and steel cables strung through the forest canopy that you traverse in a harness, one of the first such tours built in South Africa. The forest itself is a significant remnant with samango monkeys, Cape parrots and crowned eagles, and there is a conservancy with bird hides on nearby wetlands. The area is farming country: dairy, timber and horses, on gravel roads that need care in the wet.

What you actually see

• The 105-metre fall - a plain viewpoint across the gorge, no fence or fee.
• The canopy tour - platforms and cables through mist-belt forest, ziplined in a harness.
• The forest remnant - samango monkeys and Cape parrots in the Karkloof canopy.
• The wetland hides - bird hides on the conservancy nearby.

When to go

November to April for water. Half a day including the canopy tour, which is booked ahead.

Honest expectations

The falls viewpoint is unfenced with a sheer drop and no facilities. The gravel road is rough after rain. The canopy tour is a separate commercial operation with its own booking and price. Flow drops a lot in winter.

Nearby

Howick Falls is south; the Midlands Meander route runs through the area.