Treks Trips and Trails is located in the Maloti-Drakensberg area of South Africa – a beautiful mountainous area known for its incredible hiking and adventurous outdoor activities. In fact, its so beautiful that UNESCO declared the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park a World Heritage Site in 2000. The world heritage status was bestowed on the Maloti-Drakensberg in two categories; one for its magnificent flora & fauna and secondly for the number of cave art examples, still visible, left behind by the San People in some 600 cave sights throughout the region. But with 240,000 hectares of caves, rivers, wetlands, forests, valleys and grasslands, it’s a vast region to try to understand.
To help you, we’ll start close to home, by explaining a bit more about the Monks Cowl Nature Reserve on our doorstep and what you can expect here, in the heart of The Berg.
Where is Monks Cowl?
Monks Cowl is a nature reserve that takes its name from the peak between the Champagne Castle and Cathkin mountains, that yes, you guessed it, looks like a Monk’s Cowl (a modern day hoody)! This area is accessible at the end of the R600 which passes Champagne Sports Resort and Gooderson Monks Cowl Golf Resort.
From here you can reach the Mlambonja and Mdedelo Wilderness Areas of the Drakensberg – some of the most magnificent mountain areas in Africa. This is a great place for hiking with day walks and overnighters both a possibility to discover sweeping grasslands, rivers, waterfalls and towering cliffs.
Hiking trails in Monks Cowl
There are various hiking trails in the Monks Cowl are ranging from easy to difficult that can take between one to six hours to complete. Day visitors can meander along the river or take a gentle stroll to see the Sterkspruit Waterfall while the more energetic can enjoy more moderate or strenuous hikes along the contour path, to Nandi’s Falls, Blind man’s corner, up Sterkhorn/Mount Memory, to Keith’s Bush camp and up the Sphinx onto the little Berg. There are also overnight hiking routes which venture deeper into the valleys and forests and up onto the Drakensberg escarpment.
The caves at Monks Cowl
There are numerous caves to be found at Monks Cowl which provide a refuge for overnight hikers. Two of the more easy to reach caves in the lower Berg include Stable Cave and Zulu Cave while Inkosazana Cave on top of Champagne Castle is for the more adventurous hiker up for a good scramble. Visitors who want to see the bush art paintings left behind by the ancient inhabitants of this region can walk to Battle Cave.
Making your visit to Monks Cowl easier
As technology becomes better and with GPS devices in our pockets, navigating the hiking trails of the Monks Cowl nature reserve has never been easier. Before visiting the Drakensberg be sure to download the Wikiloc app where you will be able to easily follow a number of trails through the reserve. The good news is this is is a free app so you don’t have to pay to access the trails and with over 12 million trails worldwide it’s bound to be useful long after your visit to the Drakensberg.