Golden Gate Highlands National Park
The Clarens region is an appealing place in South Africa. The rock formations with its distinctive Clarens beauty are a jewel in the Free State province. It has the charm of a town in Switzerland, hence the name. But near the town lies the hills of the Maluti mountains. The grassland on the rolling hills are something a photograph would never be able to capture. I stood in awe underneath the mountains and took in their magnificent creation.
There are a few trails in these mountains. It ranges from a few hours per hike to a few days. The trails are connected with each other, so you are able to connect various routes and make your own trail. For example, we decided to connect Echo Ravine with Bos Kloof which created a circle route. All of the trails are indicated on the map except for one, Cathedral Cave hike, because you have to book a guide to take you on the route as it may be unsafe if you do it alone. When I return to the Golden Gate Highlands I will do that hike.
The park is part of SANparks (South African National Parks). There is a fee for a permit to hike in the mountains, drive around the park, or to see the vultures. It is R67 for South African citizens and R266 for international visitors.
Vulture Hide
The park is unique for its vulture hide where you can go and see the “vulture restaurant”. It is a building on top of a hill where you have to walk a bit from the parking and be silent for your own safety. If you enter the building there are windows with a view of carcasses for the vultures. If you are lucky, you will be able to see how the vultures feed on the carcasses. Unfortunately when we went to the hide we did not see any vultures, only carcasses.
Echo Ravine
Our hike started off by crossing a bridge over a small river. The path snaked up the hill to a sign indicating which path is which hike. There were bricks that made stairs. I think the reason for the bricks is because of the high rainfall which causes a lot of erosion and disintegration of the path.
The one path heading down had a lot of erosion and formed a wide ditch with a width of approximately a jumping distance. A stream also decided it would be the perfect place to trickle down the mountains. Atleast our way was upwards, so no jumping for us. The mountains surrounding us were glorious. It was interesting to see the rock formations and it was thought provoking to think about how some of them were shaped to how they look now.
It was a short ascent in direct sunlight until we entered a forest area. You could already hear and see the water coming down. The lushes green forest dips you into coolness. It is at that moment you take a breath of fresh air and appreciate the green surrounding you. We only stopped for a moment because I was too excited to go into the ravine, but I recommend a break to appreciate where you are.
The forest ended and we were met with a spectacular view. Our eyes looked up to see the crack of blue sky in between the rock. It was something I never knew I needed to see. It was magical!
We explored deeper into the ravine and saw that it stretched quite far. There were droplets dripping from the heights which glowed in the sun like golden honey. It was clean water which also had a sweet taste like honey.
This ravine was an experience that I would never forget. The echoes of laughter and gratitude would always stay in my heart.
Carrying on
We had our fun of exploring in the ravine and decided that we would turn back. Instead of going the same way back, we took another path which would lead us to a lookout point.
The ascend was not that much until we reached the lookout point. It had a lovely scene of the valley. We wanted to connect another path with our route to another lookout point, but the heat got the best of us. We took a breather and decided to circle back.
Our path started to wind down towards the starting point. With the whole way down we had the beautiful view of the valley. It was a peaceful hike down. It was not at all straining or anxiety inducing because of dangerous heights like other hiking routes. But, the ditch I mentioned before fell on our route. We helped each other over the jump. I almost slipped, but atleast 
On our hike down we saw some beautiful forget-me-nots. I always stop to admire these blue flowers. They are so delicate and an art piece on its own.
Post-hike treat
There was a coffee-truck at the side of the parking lot.
We drove around the park for a bit and enjoyed the scenery. I think this is one of my favourite hiking spots in the Drakensberg region.
If you find yourself in the Northern part of the Drakensberg mountains or somewhere near Clarens, try to visit the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. It is a slice of nature for the whole family to enjoy!
(This post is my own creation about my experience in the Golden Gate. The photographs were taken with either my iPhone or