Camping in the Drakensberg

If you can think of a better venue to go camping in the wild than camping in the Drakensberg, let us know. The beautiful and wild area around the summit of Sentinel Peak has a lot of good flat ground to set up camp and you will never be far away from a breathtaking view and a number of excellent trails.

Dose Meadows, an excellent spot along the Dosewallips River, provides many good campsites just 2.3 miles from the base of Sentinel Peak. Bear Camp is another 1.7 miles to the east, but is also within easy day hike distance. Further along the Dosewallips River is Deception Creek camp, about 7 miles from Sentinel Peak.

There is also an old hiker’s hut on top of Sentinel Peak near Tugela Falls, the second highest single waterfall in the world after Venezuela’s Angel Falls.  The hut was built and founded by the Mountain Club of South Africa back in the 1930s.

The hut has no facilities but provides good shelter from the wind and unpredictable weather, and hay has been laid on the floors to make for a more comfortable night’s rest. There is also a fire place. Hiker’s have been known to set up their tents inside the hut.

If you don’t feel like lugging a tent all the way up the mountain with you there are a few caves to be found on the way up that can also provide shelter for the night, but be sure to bring a roll mat or two.

There are lots of fresh water streams and springs around. The water from these is clean and safe to drink so running out of fluids while camping shouldn’t ever be an issue.

It can get very cold in the mountains at night, especially if the wind picks up, so be sure to set up your tent early and bring a lot of warm clothes and a thick sleeping bag with you.  In keeping with good environmental practice, campers must maintain a ‘leave nothing but your footprints; take nothing but photographs’ philosophy.

Prospective campers access the area through the Sentinel Car Park gate where a nominal camping fee is paid in cash.