Golden Gate Highlands National Park

About this place

Golden Gate Highlands National Park lies in South Africa's Free State near the border with Lesotho, about 43 km northwest of the Drakensberg area in a straight line. It covers 327 square kilometres. The park was proclaimed in 1963 to protect the area's scenic beauty and has been enlarged several times since. Its best-known features are its golden, ochre and orange sandstone cliffs and outcrops carved by erosion, above all the Brandwag rock. Many caves and shelters in the area hold San rock paintings, and the park has yielded numerous fossil finds, including dinosaur eggs and skeletons. The cliffs glow gold at sunrise and sunset above plains of yellow and green grass, with layered peaks rising behind. Mongooses, eland, zebras and more than 100 bird species live in the park, and blesbok graze its plains. Visitors drive the road that runs through the park between the cliffs, walk short trails to viewpoints, and visit the Basotho Cultural Village inside the park to see its decorated traditional houses. Sunrise and sunset light bring out the colours of the cliffs.