A Complete Guide to Visiting Golden Gate National Park

With beautiful scenery, dramatic sandstone rock formations and a bit of wildlife to boot, Golden Gate Highlands National Park is great to explore. Add to the mix a variety of walking trails, both short and long, and you’ve got an excellent weekend destination. Or anytime, really!

Want to know more? Read on for our guide to visiting Golden Gate National Park, containing all the information you need to discover this beautiful, yet rarely visited, part of South Africa. 

Golden Gate Highlands National Park: Overview

Scenery is the name of the game at Golden Gate Highlands National Park. The park is renowned for its sandstone rockface, which as its name implies, changes from pink and yellow to a glowing golden colour throughout the day. 

If it’s wildlife you’re looking for, then you’re in luck. The park also has one of the largest herds of black wildebeest in the country. In addition, eland, blesbok, Burchell’s zebra and springbok are also around. 

And want to stretch your legs? Golden Gate has multiple walking trails of all levels. There are easy, short walks for those short on time or inexperienced to longer day hikes and an overnight trail. All offer a lot of beauty and variety, so even if you only get time for a short hike, you’ll still get to experience the wonderful scenery the park is known for.

Read next: Explore South Africa’s Hidden Gems

Golden Gate National Park Location 

Golden Gate National Park is located in the northeastern part of the Free State, easily accessible from Johannesburg, Durban and Bloemfontein. The park is set in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains – so if you’re thinking of visiting Lesotho or the stunning Drakensberg, it’s definitely worth making a stop en route. 

Related: 15 Awesome Things to Do in Lesotho + Essential Guide

How to Get to Golden Gate National Park 

By far, the best way to visit Golden Gate National Park is with your own car. If you don’t have your own set of wheels, then we recommend renting one so you can explore South Africa freely!

Pro tip: use Discover Cars to find the best deals on rentals.

For you self-drivers out there, the R712 cuts straight through Golden Gate National Park. 

Coming from Joburg, you’ll take the N3, then a series of smaller roads. It’s around a 3 to 3.5 hour drive. From Bloemfontein, it’s also a 3 hour drive via the N1 and N5 (and again, then a series of smaller roads).  And finally, from Durban, it’s a tad bit longer – around 4 hours – but also can be accessed by the N3. 

If you’re on public transport, you’re best reaching Golden Gate Highlands National Park from either Bethlehem, Harrismith or Clarens. Shared taxis ply the road into the park from any of these destinations. 

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Best time to Visit Golden Gate National Park

I’ll be honest, there’s a lot of conflicting information online about when it’s best to visit Golden Gate National Park. In our experience, the best time to visit is from November to March. During this time, you have the best chance of good weather – warm, clear days with mild evenings. 

You can, however, visit Golden Gate Highlands National Park year-round. From April to August, temperatures will be lower and rainfall will be higher. If you’re camping, be prepared for cold and wet weather! 

For more details, the Visit Clarens site has a great breakdown of the monthly weather in the region.  

Related: 15 Awesome Things to Do in Johannesburg

Golden Gate Highlands National Park Entrance and Permit

The actual entrance to Golden Gate National Park is unstaffed and you will simply pass it as you enter the park. 

The park information centre, located at Glen Reenen Rest Camp and Chalets, is where you are meant to purchase your park permit. 

As with all South African national parks, the price is on a tiered system:

• For South African citizens and residents, it costs 63 ZAR per person, per day;
• For SADC nationals, it costs 126 ZAR per person, per day; and
• For international visitors, it costs 252 ZAR per person, per day.

For day visitors, it is our understanding that permits are rarely checked on the hiking trails or in the picnic area. For those camping, in our experience, if you book your camping online and just proceed to the campsite (without formally checking in at the Glen Reenen Rest Camp reception), no one actually checks if you have a permit or not. 

Do what you wish with this information. 

Things to Do at Golden Gate Highlands National Park 

Golden Gate Hiking Trails

Golden Gate National Park is excellent for hiking, with a number of trails around the park. There are both longer and shorter hiking trails in Golden Gate National Park, so you can choose the level of adventure you’re looking for. 

Conveniently, especially for campers, almost all Golden Gate hiking trails leave right from the campground. Cross the footbridge and you’re on your way!

Keen on more epic hiking in South Africa? Check out the Wolfberg Arch in the Cederberg

Golden Gate Short Hiking Trails

Note: you can combine the first 4 of these short Golden Gate hiking trails into one really nice walk, which should take approximately 3 hours.

Brandwag Buttress Trail

A short, sharp and to-the-point trail to a great lookout over the valley. Hikers must use a chain rain to ascend for the final portion of the hike. Time: 2 hours return. 

Echo Ravine Trail

A nice walk to a beautiful ravine. The waterfall is pretty much non-existent, but it’s still worth going on to see the really cool curve of the rocks overhead. It’s similar to walking through a semi-open cave. Time: 2 hours return. 

Boskloof Trail

Probably the easiest of the Golden Gate hiking trails, through a small valley. We didn’t find this trail that exceptionally beautiful, but if you want an easy way to stretch your legs, this is it. Time: 1 hour return. 

Mushroom Rock Trail

Another easy walk in the park to a rock with mushroom-shaped roofs. Time: 1 hour return. 

Holkrans Trail

This short trail starts from the Golden Gate Hotel and takes you to a structure resembling a cave. Time: 1 hour return. 

Golden Gate Longer Hiking Trails

Out of all the Golden Gate hiking trails, this is an excellent half-day option. It brings you to the highest point in the park and is a great way to take in views of the area – you can even see the Drakensberg escarpment off in the distance. 

Whilst the start of the trail is signposted, these disappear a few hours in, so we recommend using maps.me or Wikiloc to navigate the trail. 

First, start along the Brandwag Buttress Trail and then continue on the Ribbok Trail. You’ll walk on the side of a hill for a while and then get to a plateau. Whilst the Ribbok Trail goes straight, the Wodehouse Peak Trail continues up the mountain. 

Prepare yourself for multiple false summits! 

Once you reach a rocky plateau, about 3.5 hours in, the signposts disappear. 

Important: when descending, the trail on maps.me goes straight down. Don’t follow this. It’s closed and probably not safe.

To finish the trail, you can exit on the highway. There appears to be a trail going back to the campground via the bush, but it looks hectic. 

Once on the highway, it’s 1.3 km back to the campground. From here, it’s a good perspective of the sandstone from the the highway. Normally highway walking is boring, but we found this quite interesting.

Pro tip: be sure to bring binoculars for this hike, as we saw zebra and other wildlife on the trail. 

We haven’t done this overnight trail just yet, but are super keen on it. There’s an overnight hut with bunk beds, mattresses, a fireplace, toilets and even hot showers! 

If you’ve conquered the Ribbok Hiking Trail, please let us know, we’d love to hear about it. 

Private Hiking Tours

There is an excellent, 4-day hiking tour that takes in all the highlights of the area, including San rock art.

Further Hiking Resources

For more information on these trails (and beyond) we highly recommend the book Hiking Trails of South Africa. It’s a great resource for exploring South Africa on foot!

Golden Gate National Park Scenic Drives

Golden Gate is a beauty to drive through. There are two scenic loops you can take, the Blesbok Loop (6 km) and the Oribi Loop (4 km). Again, be sure to bring your binoculars so you don’t miss those zebras!

Horse Riding at Golden Gate National Park

You can organise some scenic horse riding in the park. There are 3 rides available per day at 9:00 am, 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. These cost 350 ZAR per person and last for 1 hour. 

Swimming at Golden Gate National Park

There is a natural rock pool at the Glen Reenen Rest Camp that you are free to swim in (maybe after a long hike?).  

Where to Stay When Visiting Golden Gate National Park 

When visiting Golden Gate National Park, you have two options: you can stay inside the park or you can stay in the nearby, and very charming, town of Clarens. 

Where to Stay in Golden Gate National Park

Glen Reenen Rest Camp

The park-run rest camp, with rondavels, longdavels and guest cottages on offer. Unfortunately, reports are that the offerings are a bit run-down. 

Golden Gate Hotel and Chalets

The more upscale option, with various rooms to choose from. 

Camping at Golden Gate National Park 

For your campers out there, there is camping available at the Glen Reenen Rest Camp. 

The facilities are decent (hot water showers and a kitchen), while the campground is just okay. In the powered section there are designated sites, whereas in the unpowered section, it’s more of a free-for-all.

Sites cost 300 ZAR/ night for unpowered and 330 ZAR/night for powered sites. If you book online, you get a 10% discount.

Pro tip: if your international card gets blocked on foreign websites (like SANParks), try using a Wise card. It’s what we do and it’s never let us down!

Theoretically, you’re supposed to check in and get a specific site, but in reality, you can just rock up and find a space in the campground.

Where to Stay in Clarens

Fortunately, Clarens is awash with lovely places to stay. Here are a few top choices. 

Clarens Eddies Guesthouse

Pecan Place

Honeysuckle Clarens

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