Hi Ryan, I have been keen to go check it out. I see its not too far from jhb and dog friendly too.

Is the crag only accessible via abseil or is there a walk in? 

@callybishop

There is an adventurous path down to the crag. 

Sometimes protected by cables. Not very hard or dangerous. Just maybe hard to find if you it’s your first time down. 

I went to Buffalo Gorge with family over heritage day weekend. It's off the beaten track, but the owner Ryk is working hard to make people aware of what it has to offer 🙂 He's a character alright, and almost worth the visit on his own.

It's likely to be 2.5 to 3 hours to get there, the last 16km or so on dirt but well signposted. Try to avoid going in the dark, the road seems so much worse!

The Base Camp is at the foot of a small kloof which has some short hiking loops, a 15m abseil, and one easy route with toprope anchors. There is definitely potential for more routes there. It's a bit bushy because it doesn't get a huge amount of footfall, but is good for adventuring with kids. The hiking loops are marked with painted dots.

The camping itself is rustic; there is no electricity (at present) but there are flush toilets (bring your own "witgoud"= toiletpaper) and hot water showers, as long as you remember to "stook the donkie" (put some logs under the fire-heated geyser). You need to take your waste away with you.

There are longer hikes and a 4x4 trail as well, heading east from the base camp up a gentle hill. It's just over 3km to walk up to the top of the big cliff / crag, or if you are 4x4 enabled you can drive up. As Ryan posted already, you can stay at the wild camp which is at the top of the hill overlooking the Selons river valley (Avontuur Vallei).

The wild camp setting is special. Next time I go I will definitely camp up there... it has water (spring) and i think toilet / long drop, and is much closer to the crag. It's flat and grassy, which seems unlikely in the wider context of dry, rocky middleveld.

I didn't check if you can walk in to the crag, but there is a "50m" abseil point that has solid bolts set back from the edge. Abseiled on 50m twin ropes and discovered the length to be about 42, so you're good on 50m, anchored to the bolts. Just take care with the ropes which will probably get stuck in the trees, as the last part of the drop is through an overhang and the trees are growing close to the lip.

Once down you can venture right or left to find routes, there are 4 or 5 at present up to grade 20, with potential for more. The rock is typical for the inland of SA: red metamorphic sandstone. The routes do not generally go to the top as I understand it, but they are listed on thecrag.com, and you can also find the descriptions on buffalogorge.co.za. Most of the routes are between the foot of the abseil and the walk out (to the right as you are facing the cliff). The walk out is actually a scramble; there is a dodgy looking chain to help you out, but I inadvertently went a little way past the chain and had an easy enough scramble out anyway.

Unfortunately i didn't actually climb any of the routes so I can't share beta, but the bolting looked good, with sensibly spaced stainless hangers. I would definitely go again, maybe with less family and more belayers. Highly recommended if you want a quiet weekend in nature with a bit of climbing thrown in.

Hey Nemo,

Yes awesome place and interesting people as you say! 😁

Glad more people are trying it out! 
Wild camp site for the win next time!!

The chain on the scramble is good. 😅

Good job on an awesome write up! 🙌🏻