February 2022

Exploring the Stadsaal Caves/Grotte (“City Hall Caves”) & Rock Art Paintings

We have driven past the entrance to the Stadsaal Caves many times before – always on our way to a camping weekend or back home. But now, we decided to make time and pay a visit to this unique place, and it was breathtaking beautiful!

Permit:

Keep in mind that you will need a permit to visit the caves and rock art paintings. It can be obtained from the nearby farms (Kromrivier and Dwarsrivier) or Cape Nature’s Office at Algeria (40km from the Stadsaal Caves). There is a locked gate at the site, and you will receive the code for the padlock on your permit to get access to the area.

The parking area at Stadsaal Caves

Where did the name originated from?

The name “Stadsaal” was officially given to the cave after the National Party held a planning meeting there just before coming to power in 1948. However, it was used as a community meeting place well before that. (Source: Cape Nature)

Taking one of the many trails to visit the caves

Besides the main cavern area, there are many smaller openings and unique formations to be seen – all of which are accessible thanks to a trail that goes around the entire rock formation (starting and ending at the parking area).

Unique rock formations
A small rock cave
Another small cave which we entered
Exploring the inside of the small cave

It will take you about 30 minutes to walk around at a leisurely pace … but it might take you much longer when you start to take photos of the unique rock formations (something we did, only to leave the Stadsaal Caves after about 2 hours).

The trail continues through all the caves and rock formations
Do you see the lizard on top of the left-hand rock?

As always, we were trying to figure out what figures/animals we see in the rock formations … and had much fun in choosing names for all the rocks!

The roaring lion

Main cave:

This cavernous dome has been carved out of the rock by thousands of years of wind erosion and other weather factors.

The trail was taking us towards the main cave
The entrance into the main cave
Entering the main cave
Once you’re inside, the rock formations are mind blowing

Memories of a visit back in 1986:

I must confess, this was not my first time visiting the Stadsaal Caves. When I was in secondary school in Clanwilliam, our class visited a classmate’s farm for a weekend in 1986 (a mere 8km from the Stadsaal Caves) … for the sole purpose to witness Halley’s Comet, arguably the most famous comet in history.

To see stars (and comets) clearly, you obviously need little or no cloud cover and very little light pollution – which makes the Cederberg star-gazing heaven! So, back in 1986, I saw Halley’s comet and the Stadsaal Caves for the first time … now, 36 years later, the Stadsaal Caves are even more beautiful than back then (and if I’m lucky, I may see Halley’s Comet again in 2061 on its regular 76-year journey around the sun).

Walking through the main cave

As the previous day, today was another hot day. Which made this visit perfect, because we could find shelter in the cool caves.

Exiting the main cave – only to find another partial cave
It was amazing to see how green trees were growing out of the rocks
Almost perfectly round holes in the rocks
After leaving the main cave, we could still see some amazing rock formations

After our walk through the main cave, we walked onto a big flat rock to look back at the caves and rock formations – it is indeed a beautiful sight.

We walked onto a big rock to have a broader view of the caves and rock formations
They may look like just rock formations, but it’s actually caves

On our way back to the parking area, we found another partial cave. We walked through the narrow openings and once again marvelled at the formations inside the cave.

A visit to the last cave
The rock formations inside the partial cave

We were truly blown away by the beauty of this place … and bonus, we were lucky enough to have the caves to ourselves to explore! The colour of the rocks (against the blue sky) was really unbelievable beautiful. Don’t miss this when you’re in the area!

Rock Art Site:

When we left the Stadsaal Caves, the road went pass a Rock Art Site and we made our final stop of the day here. The rock paintings were made by the San people (Bushmen) and is very well preserved.

This photo was taken from the Rock Art Site – the road is leading back to the Stadsaal Caves we have just left

It is a bit of climb to get to the paintings, but nothing too serious. We could actually see the paintings from the parking area but scrambled over the rocks to the top to see them from closer.

The paintings are fairly visible in the centre of this picture
Already halfway up the rocks, the paintings can be seen clearly
The paintings are fenced off for protection

The San’s more ancient ancestors lived in the Cederberg Mountains for over 500,000 years. They began painting on the walls of the shelters in the Western Cape at least 5,000 years ago.

It is believed that rock paintings like these were inspired by San religion. This painting shows three rows of people and a group of elephants and it is likely that this is an illustration of a San ritual.

The paintings from close by

We walked around the area and noticed another tree growing between the rocks – that is quite astonishing! We also had some lovely views from the top of the rocks.

Another tree growing between the rocks
Views from the top of the Rock Art Site – more beautiful rock formations

Now, you will remember that I mentioned earlier that I last visited this area in 1986 as part of a school trip. I remembered, while putting this post together, that a group photo was then taken and I had to search for quite some time to find it, but I did! This photo was taken right here at the Rock Art Site that Berto and I visited today, 36 years later.

Scanned photo of the class of 1986. The ladybird is next to 14-year-old me. The rock paintings are visible at the top of the picture

We had a great day of exploring caves and seeing some amazing rock formations, as well as rock art paintings. Our last excursion will be the highlight of our trip … a hiking trip to the Maltese Cross (you can read about that when you click here).