June 2025

Fantastic Cederberg rock scenery

In our previous post, we told you about our camping weekend – and our new camping trailer – at Kromrivier in the Cederberg Mountains (read here).

During a previous visit in 2022 at Kromrivier, we hiked to the Maltese Cross (read here) and visited the Stadsaal Grotte/Caves (read here). However, we ran out of time to also pay a visit to the beautiful Truitjieskraal.

Truitjieskraal is only 6km/3.7 miles from Kromrivier and the dirt road is in a drivable condition, especially when you have a high-clearance vehicle.

On our way to Truitjieskraal, with a view back to Kromrivier

The road to Truitjieskraal

Permit troubles along the way:

However, our visit did not start off well. To enter Truitjieskraal, we had to buy a permit. At Kromrivier we were informed that permits could be obtained at the Truitjieskraal gate, but upon our arrival, the park warden said he could no longer issue any permits because his book was full (it was still early in the morning). He suggested that we drive to the office of CapeNature at Matjiesrivier – a further 8.6km/5.3 miles – to buy permits there – and then return.

We had no other choice but to do this and drove to CapeNature’s office. We offered to take a new permit book to the park warden so that other visitors wouldn’t have to drive the extra distance like we did to buy permits, but the staff said they would send one of their own vehicles later with a new book.

About 45 minutes after we’ve left Kromrivier, we were finally back at the entrance of Truitjieskraal – with our permits in hand – and ready to explore this beautiful place.

Truitjieskraal – the name:

Truitjieskraal is on an old route that was used by cattle farmers until the middle of the twentieth century to move their sheep and goats from winter to summer grazing areas. ‘Truitjie’ is an abbreviation of the girl’s name Gertruida. Historians believe it may have been an overnight stop along the route named after a shepherd’s wife or loved one.

What makes Truitjieskraal so special?

If you like rock climbing, then Truitjieskraal is the perfect place with a range of grades from easy to difficult on vertical to overhanging rocks. And although we saw a few brave rock climbers during our visit, we were more interested in the wonderful rock formations and Bushmen (San) rock paintings from an ancient time when elephants still roamed freely through the Cederberg.

Walking path at Truitjieskraal

It was quite amazing to think that we were walking in the footsteps of ancient hunter gatherers. There are interpretive signs along the trail and we first walked up to a selection of San and Khoekhoe (pronounced ‘Kwekwe’) rock paintings.

Finding our way to the rock paintings

View back to the parking area from the cave with rock paintings

Stunning rock formations

It is believed that the San people were the direct descendants of the first true human inhabitants in Southern Africa, more than 150,000 years ago. Some of these rock art sites are believed to be between 250 to as old as 8,000 years.

Rock paintings

The hiking trail takes you through breathtaking rock formations that are characteristic of the Cederberg Mountains. The area at Truitjieskraal is primarily composed of sandstone sculpted by years of erosion and geological processes, resulting in distinctive shapes and structures.

Rock formations

Truitjieskraal

Rock formations

Closer look at the rock formations

Our friend, Fiela inside the rock formations

Rock formations against the blue sky

The sandstone exhibits a range of hues from deep reds and oranges to lighter shades of beige and grey. These colours were influenced by iron oxide.

In the folds and fractures of the rock, you might spot the silhouette of a handle of a motorbike, maybe a sleeping giant or a ball of wool. But I will leave it entirely up to you to decide what these rocks may represent.

Motorbike handles

Layers of rock

Rocks that are ideal for rock climbers

There’s a face somewhere

Towering rocks

Trees growing out of the rocks

Narrow space between two towering rocks

Face of a sleeping giant

Two faces looking to the right (with prominent noses)

Walking trail between the rocks

When one observes the rocks up close, it sometimes looks like they are assembled with building blocks – almost like Lego. And don’t forget to look down at the path as well, because all sorts of plants and delicate flowers are growing here.

Close up of rock and featherly flowers

Looks like a ball of wool inside the rock (or maybe an ice cream)

After we walked through the rock formations, we saw a large group of ‘dassies’ (rock hyrax) basking on the rocks in the sun.

‘Dassies’ enjoying the sun

It was a beautiful morning stroll among these exceptional rock formations. On the way back to our camp at Kromrivier, we stopped to look at the wildflowers along the road. The Cederberg Mountains host numerous endemic plant species (especially fynbos). As I’ve mentioned many times before, it is always a highlight to see the beautiful Protea (our country’s national flower) in nature.

Tiny flowers in the field

Protea bush

Such a unique flower

We enjoyed our visit to Truitjieskraal. The Cederberg Mountains are incredibly beautiful and I’m glad we could show it to you (again).