Injisuthi day hikes

Hi Folks,

I'm coming to Injisuthi from the UK in mid-October and staying in the chalets there for four nights as part of a four week "grand tour" of S. Africa. I'm a member of the UK Long Distance Walkers Association (www.ldwa.org.uk) so I do a lot of long distance walks here in good old Blighty. But the people I'll be with are not strong walkers and I'm therefore looking for a couple of 10 - 15km, not too mountainous walks to do, preferably with GPS route available (.gpx files?). Can anyone please suggest some "pleasant strolls".

Best wishes from a damp and cold England!

Hi Giblets - welcome to VE and greetings also from a wet and chilly Oxford. This time last week I was in the Injisuthi area for one day and did a walk up to the bottom of Leslies Pass from the chalets you mentioned. I walked with a camera and a couple of snack bars so was going quite quickly - so bear in mind when you see the times). This walk passes a number of potential places of interest.

Chalet to Battle Cave (1 hr, mostly flat except for a short uphill section after the river crossing)
Battle Cave on to Marble Baths (1 hr, upwill over the second half as the path leaves the river)
Marble Baths on to bottom of Leslies (1.5 hrs, path a bit vague from time to time and generally a lot slower walking).

Return times about 25% faster.

There is also a circuit return route from Marble Baths which takes you over the ridge to Grindstone Caves and back to the camp which is worth doing if the others are up for it.



Also of interest may be:
Chalet to Lower Injauthi Cave via Battle Cave (about 2.5 hrs one way).
Chalet to top of van Heynegens Pass and on to Wonder Valley Cave (2 to 2.5 hrs or so one way).

I've given times instead of distances because km are not so meaningful on the twisty turny paths.

The routes I've mentioned have good paths and are sign posted although best to get a map at the shop in the camp.

The rivers were quite full last week - more full in mid Sept than mid to end December last year which is unusual because Sept is normally the end of the dry season. You can walk round the sometimes difficult river crossing on the paths heading off to Battle Cave and beyond by using the road bridge to cross the Injisuthi River and heading up the south bank shortly after the bridge crossing. It is obvious on the ground. Its a nice place, enjoy.

Hey there

Injisuthi is a fantastic choice! Definately one of my top most favorites.

There are stacks of options open for you. Use the search function and search some keywords, as there have already been one or two very similar threads a little while ago. That should give you quite a few options.

Here's my two pennies worth: Four nights would probably mean 3 potential hiking days. In no particular order, here are the three I would do (most already mentioned by mnt_tiska above):

1. Battle cave- really cool bushman paintings. However, you can only go witha guide accompaning you, so enquire at the office about it. Also not sure what the price is. This would only be about 9/10km return, so if feeling energetic, continue along the path for a further 2 or 3 km to lower Injisuthi cave (some cool pools there, although I was quite dissapointed with the cave itself) note, not a circular route.

2. From campsite, up to grindstone caves, up onto the countour path, down to marble baths then returning via the turnoff for Battle cave. This is a 19/20km circular walk, so leave early enough if you decide to give it a go. The pools at Marble baths are brilliant. Also use the search function to search for something like " marble baths cave, the annexe and Junction cave" to make sure you don't walk straight past some cool caves

3. Up Van Heining's pass (little berg pass) to the view point. If feeling good, continue on to Wonder Valley cave. You have to retrace steps. If you go all the way to the cave and back, will probably be about 18km. The section between the viewpoint and Wonder Valley is a bit bare and one sort of tends away from the main berg. I thus never enjoy that section as much, but yet it's still a great hike.

Hope that helps. Definitely search up those other threads on this topic.
The hikes described above are all mostly over clear paths (certainly in terms of how some berg paths go). In fact some could even be described as highways. The above mentioned options are also all clearly shown on the map.

Enjoy! It's going to be fantastic!!

Hey Guys,

Thats fantastic - thanks very much. When we were there in 2007 we did the walk up Van Heining's pass. We took a good bottle of white wine in a cooler bag, a big lump of excellent cheese and had a great "cheese and wine" party at the top!

That's worth a repeat but it seems that the Battle Caves and Marble Baths are also on the itinerary now. My bro-in-law who lives in Randberg goes to Injesuthi a lot but he's a big slob so I'll have my work cut out to drag him off his fat arse and herd him along with me. As my Yaapie wife says "move it, move it, move it...."

I'll post what we get up to.

I'm sure I saw that someone had GPS files for the walks from Injusuthi but, for the life of me, can't seem to find them. Can anyone help? I know that they are all pretty straightforward but, following a previous exploit when I had to be rescued from the Malaysia jungle (yes - REALLY, see www.gillatt.org/jungle ) I do rather like the "feeling of safety" that comes from having map, compass AND my trusty Garmin GPS with me!

check out the downloads menu on the VE website, look under Berg and hiking:
e.g.
www.vertical-endeavour.com/downloads/viewdownload/3-drakensberg-hiking/71-marble-baths-gps-data.html

though I've not used these tracks myself.

The main issue on the good paths near Injisuthi camp is where they cross the rivers. The path of the optimal route can be a bit obscured by people walking up and down both banks looking for the best way across (normally without taking off shoes). This is certainly true of the first river crossing on the way to Marble Baths. If you know exactly where the crossing is, it will take 5 minutes. I've seen parties take 40 minutes instead - almost half the time of the whole walk to MB.

A brilliant day's outing in Injisuthi is the hike with daypacks to Injisuthi lower cave below the Triplets. It makes a good resting and picnic stop, and allows the more adventurous to scramble up a bit higher in the triplets basin. It is indeed beautiful up there. There is a path leading out towards the contour path proper (the path is actually the contour path itself leading up from lower cave) and this leads to gobsmacking views of the triplets and the Trojan wall.

This can be done in a day easily with daypacks, even by the less than fit.

Hi Guys,

I am planning a trip to Injisuthi early in November, and would like some input on the best route for a nice long day hike.

After doing Cockade/Organ pipes earlier this year we are looking forward to a slightly more relaxing day hike with some time to enjoy the scenery.

So far the plan is to hike to Grindstone Caves, then cross Old Woman Stream towards Cataract Valey, following the contour path all the way round to the Marble baths for some lunch and a swim. After that a stop at Battle Cave and then back to the camp past Poachers Stream and the Boundary Pool. (blue)

So far I am wondering if taking the more northern route up Cataract Valley would be more scenic than past Grindstone Caves, or if there are any variations to this route that would make it more enjoyable. (yellow)

Any input would be much appreciated!

Sounds like a good plan. I just got back from another great trip to the area. May I suggest when leaving camp rather start by heading up the Cataract Valley. Seriously beautiful walk.

Another nice long option is from camp up Van Huynigens Pass. Then up along Shada Ridge to the contour path. Down to the bottom of Ships Prow (take it easy here to avoid getting lost) and down to Cataract Valley through to camp. Nice day out with super views.

Enjoy!

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