The Canyon, Lotheni

The Lotheni information pack describes a hike to The Canyon, 5km in length, as though it takes you inside it along the river. Even though the first few km's are signed, the trail quickly disappears into overgrown grass and in reality never goes anywhere nearer than 500m to the actual Canyon itself. It's more like 7km to get there when you bundu bash towards it. 





This year we made a beeline to the base of the Canyon in order to finally get inside it. To get to the start, you have to pick a point to turn right off the very feint trail, and then find a bank to descend down to the river. Once in the river, and assuming you haven't gotten in too far downstream (there are a few impassable waterfalls), hopping up into the Canyon itself is easy, fun and very beautiful. At the top, there's a spectacular waterfall with swimming pool beneath it, surrounded by sheer cliffs. 

Here's the route we took, and some pictures.

www.wikiloc.com/trail-running-trails/the-canyon-lotheni-inside-to-waterfall-45202456

Thanks for sharing Mark T - The Canyon has been on my list for a while and we have always bypassed it en route to Ka Zwelele Ridge - now I can see what I have been missing!  I will definitely try and visit this year, its too beautiful........

Looks like a great place. Is it possible to camp by the waterfall? And how bad is the road to Lotheni these days? Is it manageable in a normal car?

Not possible to camp at the base of the waterfall as it's sheer cliffs in the gorge on both sides, but you could find a flat spot above the waterfall. 

Road to Lotheni is bumpy but fine, I always go in a rental car (Hyundai i10, etc) and have been fine. 

Wow, MarkT, your last image looks like it came from the garden route! Beautiful.

Well done MarkT for nailing the Canyon. You know that it has eluded us in the past. Thanks for putting it back on the map.