By Vicky · Published Aug. 30th, 2021 · Updated Nov. 24th, 2022
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From Cathedral Peak Hotel we spent an amazing two days hiking via the contour path up Organ Pipes Pass to the top of the Drakensberg Plateau and back down again.
Location
This hike starts from Cathedral Peak Hotel in the Central Drakensberg. If you’re not staying here overnight, there is parking for day visitors at a charge of R50 per night. It’s about 3½ hours drive from Durban and 5 hours from Johannesburg. We drove here from Royal Natal National Park, 2 hours 15 mins away. If you don’t have a car, check out the options for car hire from Johannesburg* or Durban*.
Cathedral Peak Overnight Hike Map
Get the route by downloading the .gpx or .kml file below. For navigation with Maps.me on your mobile phone, simply download the .kml file and open to add it to the Maps.me bookmarks.
Tips
- Make sure to sign the mountain register at the hotel reception before you leave.
- Make sure to sign it again when you get back!
- We used the Cicerone hiking guide: Walking in the Drakensberg*, to plan this hike. It also suggests other hikes both here and elsewhere in the Drakensberg.
- We stayed at Cathedral Peak Hotel (Website, Booking Reviews*). There is a buffet for both breakfast and dinner, which allows for filling up pre- and/or post-hike.
- The only other nearby accommodation is the Didima Rest Camp which looked nice but was deserted when we were there in mid-May
- In summer start hiking early to avoid the common summer afternoon thunderstorms, and in winter start early to use the daylight.
- Make sure to take warm clothes and a waterproof, weather can change quickly, and the peak is over 3000 m high, so much colder than down below.
- Nighttime is also very cold outside of mid-summer so bring a sturdy tent, thick sleeping bag and thermal underwear.
- We did this hike as part of our 12-Day Trip to the Drakensberg. We visited Royal Natal NP beforehand and went on to hike in Giants Castle area.
Cathedral Peak Hike Day 1
First sign the mountain register by the reception at the hotel. Then head out down the road and after a few hundred metres, at a sharp U-turn, head off towards the mountains.
The trail soon starts heading upwards and when we were there, the beautiful sunny morning quickly took a turn for the worse. After 5 km and about 600 m climb we reached the contour path and entered thick mist.
The clouds stayed for most of the rest of the day, gradually getting worse. Despite its name, the contour path was not at all flat and we were always going up and down, up and down. There are deep valleys that you zigzag into, and the path here was sometimes quite overgrown and hard work.
We were a lot slower than expected hiking along the contour path. We had originally aimed to camp further along, but after almost 27 km the light was fading and we were exhausted, having just fought our way uphill through thick bushes.
Campsite on the Mountains
When we pitched our tent we couldn’t see a thing in the mist and soon darkness descended. After a hot dinner and cup of tea, we huddled into our sleeping bags and tried to stay warm.
The sunrise was amazing and more than made up for any struggles we’d had the day before. It turned out that we had an incredible view from our random campsite and the mountains glowed bright orange in the morning sun.
The sun rose quickly, bringing with it needed warmth, and the orange colours faded to grey in the brilliant sunshine. After breakfast we packed up our tent and set off again along the (dreaded) contour path.
Cathedral Peak Hike Day 2
We hiked a fairly flat 7 km along the contour path to our turning upwards on a path heading the top of the escarpment, via the Organ Pipes Pass.
From here to the top is a 5-km each way out-and-back with 1000 m of climb, so if you are really tired you could miss this extension out. Since we would be returning here we left one heavy rucksack hidden near this junction to save us from carrying it up and down for no reason.
The scenery was magnificent as we climbed higher. The walking was initially uphill but on a nice path with no technical difficulties.
There’s one place not too far from the top where you have to use your hands for an easy scramble up a narrow, rocky gully between two rock faces. There is only minor exposure, and there are good hand and footholds so it’s not very difficult.
After a little bit of a down and then a steep, rocky slope upwards we fell out onto the plateau at the top. We’d made it! Time to enjoy the views.
The top of the escarpment is surprisingly flat. Lesotho stretches out before you in one direction, with the cliffs and foothills that you passed up through now a long way below. It’s about 3000 m high here and can be quite chilly!
Cathedral Peak 3-Day Hike
You can make this into a three-day hike by camping for a second night just after coming back down from the escarpment on the second day. The third day would then be an easy walk back down to Cathedral Peak Hotel. You could slightly extend the walk down by heading via Mushroom Rock, a distinctive rock feature, that as its name suggests, looks a bit like a mushroom.
The specs for the 3-day hike are:
- Day 1: 27 km, 1350 m climb
- Day 2: 15 km, 1580 m climb
- Day 3: 5.5/7 km, 630/680 m down
The Long Way Back Down
After a last look at the unending views, we started on the long way back down.
We collected our hidden rucksack at the junction with the contour path and continued straight downwards, hungry for the hotel buffet.
Our final destination gradually came closer though the sun was beginning to set by the time we entered the final valley towards the hotel.
We signed back in at the mountain register by the hotel reception before making a beeline for the buffet where we ate too much and recovered with a glorious sleep in a cosy rondavel.
Accommodation
We stayed at Cathedral Peak Hotel (Website, Booking Reviews*) both the night before we left and the night we got back. The best thing about this place is that a night’s stay includes all-you-can-eat breakfast and dinner buffets which we definitely made full use of.
We stayed in a cute and cosy rondavel with lovely views of the mountains. The surrounding garden bloomed with colourful flowers, grazed on by a few tame bushbuck.
Click to find out more about Giants Castle where we went next, Royal Natal NP where we came from, or our 12-day Trip to the Drakensberg to discover a complete Drakensberg Itinerary.
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Good afternoon
I hope you are doing well
One of my clients is interested in the Cathedral Peak Overnight Hike from the 26-27 January 2023. He has his own tent and equipment and prefer to do the hike alone if possible. How do I book this on his behalf ?
Can you also give me the contact number so that I can call in as well.
Kind regards
Done
Hi Done, we don’t actually organise any hikes ourselves. You could try contacting the hotel as they might know how to go about this. Sorry we couldn’t be of more help!
Two of my friends are currently lost on the hiking trail and have not been able to contact the hotel.
They are in danger, who can I contact ?
Hi Chane,
You should contact KZN Wildlife, http://www.kznwildlife.com/contact.html, as they officially manage this area. Also, I would try contacting Cathedral Peak Hotel: https://www.cathedralpeak.co.za/contact-us/, they might know which local people to contact.
I hope that helps and that your friends make it back safely.