Crossing three South African provinces, this meandering route will have you riding through some of South Africa’s most spectacular mountain scenery. There’s a great combination of on-and off-road challenges all boasting unbeatable vistas on this 1600km tour. Roughly 80% of the trip is on good tar roads.
- Highlights
- Soak up the scenery of South Africa’s rugged Wild Coast
- Climb the peaks of the 2500m high Eastern Cape Highlands
- Embrace cold mountain water by white river rafting the Ash River in Clarens
- Enjoy scrumptious country fare in the Natal Midlands.
- Difficulty
-
Challenging. Tar and dirt roads, weather dependent.
- Style
- Daily Driving
- Day 1: Durban to Umngazi River Mouth, 375km
- Day 2: Umngazi River Mouth to Rhodes, 329km
- Day 3: Rhodes to Ladybrand, 398km
- Day 4: Ladybrand to Oliviershoek Pass, 253km
- Day 5: Oliviershoek Pass to Durban, 274km
Adventure bike
Optional activities
Join the locals and go fishing in the Umngazi River Mouth, try fly fishing for wild
trout in Rhodes and kick up your adrenaline while whitewater rafting in Clarens.
Circle Around Lesotho
Meander South Africa’s charming highlands
Starting at the Wild Coast, we climb into the quaint villages of the Eastern Cape. Here mountain streams are cold and clear as gin, but the welcome sure is warm. Keeping to the border of Lesotho, but never crossing it we circle around to the charming Free State town of Ladybrand. Watching sandstone hills change colour as the sun climbs, we pass several other small farming towns (including Clarens) until we reach the Drakensberg escarpment. There’s one pass to tackle and then it’s an easy downhill ride back to the east coast.
Trip Type Challenging
Location Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu Natal
Activities Riding