Walking the Klipspringer Trail: a long-awaited Augrabies Falls adventure

Oct 2

2 min read

Hikers overlooking a waterfall on the Klipspringer Trail at Augrabies

Five hikers, one long-awaited trail and a landscape that delivered far more than expected.

Some trails sit on your wish list for years.

The Klipspringer Trail at Augrabies Falls was one of mine. I’d wanted to walk it for ages, but somehow never managed to get enough people interested. Last week, I finally persuaded five others to come along.

I knew the falls would be spectacular. What I hadn't expected was how much the landscape beyond them would surprise me.

Powerful Augrabies Falls plunging through the rocky gorge — *The power of Augrabies Falls*

Augrabies waterfall cascading between steep granite cliffs — *The Orange River plunges through the granite gorge*

Beyond the falls

Once you start walking, Augrabies Falls becomes about much more than the waterfall.

The Klipspringer Trail takes you into a vast, exposed landscape of granite, open plains and river gorges. At times it feels almost empty until you start looking more closely.

Hiker walking through golden grass on the Klipspringer Trail

Open arid landscape and rocky hills along the Klipspringer Trail

Golden grass and red earth in Augrabies Falls National Park

The geology and vegetation are unlike anything I've seen on one trail before. And yet there were strange moments of familiarity too. Walking beside the river gave me strong echoes of the Fish River Canyon. Elsewhere, the plants and open country reminded me of the Karoo, the Aardvark Trail and Oorlogskloof near Nieuwoudtville.

Orange River flowing through the rocky Augrabies gorge

View down the Orange River gorge from the Klipspringer Trail

Look closer

One of the pleasures of walking through a landscape this big is discovering how much is happening at your feet.

Against all that rock, heat and dry grass, there were sudden flashes of colour.

Purple and yellow wildflower growing beside the Klipspringer Trail

Large white wildflower growing in Augrabies Falls National Park

And we weren't the only ones using the trail.

Close up of animal tracks in sand at Augrabies Falls National Park — *Signs that something had passed this way before us.*

Hiker watching a klipspringer in the grass at Augrabies — *A klipspringer, perfectly at home in the landscape that gives the trail its name.*

Heat, water and weather

This was also a trail of extremes.

In 41 years of trail hiking, these were some of the hottest conditions I've ever walked in.

And then came the thunderstorms.

Within a day, we had intense heat, raging water, and storms that made us feel very small and exposed.

Hiker walking through golden grass in the late afternoon sun

Hiker overlooking the Orange River from rocks at Augrabies

There's something about walking beside the Orange River through such an arid landscape that makes its power seem even greater.

Hiker overlooking a waterfall on the Klipspringer Trail

When the light changes

Toward the end of the day, the landscape changed again.

The hard reds, browns and yellows softened as the sun dropped, and a place that had felt brutally hot only hours earlier became something completely different.

Sunset over the rocky landscape and grasses at Augrabies

A roof for the night

Hikers outside a stone overnight hut on the Klipspringer Trail

After a day out there, even a simple stone hut feels pretty luxurious.

And perhaps that's part of the appeal of a trail like this. You walk, carry what you need, watch the landscape change around you and finish the day somewhere that feels very far removed from ordinary life.

Is the Klipspringer Trail worth it?

Absolutely.