Valley of Desolation scenic views
Eastern Cape, South Africa
Camdeboo National Park is a national park in Eastern Cape, South Africa, managed by SANParks. Visitors come for game drives, hiking, camping, bird watching, photography. The best time to visit is Year-round (best Mar-May, Sep-Nov).
The species most recorded in Eastern Cape, drawn from citizen-science observations. Tap any to find stays where you can see it.
Ranked by how often they are recorded in the province, from iNaturalist observations. Tap one to find stays where it lives.
Species birders log most in this province. Numbers are records, not guarantees.
Occurrence data from iNaturalist, aggregated by province. It reflects where a species is seen across Eastern Cape, not confirmed sightings inside this reserve.
Year-round (best Mar-May, Sep-Nov)
Why book here
Wild places survive when the communities around them earn more from protecting wildlife than from anything that would replace it. Every stay you book through Spekboom carries a conservation contribution built into the price, never added on top, so choosing where you sleep becomes a way to fund the people and projects keeping this landscape intact.
Inside-park stays and nearby lodges, sorted by distance.
Inside parkCamdeboo Rest Camp sits within the Camdeboo National Park, which all but encircles the historic Karoo town of Graaff-Reinet. This is high, open Karoo country of wide plains, dolerite koppies and dramatic light, where the spare beauty of the semi-desert landscape is the main draw. The park is best known for the Valley of Desolation, a cluster of towering dolerite columns rising sheer above the plain, and for the views it offers over the town and the Sneeuberg beyond. The reserve supports a good range of plains game, including Cape mountain zebra, kudu, springbok, blesbok and red hartebeest, along with a rich bird life around the Nqweba Dam. The camp makes a comfortable base for game-viewing drives, walks and visits to the viewpoints, and Graaff-Reinet, with its Cape Dutch architecture and restaurants, is only a short distance away. It suits travellers wanting a restful stop in the heart of the Karoo.
Manyoni Private Game Reserve is one of the largest privately-owned reserves in Kwazulu-Natal. This 23,000-hectare reserve is the product of 17 dedicated landowners who dropped their fences in 2004 to create one contiguous protected area for our wildlife. The selection of the area as a potential release site for the WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project was a major driving factor in the establishment of Manyoni. In 2005, the newly established reserve was confirmed as a release site by the WWF and a founder population of black rhino were released into their new home.
Camdeboo National Park is in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Yes. Camdeboo National Park is a Big Five area, home to lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino.
In Eastern Cape, commonly recorded species include mammals such as Meerkat, Black Wildebeest, Blesbok, Common Bottlenose Dolphin and birds including Cape Parrot, African Rock Pipit, Mountain Pipit, based on iNaturalist occurrence data. These reflect the wider province, not confirmed sightings inside the reserve.
The best time to visit Camdeboo National Park is Year-round (best Mar-May, Sep-Nov).
Popular activities at Camdeboo National Park include game drives, hiking, camping, bird watching, photography.
2 places are listed in and near Camdeboo National Park on Spekboom, from inside-park camps to nearby lodges. Every booking funds conservation.
