The Drakensberg is South Africa's great wall, a basalt escarpment that rises along the border with Lesotho for hundreds of kilometres and reaches over three thousand metres. The Zulus called it uKhahlamba, the barrier of spears, and the Afrikaners called it the Dragon Mountain. The uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park on the South African side and Sehlabathebe National Park in Lesotho together form the Maloti-Drakensberg Park, a World Heritage site recognised both for its landscape and for its remarkable collection of San rock paintings, some made by hunter-gatherers over several thousand years.
For a rider, the interest is the passes and the foothills. The roads in the foothills tend to be good tar, winding through green grassland, pine plantations and farmland, with the cliffs standing like a wall in the distance. The legendary route is the Sani Pass, from Himeville and Underberg up to the Lesotho border at roughly two thousand eight hundred metres, a steep, rough gravel track with tight switchbacks that is often attempted on adventure bikes in dry weather but can be dangerous in rain or snow. Check conditions locally, carry your passport, and be ready for border formalities. Snow can fall at any time of year at the top, and mist and storms build quickly. Summer afternoons bring thunderstorms, winters are dry and clear but cold, and spring and autumn are probably the most comfortable.
The rock art is the secret treasure of the park. In caves and overhangs, the San people painted eland, the largest antelope, along with human figures, hunts and trance dances, using pigments from ochre, charcoal and animal fat. Some of the art may be more than two thousand years old. Access is usually through guided walks, which protect the paintings from damage, and visitors must never touch them. The wildlife is a reward too, with bearded vultures, Cape vultures, black wildebeest, rhebok and the quiet, reedy Berg streams where trout live.
Fuel is the thing to plan. The foothill villages are small, and the dependable stations are in towns such as Underberg, Winterton and Estcourt, so fill the tank before heading up. Carry water, warm layers, and a waterproof, because the weather in these mountains has a mind of its own. Lodges and campsites are plentiful in the foothills, and a night at one of them, with a fire and the great wall glowing at dusk, is an ideal ending.