On the eastern side of the Drakensberg Escarpment, facing away from the Blyde River Canyon, is the Mariepskop complex - a mountain enclave and centre of endemism of unsurpassed beauty. You can ascend to the top where, at 1,945m above sea level, you can see the Indian Ocean and Maputo on a clear day. Mariepskop is the higest peak in the northern Drakensberg Escarpment. The view is one of the finest in all of South Africa, providing the mountain is free of cloud and mist.
This decisively steep pass is 13,7 km long and climbs 1100m to summit at 1942m ASL via 95 bends, corners and curves, producing an average gradient of 1:14 but some of the sections are seriously steep at 1:5. The pass rises from the Lowveld at Klaserie on the R40 and climbs up this spectacular ridge of the Drakensberg in a complex network of roads, both gravel and tarred, to give access to the towering Mariepskop (its African name is Mogologolo) which plays host to a number of government installations including an old SAAF Radar Station, a set of telecoms towers and forestry fire look-out points.
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