This mountainous national park is at the southwestend of the Waterberg biosphere. The animals grazing beneath the red cliffs include elephants, black and white rhinos, giraffes, zebras, leopards and cheetahs, but the landscape itself demands attention. A great place to eyeball it is the vulture-viewing point (be warned, the road up there is precipitous), where you can also see one of the world’s largest colonies of the endangered Cape vulture (800-plus breeding pairs).
You can access more if you have a 4WD vehicle, but you can reach the sky-high vulture-viewing point in a car.
The booking office is on the Thabazimbi–Alma road, 3km northeast of the intersection with the Matlabas–Rooiberg road.
There is four-bed tented accommodation in the Tlopi Tent Camp, 15km from reception. The furnished tents, overlooking a dam where antelope and wildebeest come to drink, have a bathroom and open-air kitchen, with refrigerator, hob and braai.
The park also offers tent sites at Bontle camping area.
Private reserves and lodges line the approaches to the park; for information and bookings, contact the tourist office in Thabazimbi (12km southwest), where there are banks and shops.
The easiest route to the park from Vaalwater is on Rte 510 to Thabazimbi. However, the hard-dirt Bakkerspas Rd runs alongside the mountains, with spectacular views. Turn left 6km west of town and, after 60km, right at the T-junction; the park entrance is 45km further on, a few kilometres after the tar begins.
