Rocklands — a guide to bouldering in the Cederberg, Western Cape: permits, season, crash-pad hire and where to stay.
World-class bouldering on Cederberg sandstone — three hours from Cape Town, over the Pakhuis Pass. Get your permits, season, crash pads and beds sorted before you fly.
Rocklands is a bouldering area in the Cederberg mountains, Western Cape, South Africa — about 250 km, three hours, north of Cape Town, on the R364 over the Pakhuis Pass out of Clanwilliam. Roughly 3,000 problems on grippy orange sandstone.
Climbers fly in for the cold, dry Cederberg winter. This is the short version of what you need to arrive sorted: the permit, the season, a crash pad, and a bed near the rock.
This is the Rocklands in the Cederberg — the bouldering one. Not the Mitchells Plain suburb, not Bloemfontein, not Victoria in Australia.
The bouldering runs along the R364 over the Pakhuis Pass, across CapeNature's wilderness and four neighbouring farms, starting about 17 km out of Clanwilliam. The rock is Table Mountain Group sandstone — coarse, quartzitic, orange, famously grippy. That friction is why people fly here, why it eats skin, and why you never climb it wet.
30 April to 1 October, best June–August. Highs of 20–21°C (68–70°F), lows near 7°C (45°F) — cold and dry means good friction.
Season & weather →
R80 a day, R260 a week, from CapeNature. Required everywhere, capped at 100 climbers a day.
Permits & access →
Four on the R364 — Kliphuis, de Pakhuys, Traveller's Rest, Kleinfontein. Book well ahead for the peak.
Where to stay →
You don't have to fly with one — Traveller's Rest hires pads. Reserve yours when you book the bed.
Crash pads & gear →A CapeNature climbing permit costs R80 for a day, R260 for a week, and is required everywhere in Rocklands — the reserve and all four partner farms. You must carry it while you climb; landowners do check the boulders.
Buy online before you come, or in person at Kliphuis, de Pakhuys, Traveller's Rest, Kleinfontein or Agter Pakhuis. Access is capped, so in the busy months buy ahead rather than turning up. Confirm current tariffs and any area closures with CapeNature before you travel.
CapeNature's season runs 30 April to 1 October — outside it, no permits, no climbing. June to August is prime: Clanwilliam averages highs of 20–21°C (68–70°F) and lows near 7°C (45°F), and Rocklands, higher up the pass, runs colder still. It is also the rainy season, so build in rest days and never climb the sandstone wet.
Bring layers — mornings are cold, afternoons can be warm in the sun, and the good conditions come and go with the weather.
The classic areas — 8 Day Rain, Roadside, The Plateau, Campground and more — spread across the de Pakhuys and Traveller's Rest farms and the CapeNature land between them. Grades run from friendly warm-ups to the hardest boulders in the country.
We won't reprint the topos — the climbers who wrote them deserve the sale. For problems, grades and beta, use the guidebook and the apps the community already trusts:
See the sectors, area by area →What climbers say →See the photographs →
We have never climbed here on your behalf. So we keep a checked list of what other climbers, magazines and film-makers say about Rocklands — seven films and seven articles, each one credited and linked to whoever made it. Watch a season before you book one.
A fourth basecamp, Kleinfontein, sits further along the R364 — self-catering cottages, a luxury tent and camping. Camping is the cheapest bed in Rocklands and you can pitch at de Pakhuys, Kliphuis or Kleinfontein, but it is a winter season, so bring a real bag.
All four basecamps compared →What to pack →
Booking links go straight to each place's own site — we are a guide, not a middleman. Confirm rates with them directly.
It's about 3 hours from Cape Town: the N7 to Clanwilliam, then the R364 over the Pakhuis Pass to the farms. You'll want a car. Fuel and shops are in Clanwilliam — stock up before the pass.
Sandstone shreds skin, so rest days matter. The Sevilla rock-art trail, the Clanwilliam dam, and further down the same road the citrus valley and hot springs of Citrusdal and the mission village of Wupperthal are all within reach.
Permit, season, crash pad, bed. The four things between you and the best bouldering trip of your life.
Start with permits
