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South Africa South Africa forest

Karkloof Forest

Stevan.Karalic · CC BY 3.0

36% trees around it and 251 species recorded.

57Forestyas Score

ForestMountain forestBirds

  • trees within 3 km36%
  • wild within 10 km91%
  • species recorded251
  • Altitude1,371 m

The forest around

36% trees.

Read like the rings of a cut trunk: from the centre out, the land within 1, 3, 6 and 10 km, coloured by what covers it.

Trees 76%Shrubland 1%Grassland 23%Cropland 0%Trees 31%Shrubland 2%Grassland 63%Cropland 3%Trees 42%Shrubland 1%Grassland 50%Water 0%Cropland 7%Trees 39%Shrubland 2%Grassland 48%Water 1%Cropland 11%36%trees · 3 km

Trees, ring by ring

  • 0–1 km76%
  • 1–3 km31%
  • 3–6 km42%
  • 6–10 km39%

What covers the land (1–3 km)

  • Trees31%
  • Shrubland2%
  • Grassland63%
  • Water0%
  • Cropland3%

ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m, from Sentinel satellites), sampled every 120 m. A clearing, a road or a lake counts as what it is.

Who lives here

251 species recorded.

The plants, fungi, birds and mammals people have recorded here most often.

Eriosema distinctum
Eriosema distinctumEriosema distinctum3 recordsAlandmanson · CC BY 4.0
Stenoglottis fimbriata
Stenoglottis fimbriataStenoglottis fimbriata2 recordsUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Polystachya cultriformis
Polystachya cultriformisPolystachya cultriformis2 recordsOrchi · CC BY-SA 3.0
Habenaria laevigata
Habenaria laevigataHabenaria laevigata2 recordsBolus, Harry · Public domain
Red star
Red starHypoxis baurii2 recordsSAplants · CC BY-SA 4.0
Canthium inerme
Canthium inermeCanthium inerme2 recordsSAplants · CC BY-SA 4.0
Velvety yellow bush pea
Velvety yellow bush peaArgyrolobium tomentosum2 recordsSAplants · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tropical pokeweed
Tropical pokeweedPhytolacca icosandra2 recordsStan Shebs · CC BY-SA 3.0
Nemesia silvaticaNemesia silvatica3 records
Indigofera placidaIndigofera placida2 records
Senecio oxyriifoliusSenecio oxyriifolius2 records
Senecio coronatusSenecio coronatus2 records

Open records within 5 km (GBIF, licensed for any use). Busy places are better recorded than remote ones.

In numbers

The forest, measured.

57out of 100

Our own rating, from open data only: tree cover (40 points), wildness (20), species recorded (30) and protection or heritage (10).

  • 36%Treesof the land within 3 km
  • 91%Wildno towns or farmland within 10 km
  • 251Speciesrecorded more than once within 5 km
  • 1,371 mAltitudeabove the sea

When to walk

Best for walking in May.

How good each month is for a walk: mild days and little rain make the bar taller.

  1. Jan26°13°191 mm
  2. Feb25°13°153 mm
  3. Mar24°12°119 mm
  4. Apr21°9°73 mm
  5. May19°6°25 mm
  6. Jun17°2°19 mm
  7. Jul17°2°25 mm
  8. Aug20°4°33 mm
  9. Sep23°7°69 mm
  10. Oct24°9°124 mm
  11. Nov25°10°158 mm
  12. Dec26°12°182 mm
  • Bar: walking comfort; the number on top is the average maximum.
  • Below: average minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Karkloof Forest.

Karkloof Forest is a forest in South Africa, 1,371 m above the sea.

Seen from space, 36% of the land within 3 km is trees, and 91% of the land within 10 km has no towns or farmland.

251 species have been recorded around it: 28 plants, 1 fungi, 222 birds and 0 mammals.

The most recorded plants are: Eriosema distinctum, Stenoglottis fimbriata and Polystachya cultriformis.

The best time to walk is in May.

Karkloof Canopy Tours - panoramio
Stevan.Karalic · CC BY 3.0

Get there and walk

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at PZB airport (Pietermaritzburg)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The forest and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the trails, notable trees, picnic sites and huts that OpenStreetMap shows.

Karkloof Forest seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 1campsites within 10 kmBushwillow
  • 5places to stay within 10 kmRockwood Farm House, Old Haliwell Country Inn, Lodge House B&B and 2 more
  • marked trails within 5 km
  • named and notable trees within 6 km
  • picnic sites within 4 km
  • shelters and huts within 6 km
  • viewpoints within 5 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km
  • car parks within 3 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around Karkloof Forest.

The mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and canyons around this forest, the viewpoints above it, the birds and the night sky, in the family's atlases.

Peakyas17 mountains within 25 km
Loskop5.5 kmMbona12 kmMortons Hill14 kmArrochar Hill14 kmDansekop15 kmNtaba16 kmNgwegwe17 kmJohnstone's Kop23 km
Cascadyas2 waterfalls within 15 km
Horse Tail Falls3.0 kmKarkloof falls12 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The forest, as people saw it.

Walk to GreyMareWaterfall (7)
Helen Lechmere-Oertel · CC BY-SA 3.0
Karkloof - Canopy Tours - panoramio
Stevan.Karalic · CC BY 3.0

Other forests nearby.

Karkloof Forest

South Africa

  • 57Forestyas Score
  • 36%Trees
  • 91%Wild
  • 251Species

Durban Botanic Gardens

South Africa · 97 km

  • 48Forestyas Score
  • 22%Trees
  • 71%Wild
  • 498Species

See the guide

Katse Botanical Gardens

Lesotho · 170 km

  • 33Forestyas Score
  • 0%Trees
  • 85%Wild
  • 37Species

See the guide

Licuáti Forest Reserve

Mozambique · 382 km

  • 61Forestyas Score
  • 64%Trees
  • 100%Wild
  • 13Species

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q3646797) · CC0
Land coverESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200 · © ESA WorldCover project / Copernicus Sentinel data · CC BY 4.0
Species4,971 open records within 5 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only)
See these recordsgbif.org
Names and photosWikidata (CC0); GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Cascadyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit
forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.You are here