Boschkloof Traverse & Needle

The Boschkloof Needle at centre with Disa Needle to the right

Location: May be accessed from Victoria Drive, though safe parking for your car could be a problem. Alternatively a traverse is made from Oudekraal ravine. Needs some mountaineering skill and common sense! The ascent of Boschkloof Needle is a C+ rock climb for serious rock climbers only. However there is a pleasant scramble up Boschkloof buttress, or continue past the base of the Needle and ascend Needle Ravine, which is a walk.

Overview: Not often done so be prepared for an adventurous day out! The traverse from Corridor is very bushy - and getting worse. We (Tony Heher and CMCA ) managed it in around 2006, but returning a few years later, we found it was so overgrown that it was impossible, and we turned back. Unless there has been a fire on this part of TM, the route is best avoided. It is not only unpleasant but potentially dangerous because shortly before the traverse ends, one has to descend through thick bush to do the final traverse into the ravine. It would be impossible to come back up through the bush, so beware, you would be on a one way trip with no turning back! .

Route Description: A traverse is made from Oudekraal ravine. around Kleinkop, then a short exposed rock step to get around a ridge to below Grootkop. The slope below the Grootkop cliffs is very overgrown, and if you get to the far side, traverse around a rock buttress into a tree filled bushy gully. From a distance up this where the gully is closed in a rock ledge is used to traverse onto Boshkloof buttress which is a pleasant 'B' scramble.