Queenstown, Karoo Heartland

The commercial centre of a rather prosperous farming community, the attractive town of Queenstown, known for its roses, climate and amicable townsfolk, lies on the Komani River close enough to the Wild Coast and Karoo Heartland to make it a favoured stopover.

Queenstown itself lies at the foot of the Hangklip Mountain, whilst other towns in the district include Dordrecht, Molteno and Sterkstroom. The area not only provides incredible scenery, but it is a hive of activity for the outdoor enthusiast: there are trails, rivers, rocks, mountains, hiking, climbing, fishing, mountain biking, canoeing and anything really, as long as it involves relishing all that is al fresco. The Lawrence de Lange Nature Reserve, set on the slopes of the Madeira Mountain just outside Queenstown, has a number of trails worth exploring, spectacular examples of flowering plants, and an array of different antelope that include blesbok, springbok and zebra. The reserve also has incredible views from the mountain summit. The Bongola Dam that supplies the town with its water is set in the hills surrounding Queenstown and is a great day out for picnics and water sports.

Queenstown was originally intended as a military outpost and as such is designed in a central hexagon meant to serve as a protective lager for its town’s people, who fortunately never had to use it for this purpose. Miss Lock’s Shell Art Gallery, JC Marshall Gallery, Queenstown Museum, library and the Walter Everitt Sunken Garden are all worth a visit.