Mont-Aux-Sources is a basalt mountain massif that backs the Amphitheatre in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Drakensberg, at an elevation of over 3000m above sea level. The highest peak on the massif is the Sentinal Peak, and Mont-Aux-Sources is most easily accessed from the Free State at Phuthaditjhaba (formerly Witsieshoek), via the Sentinal Day Hike.
Mont-Aux-Sources was so named by 19th century French Missionaries as it is the source of three of South Africa’s major rivers – the Tugela River which runs east to the Indian Ocean, the Caledon River which winds west along the base of the Maloti Mountains to eventually become the Orange River, and the Elands River which runs north into the Highveld.
Mont-Aux-Sources’ elevation offers a spectacular vantage point over several of the Drakensberg’s most striking geological features, including the Amphitheatre and a top-down view of the Tugela Falls – the second highest waterfall in the world at 948m, and which can often be viewed dropping in sections into mist and cloud.
Mont-Aux-Source is the focal point of the annual 50km Mont-Aux-Source Challenge from the Royal Natal National Park in Kwa-Zulu Natal – a grueling race up the Mahai Valley to the Witsieshoek Mountain Resort, then to the Sentinal and the top of the Amphitheatre and back down again.
One Response