Mountain Zebra National Park Park

Address: Mountain Zebra National Park, near Cradock, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Website: https://www.sanparks.org/parks/mountain_zebra/

Hours: Daily (park gates - check SANParks for current gate times)

Mountain Zebra National Park is a protected area in South Africa’s Eastern Cape established originally to conserve the endangered Cape mountain zebra. The park protects a mix of rocky hills, open Karoo plains and scrubland.

Game drives, guided viewing hides and hiking are common activities, with visitors coming to see Cape mountain zebra along with a range of other Karoo-adapted species and scenic viewpoints over the park’s ridges. Roads and lookout points allow good sightings across the park’s open valleys.

The area was set aside in the 20th century specifically for zebra conservation and has been expanded and managed since to support population recovery and habitat protection. Management has focused on habitat conservation and controlled tourism.

The park lies in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, within the Karoo landscape, roughly within easy driving distance of the town of Cradock and the surrounding agricultural countryside.

• Purpose: Created initially to protect the Cape mountain zebra and now managed for conservation and wildlife viewing

• Stay overnight inside or very close to the park so you can do dawn and dusk game drives when Mountain Zebra and other wildlife are most active and light is best for viewing and photography.
• Book any park accommodation or guided drives in advance during South African school holidays and long weekends - the park is small and fills up faster than larger reserves.
• Stick to marked roads and drives: off-road travel is prohibited to protect the veld and wildlife, and during the wet season some gravel roads become slippery or impassable without high clearance.
• Don't skip the scenic viewpoints and short walking trails on the plateau; they offer good opportunities for landscape photography and are quieter than the main vehicle routes where most visitors concentrate.