Hogsback
A forested Amatola mountain village — mist, waterfalls, and the supposed inspiration for Tolkien's Middle-earth.
Trip Role
Ideal stay
Best for
Our take
The Eastern Cape's misty mountain village — forest, waterfalls, and quiet.
The Eastern Cape's misty mountain village — forest, waterfalls, and quiet.
- Trip Role
- Worth a Detour
- Ideal Stay
- 2 nights
- Best For
- Forest walks and a mountain retreat
- Go If
- You want mountains and forest in the Eastern Cape.
Why go
Hogsback is an Eastern Cape mountain village in the Amatolas — indigenous forest, waterfalls, mist, and a folk (if disputed) Tolkien connection. The Eastern Cape's closest thing to a highland retreat.
What we love
The forest walks to the Three Waterfalls and the mountain views.
What to know
3h from Gqeberha; a car is essential. Cold and misty — go in summer or autumn.
What's here
More town in Eastern Cape
Graaff-Reinet
The 'gem of the Karoo' — a Cape Dutch town entirely surrounded by the Camdeboo National Park and the Valley of Desolation.
Humansdorp
Farming town on the Garden Route's edge, gateway to the St Francis Bay coast and Cape St Francis.
Jeffreys Bay
South Africa's surf town — the world-famous right-hand point break at Supertubes and a laid-back beach culture.
Kenton-on-Sea
A holiday village between two rivers on the Sunshine Coast — beaches, Kariega Game Reserve upriver, and a family base.
Nieu Bethesda
A tiny Karoo village with an owl house, no petrol station, and an atmosphere you can't fake.
St Francis Bay
A white-walled canal-and-beach village near Jeffreys Bay — surf, a canal estate, and a calmer Eastern Cape coast base.