Drakensberg Passes | Xeni Pass

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Pass name: Xeni Pass
Region: Didima Nature Reserve, Northern KZN Drakensberg
Distance from the parking to the top: 15km
Difficulty: Extreme (8)*
Scenery: Exceptional!
Route type: ROCK
Risks: Difficult scrambling, exposed in places, no trail

* Most Drakensberg passes fall into the extreme difficulty category. To differentiate the “easy” ones from the harder ones, a rating out of 10 is included after the extreme rating. For more information, check out the Drakensberg Passes Intro article.

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Xeni Pass from the bottom.

Introduction

Xeni Pass is in the cutback between Leopard Peak and Mlambonja Buttress. It probably gets more traffic than one might expect due to it being in one of the most popular areas of the Drakensberg. But don’t let this route fool you, it is one of the hardest passes in the range and has had at least one fatality in the past.

Getting There

The hike starts from the Cathedral Peak Hotel parking lot. If you ask Google Maps for directions to the hotel, it should find the exact spot easily enough. You can either park at the boom gate which is the normal hikers parking, and then walk up the hill to the hotel for the start of the trail or pay the entrance fee at the gate (currently R50 per vehicle). The entrance fee at the gate gets you a small discount at the hotel, so as an added bonus, you can get something to eat and drink after the hike.

Make sure you stop at the Ezemvelo Didima Offices to buy your hiking permits and complete the rescue register.

From Johannesburg:

1) Take the N3 South (Durban) to Harrismith. Turn right at Harrismith (towards Bethlehem).
2) Roughly 15km out of the town, turn left for Bergville.
3) Drive through Bergville, and shortly after leaving the town, turn right at the sign for Didima/Cathedral Peak Hotel.
4) After a few kilometers, turn right again at another sign that says Didima/Cathedral Peak Hotel.
5) Don’t turn off again – this road ends at the hotel.

From Durban:

1) Take the N3 North (Johannesburg) till the Winterton/Colenso offramp.
2) Turn right towards Winterton.
3) At Winterton, turn left at the traffic lights.
4) After roughly 1km, turn right at the first turnoff.
5) After about 10km, the road will hit a T-junction. Turn right at this junction.
6) After about 1km, turn left at a sign that says Didima/Cathedral Peak Hotel.
7) Don’t turn off again – this road ends at the hotel.

Route Description

Follow the road up the hill behind the hotel past the phone tower. When the road becomes dirt, look out for a split, at which you go right. You will soon find yourself on a soccer field. Follow the trail from the far side of the field, and whenever you see a turnoff, pick the side that says Neptune Pools.

The trail will eventually start to zig-zag up a large hill, before reaching the contour path at a particularly scenic spot. Turn left on the contour path and follow it till it hits a large riverbed, which is the Xeni River.

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Pyramid and Column with Cleft Peak in the distance, as seen from Neptune Hill.

Boulder hop up the river – the riverbed is easier than the overgrown slopes next to it for most of the distance. When the obvious gully to your left breaks off (Cockade Pass), continue straight – which will feel more like turning right.

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Looking towards Xeni Pass from where you leave the contour path.

Initially it is necessary to move left onto the steep grassy slopes to bypass some waterfalls. There is a large rock pinnacle which you walk behind.

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Steep scrambling on the lower section of the pass.

Eventually the grass slopes lead you back into the gully. Occasionally it is necessary to break out of the gully to bypass an obstacle, but for the most part, the gully is the easiest option.

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One of the many scrambles to bypass a waterfall.
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The view high up on the pass.

Near the top, a large chockstone covers the gully – the famous wormhole, and probably the best part of the pass. Walk under it and follow the obvious line up the spiral staircase till you are on top of it. Walk over the rock bridge in the middle to complete a perfect spiral and continue up the gully, which is easier after this.

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The chockstone/wormhole.

To an experienced hiker with a good head for heights and that is competent with scrambling – this route is well worth it. However, if you do not fit those conditions, I would strongly discourage you from using this route.

Essential Gear

A hauling rope is a good idea for this route, as you might want to haul your packs up some of the scrambles.

Otherwise standard Drakensberg hiking gear is required – a good raincoat, warm fleece, good shoes, etc.

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The Pyramid and Column from high up on Xeni Pass.
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About Jonathan Newman 10 Articles
Jonathan is a chartered accountant from Pietermaritzburg. He started hiking in 2009, started hiking seriously in 2012 and started speed hiking in 2015. He has completed 6 Drakensberg Grand Traverses, 173 peaks above 3000m, and 78 different Drakensberg Passes. He also tests gear for Hi-Tec South Africa. Jonathan is currently working towards a large project in the Andes scheduled for 2019 - so watch this space!

7 Comments

  1. We did Xeni Pass over the 24 September 2018 long weekend. Had to say, it was a challenge. If it weren’t for some group work, I doubt we would have made it to the top. As always, navigation can be tricky, particularly because some GPS devices seem to malfunction in certain Drakensberg passes, and the path up Xeni was not always obvious to us. It took us about 7 hours to climb from bottom (i.e. Cockade campsite) to top. I would not recommend this pass unless you are strong, fit, and happy to do some pretty serious scrambling whilst wearing a multi-day backpack. But it was good fun.

    • Well done on getting up the route! As the writeup says, definitely one for experienced parties only.

      I did it in a day round trip with Bell Traverse, and a light pack makes it much easier. We got from the hotel to the top in just under 8 hours.

  2. Hello Jonathan Newman!you should come to Argentina,Bariloche and El Chalten are fantastic places to hike and climb!you will love it!
    Marcela
    ARGENTINA

    • I hope to visit the Andes next year. Argentina has a lot of peaks that interest me. There was even a brief period when I considered moving there so I would be able to have a proper gp at them! Looks like an amazing country.

  3. I did a decent of Xeni a few decades back (yip that old!) was winter and ice had frozen on many of the narrow rock ledges – treacherous to put it mildly (and we were all rock climbers). Ended up with one chap falling about 12m – fractured pelvis and femur. Helicopter was called from Durban so we spent the nice in the pass – tough learning that. I’d avoid this unless you are 100% ready for everything.

    • Sounds hectic! It would be a dangerous route in icy conditions, and being a south facing gully, I imagine ice could be an issue in winter. We had ice on the approach when I did it, but nothing of consequence in the gully. We carried crampons as a backup in case it was iced up, but didn’t need them on the way up. They did come in handy on the way down Bell Traverse, though.

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