Driving through Golden Gate

[Karishma-Kim]

Hi,

We are planning to drive through Golden Gate National Park on our way to Addo from Johannesburg.

My husband and I have Wild Card Membership. My sister who will be joining us on this trip does not have a card.

I am also trying to evaluate if it makes sense for her to buy a Wild Card based on this trip.

We only plan to drive through Golden Gate and I am given to understand that the road is public access - do we need to pay entry to drive through the public road through the park?

Does it make sense to spend a couple of hours here to explore this park, especially since we are on our way to Addo. We are recovering from various injuries and hiking is not an option right now.

Thank you

[Elsa]

Welcome to the forum Karishama-Kim

The road through Golden Gate is indeed a public road and you don't need to pay any fees for that.
There are 2 loops which branch off the main access road which I think you may need a permit to drive unless one is an overnight guest.

https://www.sanparks.org/parks/golden_g ... drives.php

https://www.sanparks.org/assets/docs/e-brochures/golden-gate-brochure.pdf

You don't say how long you intend staying in Addo but basically the breakdown for Wild cards effectiveness/costs is explained nicely in This Topic

[Karishma-Kim]

Thanks Elsa,

for confirming that we don't need to pay to use the public road.

I had looked at the breakdown, I will be computing the costs based on our final itinerary.

Given that we have to stop for the covid check and entry formalities (or at least it was so at Kruger in December), we aren't saving any time by having the wild card, so the decision is purely on what is more financially reasonable

Thank you for the brochure link, I hadn't seen that one before.

Given that we want to drive on and have a bit of a time crunch, if we can only do one loop, would you recommend the oribi loop or the blesbok loop in terms of scenic beauty?

[Elsa]

Both the loops have great scenery but I would say the Blesbok certainly is higher in altitude, has a dam view and some stunning mountain scenery.
There are also many view sites along the public road that have pull off sections that you can stop at to admire the spectacular scenery and see some of the animals and bird life from.

[Karishma-Kim]

Thank you so much Elsa for your insight and helpful answers