The Essential Guide to Ts’ehlanyane National Park Lesotho

Touring Lesotho and want to do some hiking? Or just want to explore one of Lesotho’s only national parks? Why not head to Ts’ehlanyane National Park, one of Lesotho’s top attractions.

Tucked up in the north of the country in the majestic Maloti mountains, Ts’ehlanyane National Park is a great place to spend a few days in Lesotho’s great outdoors. With great hiking, swimming, pony trekking and beautiful mountain scenery, you won’t be bored here.

Keen to find out more? Read on for our complete guide to Ts’ehlanyane National Park.

Ts’ehlanyane National Park: Overvierw

Ts’ehlanyane National Park is one of only two national parks in Lesotho. The 56 sq km park sits at an altitude ranging from 1940m to 3112m (read: cold) and is considered mostly sub-alpine. 

The park has some of the only indigenous forest in Lesotho, making it an important protected space in the country. Inside the park, you can also find caves, cliffs, rivers, waterfalls and beautiful natural ponds. 

Read: 15 Awesome Things to Do in Lesotho + Essential Guide

The park has good, accessible hiking that ranges from short day hikes to a 39 km multi-day trek to Bokong Nature Reserve. 

Whether you’re looking to get active on the trails or just want a nature break, Ts’ehlanyane National Park is a great addition to any Lesotho itinerary. 

Where is Ts’ehlanyane National Park

Ts’ehlanyane National Park is in the far north of Lesotho, 175 km from Maseru. The park is located in the Maloti Mountains in Leribe District. 

Where to next? Check out Maletsunyane Falls and Semonkong

Best Time to Visit Ts’ehlanyane National Park 

The best time to visit Ts’ehlanyane National Park is from March to April and September. This is during the southern hemisphere autumn and spring. During this time, the weather is pleasant, and the skies are clear, making it perfect for exploring the park. 

Since Ts’ehlanyane National Park is at high altitude, from April to August, it is very cold at night, so be sure to pack some warm clothes. 

The wet season, from November to March, can bring heavy rains and make some roads impassable. 

Ts’ehlanyane National Park Entrance Fees

The entrance fees for Ts’ehlanyane National Park are 50 LTL pp and 30 LTL per car. Note that, unlike many other national parks in Africa, you only pay this once (upon arrival) rather than per day. 

Heading to South Africa? Check out Golden Gate Highlands National Park

How to Get To Ts’ehlanyane National Park

Ts’ehlanyane National Park is reached by a good (tarred) 30 km access road that branches off of the main Lesotho A1 route, 5 km southwest of Butha Buthe. The route passes through a couple of villages and parallels the Hlotse River along a very picturesque valley until it reaches the park entrance.

Most travellers to Lesotho get around in their own car or with a private driver. However, for the intrepid, you can also get to Ts’ehlanyane National Park by public transport. 

Drive 

The most common way for visitors to travel around Lesotho is to rent a car in South Africa and drive overland.

Pro tip: use Discover Cars to find the best deals on rentals.

From Maseru, the drive to Ts’ehlanyane National Park is 175 km and around 4 hours. Take the A1 in the direction of Butha-Buthe. Just southwest of Butha-Buthe is the signposted access road, which continues for another 30 km to the park gates. 

If you’re on an epic Lesotho road trip beginning at Sani Pass (which we highly recommend!), expect the trip to Ts’ehlanyane National Park to take around 5 hours on the A1 (including a stop for lunch). 

The A1 Hwy from Sani Pass to Ts’ehlanyane National Park is curvy, with lots of climbs and descents. But it is a gorgeous road to drive on. Throughout the drive, the scenery changes from the high-altitude plains to mountainous forests. Enjoy the ride! 

Lesotho is best explored by road-tripping! Check out our epic 8-day Lesotho road trip itinerary.

Hire a driver

Due to Lesotho’s limited public transportation network, it’s very common for travellers to hire a driver to shuttle them around the country. 

In fact, most of the tourists we met were doing just this. If this is what you’re looking for, you can hire a top-rated driver here. 

Public Transport

Lesotho’s public transport is pretty limited and getting around this way requires a taste for adventure and lots of patience. 

To get to Ts’ehlanyane National Park by public transport, you must first get to Butha-Buthe. You should be able to pick up a shared taxi in Maseru.

Once in Butha-Buthe, there are shared taxis to the villages en route to the park. If you ask, they may be able to drop you at either the park gates or Maliba Lodge. To leave, your best bet is to speak with Maliba Lodge about organising transport onwards. 

Related: How to Conquer Sani Pass

Where to Stay in Ts’ehlanyane National Park

To stay in Ts’ehlanyane National Park, you have two options: camping or Maliba Lodge.

Ts’ehlanyane National Park Camping

Alright, there are not a lot of great Ts’ehlanyane National Park camping options, but there is one amazing option. 

If you’re lucky, you can score the Ts’ehlanyane National Park camping site right next to the Rock Pool. This is a small space with a picnic bench, right beside the pool and small waterfall. It’s a very beautiful spot, with a view of the mountains. The only catch? There’s only space for one car. 

Besides this spot, we couldn’t find any other suitable Ts’ehlanyane National Park camping spots. 

Note that this spot is on Maliba Lodge’s property. While we were informed at the park entrance that it cost 40 LTL pp to camp in the park, Maliba Lodge (whose property the spot is on), told us there was no extra charge. 

Maliba Lodge

If you’d like a bed for the night and want to stay in the park, then Maliba Lodge is your only option. 

Maliba Lodge is a nice, upscale resort that has taken over the vast majority of the national park. They have many different options for accommodation, from riverside cottages to rondavels to rooms in the main lodge. 

Also, unless you are self-catering, Maliba Lodge is the only place to eat in Ts’ehlanyane National Park. There are a couple of different options, including a fine-dining restaurant (order in advance) and a casual bistro. 

The verandah at the Maliba Lodge overlooks the mountains and is a lovely place for a sundowner – highly recommended!

Ts’ehlanyane National Park Activities

Hiking at Ts’ehlanyane National Park Hiking

The best Ts’ehlanyane National Park activity is to do some hiking! There is some nice and accessible hiking at Ts’ehlanyane National Park. The trails are clear, well-formed and decently signposted. 

Most trails can also be found on Wikiloc if you would like a map to navigate (always recommended) or you can get a rudimentary paper map at Maliba Lodge. 

Note: except for the cave trail, all hikes leave from Maliba Lodge. 

The main trails are the “upper” and “lower” trails. The upper trail leaves from the Maliba Lodge bar area and the lower trail leaves from the Maliba River Lodge area (yes, these are two different areas of the same lodge). 

Both the upper and the lower trails lead to Black Pool and are about the same distance (around 3 km). They only vary in the amount of hills to climb. The upper trail involves a bit more climbing, while the lower trail is a gentle walk that follows the Hlotse River. 

For a fun circle, you can take one trail to Black Pool and circle back to Maliba Lodge via the other (i.e., upper trail to Black Pool and return via lower trail). A circuit should take around 2.5 hours. 

At Black Pool, the onward trail splits. You can go to either Valley of the Pools (2.5 hours / only in dry season) or to the Cascades Pool. 

Black Pool to Cascade Pool is another 2.3 km and mostly uphill. While the trail steadily climbs, the path is well-formed and clear and isn’t too arduous. The Cascade Pool is a very beautiful 3-tiered waterfall. 

Pro tip: for treating water on all our hikes, we use a Steripen – it’s a game-changer.

From Cascade Pool, you can continue the Circular Route trail to Rock Pool (via Holoma waterfall) or return the same way you came. If you do the Circular Route, there is a lot more elevation gain and you should budget an entire day. 

From Rock Pool, you can hike to Holoma waterfall (there and back). Reports are that the vegetation is pretty dense on this part of the trail and involves a decent bit of climbing, so only tackle this one if you’re ready for a challenge. 

If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can hike to other parts of the country, but you’ll need a guide (there are some trails on Wikiloc, but I wouldn’t trust these entirely) and you’ll need to organise your logistics. Speak to Maliba Lodge about organising this. 

Swimming at Ts’ehlanyane National Park Hiking

If you can brave the cold water, there are numerous beautiful swimming spots around Ts’ehlanyane National Park. This is a great Tsehlanyane National Park activity.

Our clear favourite is Rock Pool. If you’re going to choose one pool to swim in, choose Rock Pool. It’s COLD, but great.

Community Tours

Going on a community tour to learn more about the Basotho culture is a great Tselanyane National Park activity. Maliba Lodge offers a variety of community tours. These cost 300 LTL for one person and 200 LTL for each additional person. 

The tours last around 3 hours and all proceeds go to the community development council. 

Horse Trekking

Of course you can go horse trekking at Ts’ehlanyane National Park! This is Lesotho, after all. 

You can arrange horse treks at Maliba Lodge. Most treks last a couple of hours, but if you’re super keen, I’m sure they could keep you on a horse for a couple of days. 

Ts’ehlanyane National Park: Good to Know

• It’s COLD in Ts’ehlanyane National Park in winter. Seriously cold. Every morning we woke up to frost. If you’re in a rondavel, no problem, you can light a fire. If you’re camping at Tsehlanyane National Park, be prepared. 
• If you’re visiting Ts’ehlanyane National Park in the winter, make sure to pack a warm jacket and layers. 
• If you’re self-catering, you can get some basic supplies in Butha-Buthe, but there aren’t a ton of options, so if coming from the east, you’re best stocking up in South Africa beforehand. If you’re coming from the west, stock up in Maseru. 
• If you’re coming from South Africa (which, you probably are), you can use South African rand if you don’t want to use an ATM in Lesotho or change money. The Lesotho Loti (LTL) is par with the South African rand, which is accepted everywhere. 
• Travel insurance, as always, is essential. If something goes wrong, you want to be covered. We use and recommend SafetyWing. Trust us, we’ve used a lot of travel insurance and they really are the best.

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