The Great Karoo is the largest natural ecosystem in South Africa - and one of the world's great scientific wonders. Its rocks contain fossil remains spanning 310 million years. The park encompasses 46119ha of typical Great Karoo including part of the Nuweveld Mountains. Vegetation is mostly Karoo arid broken veld with well-wooded dry watercourses on the plains and montane grassland at the higher elevations. Altitudes vary from 825m to 1911m. 

Seasons: Plains are hot in the summer months (Oct-Mar) but it remains relatively cool on the Nuweveld Mountains. Winters are cold, with occasional snow on the mountains. 

Wildlife: The Park harbours 64 species of mammals. The bird count in the park totals 196 species, while there are 59 species of reptiles including 5 species of tortoise. You should see: wildebeest, bat-eared fox, springbok, Cape mountain zebra, Burchell's Zebra, kudu, gemsbok, red hartebeest, mountain reedbuck, grey rhebok, eland, baboon and vervet monkey. You may see: Black rhino, black eagle, aardvark, aardwolf, caracal, mongoose, genet, suricate (meerkat), steenbok, klipspringer and duiker.