July, in the middle of winter here on the southern hemisphere, is a great time to pack your tent and warm sleeping bag and head out into the berg to test what stuff you are made of. The July Camp is hosted by the KwaZulu-Natal Section and has been held for 101 years! Always in the majestic uKhahlamba Drakensberg, Campers are surrounded by magnificent scenery, dominated by towering peaks. The Camp offers dramatic and scenically rugged terrain with exhilarating hiking in the Little Berg; backpacking on the Escarpment with a range of mountain passes in between; rock-climbing opportunities; and, if weather conditions are suitable, even opportunities for building snowmen! Often the Camp is held in areas which have some superb examples of rock art, e.g., Battle Cave. Bird life is abundant as are the antelope and small wildlife for which the Berg is renowned. Presently the Camp is over 9 nights, but Campers are most welcome to attend for just a few days or for the whole period.
Upcoming July Camp
Report packs from previous July Camps
Report back from July Camp and National Meet 2024
July Camp 2024 at Cobham certainly was a very different July Camp and, in many ways, was a very special camp too. In some respects, these differences were pleasantly noteworthy and in other ways, others [...]
Report back from July Camp 2023
July camp is never ’always just the same’. There were a few ’firsts’ at July Camp 2023 which, overall and by all accounts received, was a great success. This was the first time July Camp [...]
Report back from July Camp 2022
By all accounts, July Camp 2022 at Injisuthi was a great success after no July Camps for two years due to Covid. The Injisuthi Camp Site is superbly laid out and well-tended, and the view [...]
Report back from July Camp 2021
The arrangements for July Camp 2021at Injisuthi were going incredibly well. All the arrangements with Injisuthi were in place; Lesley McGwynne, in Australia, was handling the bookings which had soared to a new record; Graham [...]
Report back from July Camp 2020
The July Camp sub-committee had all its ducks in a row and the preparatory activities (such having the recce to Injisuthi, the chosen venue for July Camp 2020; sending out the Brochure earlier than usual; [...]
Report back from July Camp 2019
The Centenary July Camp in the beautiful Cobham camp-site was a very special and memorable occasion with many people who had not been to July Camp for years and years making a welcome return. It [...]