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The High Res Kruger Park map contains in-depth information regarding roads and infrastructure, distances, and points of interest. Info-blocks inform travelers about 4×4 trails, booking information, the best drives, and more. It also includes a list of highly recommended accommodation options outside the Kruger National Park. The map also has information on the Parque Nacional Do Limpopo, or Limpopo National Park, across the border in Mozambique.
Kruger National Park maps provide visitors with an incredible resource for self-drive and self-catering holidays in Kruger Park. It's highly recommended you purchase a Kruger National Park map book before entering the Park as it provides valuable information that’ll improve your overall safari experience.
There are a variety of high-quality, glossy Kruger Park booklets available to purchase from retail outlets and at the Kruger entrance gates. The Kruger Park maps are a detailed visual aid on the different sections of Kruger Park. This includes colour coding of the characteristics of the terrain and a detailed key to landmarks, roads, visitor sites, and accommodation in Kruger Park.
The Kruger map books also include information on everything from distance and time charts, SANParks accommodation and gate times to the best self-drive routes, rules and regulations, history of the area, and profile of fauna and flora in the different eco zones.
The distance and time chart is important for self-drive safari holidays as it helps with planning your daily game drives and travelling onwards to rest camps on your safari holiday itinerary. It’s most important for gauging distance and times between rest camps to ensure you arrive at your accommodation in Kruger Park on time before the gate closes.
Visitors who arrive at a rest camp after the official gate closing time may be fined. It’s an inconvenience and irritating. It’s best to plan so you don’t make the mistake of misjudging your timing and being late for the gate.
Distances between the main gates and rest camps are calculated on the basis that a driver sticks to the maximum speed limit on the tar roads. It does not allow for time to stop for game sightings. This needs to be factored into your travelling time. Allow an additional 2.5 hours for game viewing between camps.
Visitors to Kruger Park have the choice of public tar roads and secondary gravel roads. Certain dirt roads are off limits to the public, either for conservation reasons or because they are unsafe for non-safari vehicles.
For years, there has been much controversy over whether roads in the Kruger Park should be tarred. This is based on the notion that the national park is a vast wilderness area, and tarred roads take away some of the authenticity of a safari tour. In fact, James Stevenson-Hamilton – Kruger’s most famous game warden – vehemently opposed the building of tarred roads in the Park, mostly due to his concerns over speeding and the carnage it would cause to wildlife.
There is an extensive network of bitumen-tarred roads in Kruger Park, and they do offer extra comfort and convenience to public visitors, particularly those who do not travel around in the luxury of a 4-wheel drive vehicle.
The tarred roads are kept in excellent condition, so there is no dust or teeth-clattering corrugations. Bitumen-tarred roads also save the Park money as they don’t need as much ongoing maintenance as dirt roads require. There are more than 850 kilometres of eco-friendly tarred roads in Kruger Park. Visitors have access to an additional 1 444 kilometres of dirt roads that provide backroads for more remote animal sightings.
The most popular tarred road in southern Kruger Park is the road between Crocodile Bridge Gate and Skukuza Rest Camp, travelling via Lower Sabie Rest Camp (H4-1 and H4-2). This popular game drive route hugs the perennial Sabie River and offers visitors ample sightings of animals and birds.
The second-most popular tarred road is between Skukuza Rest Camp in southern Kruger and Satara Rest Camp in central Kruger (HH1-2 and H1-3). Visitors leave the lush savanna plains of southern Kruger behind and enter a section that’s characterised by rugged grasslands, mixed woodlands, and sweet grazing.
Kruger Park is divided into two distinct tourism eco-zones. Which section you visit depends on what interests you and what game and birds you want to see.
Southern Kruger is the busiest section of the national park, mainly because it is easy to access and has the highest concentration of game. Southern Kruger receives the highest rainfall and is bounded by the Crocodile River and Sabie River.
Lush, fertile savanna plains and permanent sources of water mean Big 5 game viewing in southern Kruger is outstanding. This section of the national park is also rich in history, as it served as the gateway to the port of Lourenço Marques (now Mozambique) for ancient traders.
Central Kruger Park is the largest area of the national park and makes up 30 percent of the surface area. It lies between the Sabie River and the Olifants River. The grass in this region is sweet, and there are plenty of browsing trees. This attracts an abundance of antelope as well as giraffe, zebra, and wildebeest.
With plenty to eat, central Kruger is known as the ‘Big Cat Capital of Kruger’. It supports nearly half of the Park’s lion population as well as strong numbers of leopard, hyena, and cheetah. It’s estimated that there are at least 60 individual prides of lions in central Kruger.
Northern Kruger is vastly different from southern and central Kruger Park and attracts a different set of wildlife and nature lovers. It receives very little annual rainfall and is semi-arid and stark. A redeeming feature of northern Kruger is that five major rivers forge a path across the valley, the two notable rivers being Olifants and Letaba.
Game viewing and birdwatching along the river banks is fantastic. Northern Kruger is home to almost 60 percent of the total hippo population of Kruger, and at last count, there are over 9 000 elephants in the northern belt.
Far North Kruger is remote and far too remote to reach, so it’s one of the quietest sections of the Park. It’s very popular for nature lovers who prefer remote, untouched wilderness as well as avid birders. It’s world-renowned as the “Birding Capital of South Africa”, if not the whole of southern Africa.
The concentration of animals is lower than anywhere else in Kruger Park, but its reputation for outstanding birding makes up for it in spades. The most popular Kruger activity in the far-north section is guided wilderness walking trails.
Before arriving in Kruger Park as well as departing for early morning and afternoon game drives, it’s important you find out what times the gates open and close. Strict regulations governing gate opening and closing times have been put in place to protect the safety of SANParks’ visitors as well as the animals.
Guests staying in SANParks accommodation are restricted to opening and closing times for the camp’s gates. Guests staying in luxury accommodation in Kruger Park on the private concessions are not restricted to gate opening and closing times.
The most important rule in the Kruger Park is NO SPEEDING. Visitors must stick to the Park’s strict speed limits, not only for the sake of the animals but for their own safety. Take care to plan your daily game drives so you leave enough time to make it back to your Kruger accommodation, travelling at the required speed limit.
Fines are imposed on Kruger Park visitors who break the speed limit and arrive after the gate closing times.
Kruger Gate opening and closing times are seasonal. They open anything up to one hour or half an hour earlier in the summer months between October and March. Likewise, the gates close earlier in the winter months between April and September.
Kruger National Park map books provide important telephone numbers that are useful for guests, particularly if they need medical or mechanical assistance. Skukuza Rest Camp is the largest rest camp in Kruger Park and is the administrative headquarters. The rest camp has a medical facility as well as a garage and a mechanics workshop for breakdowns.
Kruger National Park is safe to visit as long as everyone abides by the rules and regulations. They are in place for not only your own safety but the safety of other guests, SANParks staff and rangers, and the Park’s incredible animals, birds, and nature.
Kruger National Park map books clearly explain the rules and regulations, as well as provide other valuable information. This includes information on malaria and tips for game drives and staying at rest camps.
You might be surprised to read about all the different activities you can do in the Park in addition to daily game drives. The Kruger National Park map books explain the different activities and the best sections of the Park to visit for those activities.
Kruger National Park maps are meticulously detailed and provide information on all the places you can stop for picnics or lunch breaks. There is a wide selection of picnic sites in Kruger Park as well as day visitor centres.
The Kruger map books provide details on distances between gates, picnic sites, day visitor centres, and the rest camps. This helps you plan your daily game drives so you have places to stop at to stretch your legs, game or bird watch at special hides, or enjoy a leisurely lunch and drinks at the bigger rest camps.
At entry gates, maps and magnetic sighting boards display the park’s vast road network, picnic sites, and rest camps. Visitors can check "Today" and "Yesterday" markers to identify recent locations of the "Super Seven" wildlife.
The map helps first-time visitors by detailing distances and estimated travel times between camps, ensuring they reach gates before closing. It also identifies eco-zones, waterholes, and picnic sites to help prioritize game-rich routes.
Official, up-to-date maps are available at all SANParks entrance gates and reception offices. For digital planning, you can download PDF maps or use the interactive map on the official SANParks website.
The park map defines Kruger as one of Africa's largest reserves, spanning approximately 19,485 square kilometers (nearly 2 million hectares). Stretching 350km north to south, it is roughly the size of Israel or Wales.
The map features ten main entrance gates spanning the park's 350km length. Key southern gates include Paul Kruger, Phabeni, and Malelane, while central and northern regions are accessed via Orpen, Phalaborwa, and Punda Maria.
On the official map, rest camps are marked with house or bungalow icons, while picnic sites are identified by a table or "P" symbol. Color-coded legends further distinguish between main rest camps and satellite bushveld camps.
On the map, thick red lines indicate tarred roads with a 50 km/h limit, while dotted or thinner brown lines represent gravel roads limited to 40 km/h. Icons for fuel, shops, and lookouts identify essential visitor services.
Maps include distance tables and travel time charts between camps. By factoring in the speed limits (50 km/h tar, 40 km/h gravel) and extra time for sightings, you can safely plan your arrival before gates close.
Yes, major rivers are shown as blue lines, with perennial rivers (like the Sabie) appearing bolder than seasonal ones. Maps also mark man-made dams, waterholes, and windmills, which are essential for spotting wildlife during dry periods.
The map highlights high-activity areas like waterholes and dams where predators congregate. When paired with real-time "sightings boards" at camp receptions, it allows visitors to plot routes toward recent Big Five locations and rare wildlife.
Yes, maps indicate restricted roads with "No Entry" symbols or specific labels. For seasonal or flood-related closures, SANParks uses physical barriers and real-time notices at gates, as static maps cannot reflect daily weather-driven changes.
Official maps are generally reviewed annually, but major reprints occur as infrastructure changes. While static maps aren't updated daily, SANParks issues real-time digital notices and physical sightings board updates to reflect current road conditions.
Combine the map with camp sighting boards to target active areas. Factor in strict speed limits - 50 km/h (tar) and 40 km/h (gravel) - plus extra "sighting time" to ensure you reach camp gates before sunset.
Yes, the official SANParks mobile app (released in 2025) offers interactive digital maps with offline functionality. You can also download high-resolution PDF maps from the SANParks website or use GPS waypoints for accurate navigation.
Maps ensure safety by detailing gate closing times, preventing late-arrival fines or dangerous night driving. They highlight official emergency contact numbers and designated "get-out" points, keeping visitors safely within their vehicles in predator-dense areas.
