Cedarville is a small settlement situated along the R56 Provincial Route in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, approximately 235 km south-west of Pietermaritzburg.
Cedarville falls within the Matatiele Local Municipality and the Alfred Nzo District Municipality.
The little hamlet of Cedarville, virtually on the border of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, lies south-east of the little village of Matatiele and 44.5 km north-west of Kokstad on the R56 road, north-west of Mount Currie Nature Reserve, and on the very southern edge of the Drakensberg Mountains, although the mountain range in this case is rather a distant backdrop.
In 1912, a village management board was established. Cedarville was part of the Cape Province until 1978, when it became part of Natal and then its successor, KwaZulu-Natal. In 2006, became part of the Eastern Cape province.
What makes Cedarville, the little village in East Griqualand, so very beautiful is its access to the mountains. It is not only just south of the Drakensberg but is also the gateway to three mountain passes into Lesotho. Towering above it too is a further mountain, the virtually 2,000 metre Cedarberg Mountain, from which the town obviously gets its name. From here, one can also easily reach the Katse Dam and the incredible Maletsunyane waterfall. Lesotho is just an hour away from Cedarville, and there are several challenging 4×4 routes in and around these great outdoor destinations.
Cedarville is in the heart of tranquil mountain enchantment. Grasslands peppered with low-lying hills and mountainous backdrops, with accommodation mainly on farms that by their very nature provide time out, is the run of things here. Hiking across grassveld, rustic mountain huts, the Cedarville flats, prolific wildlife, and a bird life, as well as well-stocked trout dams, make this part of the world a more than welcome respite from it all.
Nearby, the Umzimvubu River provides an ample supply of carp for more fishing fun, whilst it and other water-filled depressions that are in abundance around Cedarville serve as the source of hours of canoeing pleasure. And the Mount Currie Nature Reserve, which provides still further fishing opportunities, also offers sightings of the bearded vulture and no shortage of eagles, with regular appearances of Verreaux’s eagle, the martial eagle, and the African fish eagle.
