South Africa Cave
Sterkfontein
18 °C inside, all year.
Photograph by Mike Peel ( www.mikepeel.net ). · CC BY-SA 4.0
The descent
The entrance, at 1,481 m.
The real relief above Sterkfontein, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.
The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.
1,481m
Entrance altitude
published (Wikidata)
18°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
86m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
18 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 18 °C here, in January and in August. In November the afternoon reaches 29 °C at the entrance, 12 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from October to March. The wettest months are from November to March: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 29°16°Jan
- 29°15°Feb
- 27°14°Mar
- 24°10°Apr
- 21°6°May
- 18°3°Jun
- 18°2°Jul
- 22°5°Aug
- 27°9°Sep
- 29°12°Oct
- 29°14°Nov
- 29°16°Dec
Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.
Archaeological site in South Africa
Sterkfontein is a cave in South Africa. The entrance is at 1,481 m. It has an underground river.
Getting there.
- Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
- Krugersdorpnearest town · 8.7 km in a straight line
- Lanseria International Airport (HLA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 21 km in a straight lineCar hire at HLA airport (Johannesburg)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The water
The Rietspruit runs highest from December to February.
The Rietspruit carries about 0.21 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from December to February. It is lowest from May to October.
- 0.5 m³/sJan
- 0.4 m³/sFeb
- 0.3 m³/sMar
- 0.2 m³/sApr
- 0.1 m³/sMay
- 0.1 m³/sJun
- 0.1 m³/sJul
- 0.1 m³/sAug
- 0.1 m³/sSep
- 0.1 m³/sOct
- 0.3 m³/sNov
- 0.4 m³/sDec
From about 0.06 m³/s in the lowest month to 0.50 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 241 km².
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From above.
The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.
N
1.5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the entrance.
- 4other cave entrances within 3 kmChristine’s Cave, Glover’s Cave, Fault Cave and 1 more
- 1springs within 2 km
- 3car parks within 2 km
- 1information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 1campsites within 8 kmKrugersdorp Game Reserve
- 6hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmLog Cabins, Guest accommodation, Kenjara Lodge and 3 more
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
- viewpoints within 3 km
- marked hiking routes within 3 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Krugersdorp8.7 km in a straight line
- Bagale10 km in a straight line
- Muldersdriseloop11 km in a straight line
- Orient Hills13 km in a straight line
- Magaliesburg18 km in a straight line
- Randfontein19 km in a straight line
- Roodepoort21 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Sterkfontein.
The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.
Peakyas1 mountains within 10 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather outside, at the entrance.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 29 | 29 | 27 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 18 | 22 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Afternoon | 29 | 29 | 27 | 24 | 21 | 18 | 18 | 22 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Night | 16 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 16 |
| Rain (mm) | 119 | 89 | 72 | 49 | 16 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 50 | 82 | 123 |
| Rainy days | 20 | 17 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 20 |
| Sun hours/day | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 9.8 | 10.1 | 10.4 | 9.8 | 9.2 | 8.7 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29 | 29 | 16 | 119 | 8.7 |
| Feb | 29 | 29 | 15 | 89 | 8.5 |
| Mar | 27 | 27 | 14 | 72 | 8.3 |
| Apr | 24 | 24 | 10 | 49 | 8.1 |
| May | 21 | 21 | 6 | 16 | 9.3 |
| Jun | 18 | 18 | 3 | 8 | 9.2 |
| Jul | 18 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 9.8 |
| Aug | 22 | 22 | 5 | 6 | 10.1 |
| Sep | 27 | 27 | 9 | 16 | 10.4 |
| Oct | 29 | 29 | 12 | 50 | 9.8 |
| Nov | 29 | 29 | 14 | 82 | 9.2 |
| Dec | 29 | 29 | 16 | 123 | 8.7 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (1,481 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Inside and around.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 133% | 110% | 85% | 149% | 0% | 68% | — | 50% | 38% | 107% | 138% | 101% |
| 2021 | 141% | 136% | 66% | 51% | 15% | 60% | — | 160% | 160% | 149% | 97% | 154% |
| 2022 | 133% | 55% | 102% | 337% | 220% | 188% | — | 31% | 17% | 102% | 235% | 83% |
| 2023 | 30% | 152% | 62% | 31% | 238% | 72% | — | 10% | 29% | 61% | 30% | 64% |
| 2024 | 69% | 50% | 95% | 128% | 19% | 180% | — | 5% | 63% | 61% | 47% | 50% |
| 2025 | 81% | 192% | 76% | 151% | 40% | 2,808% | — | 74% | 85% | 230% | 173% | 82% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Sterkfontein
South Africa
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 1,481 mEntrance altitude
- 18 °CInside, all year
Rising Star Cave
South Africa · 3 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 1,484 mEntrance altitude
- 18 °CInside, all year
Wonder Cave
South Africa · 6 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 1,508 mEntrance altitude
- 18 °CInside, all year
Coopers Cave
South Africa · 1 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 1,472 mEntrance altitude
- 18 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q1476862) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
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