The gateway towns

Hluhluwe town and Mtubatuba before the park: fuel, gates, the drive (2026)

Name: Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park
Address: South Africa

Two small towns on the N2 serve Hluhluwe-iMfolozi: Hluhluwe in the north for Memorial Gate and Hilltop, Mtubatuba in the south for Nyalazi Gate and Mpila. Both are where you fill the tank and buy food, because what the park sells inside is limited.

If you only want the answer

Use Hluhluwe town if you are heading for Hilltop: it is 17 km on tar to Memorial Gate, about 25 minutes. Use Mtubatuba for Mpila and the iMfolozi section: 30 km to Nyalazi Gate, then 18 km to camp. Fill the tank in town (Mpila sells unleaded only, when it has it), buy food for your stay, and bring both a card and rand in cash, because Ezemvelo does not publish which payment methods its gates accept for the daily conservation fee of R320 per international adult.

Which town: Hluhluwe or Mtubatuba?

Pick the town by the camp you are driving to. Hluhluwe town sits on the N2 at the north end of the park and feeds Memorial Gate, the entrance for Hilltop and the Hluhluwe section. Mtubatuba is further south on the N2 and feeds Nyalazi Gate, the entrance for Mpila, the iMfolozi bush lodges and the wilderness trails.

Both towns, the gates and Mpila lie in Hlabisa Local Municipality in uMkhanyakude District, which matters for the malaria advice on our health page. If you have no booking inside and are only coming in for day drives, Hluhluwe town has the bigger choice of places to sleep.

Fuel: fill up in town

Fill the tank in Hluhluwe or Mtubatuba before you go in. The park does sell fuel, but on its own terms. Hilltop sells unleaded petrol, diesel and oil between 07:00 and 18:00. Mpila sells unleaded petrol daily from 07:00 to 18:00 dependent on availability, and Ezemvelo mentions no diesel there, so a diesel vehicle heading for iMfolozi should arrive full.

Distances inside are not huge, about 229 km of public road in total, but the drive from Memorial Gate to Mpila alone is 55 km at a 40 km/h limit, and game drives add up over a few days.

Shops and food for your stay

Buy your food in town. Ezemvelo says the nearest shops to Mpila are in Mtubatuba, 50 km away, and both main camps have only curio shops with basic food. Hilltop is the one camp with a restaurant; the April 2025 amended tariff lists breakfast at R215 and dinner at R325. The Centenary Centre near Nyalazi Gate has a take-away serving light meals from 08:00 to 16:00 daily.

Bring drinking water if you are staying at Mpila: Ezemvelo's 2023 booking confirmation asked guests to bring their own, and water in the park is pumped from silty rivers.

Cash, cards and paying at the gate

Every visitor pays Ezemvelo's daily conservation fee on arrival at the gate, including guests who sleep inside, which is not the rule at most Ezemvelo parks. Under the 2025/26 tariff table (1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026) it is R320 per adult and R160 per child under 12 for international visitors, and R160 and R80 for South African residents and SADC nationals with ID. The same brochure's note 3 still prints the older R300, and a new tariff is expected from 1 November 2026.

Ezemvelo does not publish which payment methods the gates accept, so bring a card and enough rand in cash to cover the fee for your group. At check-in you need the credit card you booked with and your ID or passport. Mpila's old Ezemvelo page says bank credit and debit cards are accepted at the camp.

Ezemvelo's office: there is none in town

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the provincial authority that runs the park, has no booking office in Hluhluwe or Mtubatuba in any of our sources. Bookings go through bookings.kznwildlife.com, bookings@kznwildlife.com or +27 33 845 1000; customer care is customercare@kznwildlife.com. Once you are there, the camps are the authority on the ground: Hilltop on +27 35 562 0848 or 0113, Mpila on +27 35 550 8477 or 8476 (mpilacamp@kznwildlife.com).

Guided drives and walks are booked at camp reception on arrival, first come first served, so there is nothing to arrange in town for those.

Hospital and pharmacy

Our sources do not name a hospital or pharmacy in Hluhluwe town or Mtubatuba, so we do not list one. Ask your camp or guesthouse where the nearest one is when you arrive, carry any medication you need from home, and buy repellent before you leave the city (the curio shops in the park also sell it, according to Ezemvelo).

The drive from Hluhluwe town to Memorial Gate

From the N2 at Hluhluwe, follow the tar road, the D453, to Memorial Gate: 17 km and about 25 minutes. Hilltop is about 15 km inside the gate on the park's tarred spine, and the same tar continues south to Mpila, 55 km from the gate. A community-run craft market operates at Memorial Gate.

Memorial is also the only gate that handles late arrivals. Gates close at 19:00 in summer and 18:00 in winter (plan on 18:00 in March and October, where Ezemvelo's documents disagree). After that, a late entry costs R500 per vehicle, is collected at Memorial Gate between 19:00 and 22:00, and you are escorted in; phone your camp first.

Leg	Distance	Time	Surface
Hluhluwe town to Memorial Gate	17 km	About 25 min	Tar (D453)
Memorial Gate to Hilltop	About 15 km	Not published	Tar
Memorial Gate to Mpila	55 km	About 1 h 40	Tar, at 40 km/h
Mtubatuba to Nyalazi Gate	30 km	About 35 min	Tar (R618)
Nyalazi Gate to Mpila	18 km	About 35 min	Inside the park; surface not published

Distances and times from a road routing model (OSRM, 24 September 2026), except Memorial Gate to Hilltop, which is Ezemvelo's figure. The model assumes an empty road.

Mtubatuba and Nyalazi Gate, the southern way in

Mtubatuba is the town for Nyalazi Gate and the iMfolozi section. Ezemvelo's directions: cross the iMfolozi River bridge on the N2, turn off 3 km north of the Mtubatuba turnoff, take the tarred Nongoma road (R618) for 27 km and turn left to Nyalazi Gate. From the gate it is 18 km to Mpila, and the Centenary Centre, with its take-away and craft market, is about 12 km from Mpila near the gate.

Mtubatuba is also the closer town to St Lucia: St Lucia to Nyalazi Gate is 56 km, about an hour. If heavy rain floods the river crossings on the park's internal road, as happened in February 2025, Mpila may only be reachable through Cengeni Gate in the west, so call the camp before you drive in during summer storms.

Where to sleep the night before

Small guesthouses in both towns were listed on Booking.com from about R700 to R1,600 a room for two on 14 to 15 October 2026 (prices captured 24 September 2026; they move daily). In Hluhluwe town: Country Rose from R697, Hluzu Guest House R765, The Wilds Guest House R812, Ama Zulu Guesthouse & Safaris R990 for a family suite and Hluhluwe Country Cottages R1,100 for a two-bedroom cottage. The ANEW Hotel Hluhluwe, which used to trade as the Protea Hotel Hluhluwe, showed R3,071 for a family room with breakfast.

In and around Mtubatuba: WeMvula Guesthouse from R891, Marula Gardens R1,000 with breakfast, 870 on Riverview Drive R1,130 for a studio and Wendy's Country Lodge R1,593 with breakfast. Sleeping outside means you pay the conservation fee only on the days you enter, but you also have to get in after opening and out before closing every day.

Driving the district roads after dark

Avoid driving the roads around the park at night. Animals do leave it: Ezemvelo has guided elephants back from the Vuna area toward Nongoma (July 2026), tracked lions killing livestock near Gluckstadt in January and February 2025, and reported a fatal buffalo incident near Hlabisa in February 2025. Plan your day so you reach your camp or guesthouse before dark.