About the park
About Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park: size, sections and history
Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is two old game reserves and the corridor between them, run as one park by a provincial authority rather than by SANParks. Knowing which section you are in decides which gate you use, which camp you sleep at and how long you drive.
If you only want the answer
A 94,984 ha park in northern KwaZulu-Natal, about 20 km north-west of Mtubatuba, made of the Hluhluwe section in the north, the iMfolozi section in the south and a corridor between them. Its two founding reserves were gazetted on 30 April 1895, which makes it one of Africa's oldest proclaimed game reserves. It is run by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the provincial conservation authority, not by SANParks, so its fees, bookings and rules are Ezemvelo's own.
How big is Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park?
The park covers 94,984 ha, about 950 km², according to the section table in its approved 2013 management plan. Ezemvelo's own camp pages round that up to 96,000 ha, a marketing figure that you will see repeated everywhere. It lies between about 70 m and 580 m above sea level, highest in the north, and its public road network runs to about 229 km.
Rain falls mostly between October and March, from up to 985 mm a year in the high north to about 650 mm in the low west. The management plan gives a temperature range of roughly 13 °C to 35 °C.
Three sections, one park
The single most useful fact about the park is that it is two different landscapes joined by a corridor. The R618 public road from Mtubatuba to Nongoma runs through that corridor, and the only tarred park road links Memorial Gate, Hilltop and Mpila across it.
| Section | Area | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Hluhluwe (north) | 25,633 ha | Hillier, higher and wetter. Main camp Hilltop; entered through Memorial Gate from Hluhluwe town. |
| iMfolozi (south) | 47,753 ha | Lower and drier, between the White and Black Mfolozi rivers. Main camp Mpila, the bush lodges and the wilderness area; entered through Nyalazi or Cengeni Gate. |
| Corridor Reserve | 21,598 ha | Links the two; proclaimed on 21 July 1989. |
Source: Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park Management Plan 2013, Table 3, the most recent approved plan in Ezemvelo's document registry.
Is it the oldest game reserve in Africa?
It is one of Africa's oldest proclaimed game reserves: its two founding reserves, recorded as Hluhluur Valley and Umfolozi Junction, were gazetted on 30 April 1895 and re-proclaimed as game reserves in April 1897. Ezemvelo calls it Africa's oldest proclaimed game reserve. Its own page for Pongola Nature Reserve, however, dates the Pongola Game Reserve to 1894.
Protection was also not continuous. iMfolozi was de-proclaimed in 1907, de-proclaimed again in 1926 and re-proclaimed in 1929 during the campaigns against nagana, the cattle disease carried by tsetse fly; the management plan estimates that more than 100,000 animals were killed in that period. The Natal Parks Board took over in 1952. The first visitor camp opened at Hilltop in 1934.
The iMfolozi Wilderness Area
In its 1958/59 year the Natal Parks Board set aside some 12,150 ha of iMfolozi where all motor traffic is banned and visitors may enter only on foot with a ranger. The management plan calls it the first wilderness area on the African continent. The first public wilderness trail set out on 19 March 1959, led by Ian Player and Magqubu Ntombela.
Ezemvelo now gives the wilderness area as about 25,000 ha. Its trails still run from Mpila and the Mndindini Trails Camp, for groups of up to eight.
Who runs the park?
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the provincial conservation authority of KwaZulu-Natal, established under the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Management Act 9 of 1997. It is not SANParks: the conservation fee, the camps, the booking system at bookings.kznwildlife.com and the rules are all Ezemvelo's own, and whether a SANParks Wild Card is valid here is not stated.
What matters for a visit right now is the tariff. Ezemvelo's tariff year runs from 1 November to 31 October, and when its relaunched website went live in 2026 the tariff page disappeared. As of 24 September 2026 no 2026/27 tariff had been published, so every rate on this guide is the 2025/26 one, valid to 31 October 2026.
Hluhluwe-iMfolozi or iSimangaliso?
The two are easy to combine. St Lucia, in iSimangaliso Wetland Park, is 56 km from Nyalazi Gate. iSimangaliso is a separate authority with its own entry fees, and Ezemvelo's tariff says the Wild Card is not accepted at any iSimangaliso area. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi is the place for wild dog, elephant, buffalo and lion on a self-drive; iSimangaliso is the coast and the St Lucia estuary.