The Royal Natal National Park lies at the foot of a sheer escarpment wall  bordered by the Western and Eastern buttresses which together form what is known as the Amphitheatre. Originally named the Natal National Park, it is run by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and is still a popular tourist destination. In 1947 the Natal National Park Hotel hosted the British Royal Family during a state visit and this earned the park and the hotel the right to be called the Royal Natal National Park and the Royal Natal National Park Hotel.  The glory days of the hotel are long gone and weeds now grow up through the floors of the rooms where Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 21st birthday. The Tendele Hutted Camp and the Mahai Campsite still offer comfortable tourist accommodation, and there are many well-marked, self-guided walking routes for tourists to enjoy, but there are very few backpacking options.

The Tugela Falls plummet 948 metres down the wall of the Amphitheatre in five drops, making them the highest in Africa and the second highest in the world after the Angel Falls in Venezuela. It is possible to hike up to the top of the escarpment and the falls from the park via the Sentinel car park and the Chain Ladders (or the alternative gully route if you are not comfortable with heights).

Serious backpackers are much more likely to drive up to the car park via QwaQwa. That may sound like a contradiction, but the top of the Amphitheatre is a majestic place and the starting point for many a mini- or grand-traverse of the escarpment southwards. QwaQwa was a homeland created for the Southern Sotho people from a reserve in the Orange Free State but was incorporated back into the province in 1994 after 20 years of self-government.  After an arduous drive through Phuthaditjhaba, the capital of QwaQwa, you will reach a road toll point manned by QwaQwa authorities. You then continue on to either the Witzieshoek Mountain Resort or the Sentinel car park itself. The brick road eventually gives way to a dirt one that requires a vehicle with a good ground clearance and maybe even 4X4. Weaker vehicles may also struggle with the altitude. QwaQwa personnel also man the Sentinel car park office which is where you pay your hike fee to get onto the escarpment. You then set off along the Zigzags, contour path and Chain Ladders to freedom! Alternatively, if you can secure accommodation in the one-room Sentinel Hut at the car park, you can delay your departure until the next morning.

Be warned, but probably as a consequence of the confluence of QwaQwa, Lesotho, the Orange Free State and the Ezemvelo KZN Wildife-controlled escarpment section at the top of the Amphitheatre, this area of the high Berg is known for banditry, mostly by Basothos who have no notion that it does not belong to them. There are no border fences, no border guards and no rule of law, so hike in large groups and if you must overnight in this area, set a night watch. Occasionally, when incidents become a bit too frequent to ignore, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and South African Police Service (SAPS) personnel may be temporarily deployed there to do a “clean-up”, although exactly what this entails remains a mystery. During these operations, hikers are usually denied access and warned that there may be consequences if they are found there.