The Lanner Gorge is located in the far North of the Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers and extends from north to south and from east to west.To the west and south of the Kruger National Park are the two South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. In the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is...

. It forms the boundary between the Kruger National Park to the South and the Makuleke Concession

Makuleke

The Makuleke Contractual Park or Pafuri Triangle constitutes the northernmost section of the Kruger National Park, South Africa, and comprises approximately 240 square kilometres of land. The “triangle” is a wedge of land created by the confluence of the Limpopo and Luvuvhu Rivers at the tripoint...

 to the North. It was carved by the Luvuvhu River

Levubu River

The Levubu River is located in the northern Limpopo province of South Africa. Some of its tributaries, such as the Mutshindudi River and Mutale River rise in the Soutpansberg Mountains...

 and is at some points more than 150m deep.

Description

Lanner Gorge is approximately 11 km long and is carved into sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

s and shales

Shalës

Shalës is a municipality in the Elbasan District, Elbasan County, central Albania. The municipality consists of the villages Shalës, Licaj, Kurtalli, Xibrake, Xherie and Kodras....

.

Geology

The uppermost rocks are gravel

Gravel

Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...

s which are thought to be Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 in age while the basal shales are thought to be Permian

Permian

The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...

 in age. The majority of the walls appear to be composed of Triassic

Triassic

The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...

 and Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

 aged sandstones formed under arid

Arid

A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...

 conditions.

The Luvuvhu river has eroded through the sandstones and shales and formation is still active as is evidenced by the many collapsed boulder

Boulder

In geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of usually no less than 256 mm diameter. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive....

s in the river bed.

Fossils

Dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

 fossils have been discovered in the walls of Lanner Gorge and rocks in the surrounding region. Desert rose

Desert rose (crystal)

thumb|right|250px|Saharan desert rose, 47 cm long.Desert rose is the colloquial name given to rosette formations of the minerals gypsum and barite with poikilotopic sand inclusions...

s are also common in the Triassic and Jurassic-aged rocks.

Geological Age

The precise age of the gorge is unknown, however, the absence of Early Stone Age occupation in the many caves and shelters in the gorge suggests that the gorge may be relatively young and have formed in the last 2 million years.

Flooding

As the Luvuvhu River is still a young, active river, flooding is common and the gorge is often cluttered with debris such as fallen trees.

Access

Access to the gorge is extremely limited due to its steepness and its status as a wilderness area of Kruger. Nevertheless, some walking trails approach and enter the gorge from both the Makuleke area as well as from the Kruger side.

Wildlife

The gorge holds a variety of wildlife including abundant crocodile

Crocodile

A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...

s, hippos

Hippopotamus

The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...

, hyrax

Hyrax

A hyrax is any of four species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. The rock hyrax Procavia capensis, the yellow-spotted rock hyrax Heterohyrax brucei, the western tree hyrax Dendrohyrax dorsalis, and the southern tree hyrax, Dendrohyrax arboreus live in Africa...

es, baboon

Baboon

Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominoid members of the primate order; only the mandrill and the drill are larger...

s, leopard

Leopard

The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...

s and other small game. Elephants and buffalo

African Buffalo

The African buffalo, affalo, nyati, Mbogo or Cape buffalo is a large African bovine. It is not closely related to the slightly larger wild Asian water buffalo, but its ancestry remains unclear...

 and other larger game are common at both ends of the gorge, but have difficulty in accessing the central region due to the steep walls.

There is an abundance of birds including raptors such as the Black Eagle

Black Eagle

The Black Eagle is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae, and is the only member of the genus Ictinaetus. They soar over forests in the hilly regions of tropical Asia and hunt mammals and birds, particularly at their nests...

 and Lanner Falcon

Lanner Falcon

The Lanner Falcon is a large bird of prey that breeds in Africa, southeast Europe and just into Asia. It is mainly resident, but some birds disperse more widely after the breeding season.-Description:...

 - after which the gorge is named.

Other interesting facts

• The archeological site of Thulamela is located just outside the eastern end of the gorge.
• Legend has it that a former chief used to throw criminals and enemies to their death from the highest points of the gorge.