Overview
The Tugela River is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. It is one of the most important rivers in the country. The river originates in Mont-aux-Sources of the Drakensberg Mountains and plunges 947 meters down the Tugela Falls.
Description
Tugela River, principal river of KwaZulu/Natal province, South Africa. It rises as a stream on the 10,000-foot- (3,050-metre-) high Mont-aux-Sources plateau near the merger point of the Lesotho–Free State province borders. Its upper course, which lies within Royal Natal National Park, flows through the Drakensberg range before hurtling down in a series of waterfalls having a total drop of 3,110 feet (948 m). The river then cuts through Tugela Gorge at the foot of the escarpment (about 5,000 feet [1,500 m] above sea level), is quickly joined by many tributaries, passes through the Ladysmith Basin, and, below Colenso, becomes narrow and deep. At Jameson’s Drift, it enters the wide, open Tugela Trough, at the eastern end of which it cuts deeply through a great block of sandstone to issue onto the coastal plain.