The leopard is one of those animals which is on everyone’s to see list, this post is dedicated to the top 5 roads for spotting leopards in the Kruger National Park. The following roads have always rewarded us with leopard sightings.
The H3
The H3 is a tar road located in the southern section of the park, which you can use to travel from Malelane Gate to Skukuza, the road is 50km long and it’s a great road if you don’t want to use the sand roads around this area. Each time we have seen a leopard it has mostly been after a quick stop at Afsaal.
The H7
This road is situated in the middle of the park and it’s a tar road which connects Orpen to Satara. Once on a night drive, a ranger informed us that the first 23km from Orpen which should take you up to the S39/S36 intersection, there are 8 resident leopards which call the H7 their home. During our trip in December we were lucky enough to see a leopard cub here. We have mostly seen leopards in the road during early morning while it’s still dark or on night drives on this particular road.
S25
The S25 is a sand road which follows the crocodile river from Crocodile Bridge to Malelane, the road boasts thick vegetation. Look out for leopards resting in the trees or in dry riverbeds on this road. We have mostly been lucky to see them before the Biyamati turnoff.
The H4-1
This is a tar road between Skukuza and Lower Sabie and it runs along the Sabie River. This road has a mix of riverine forest, woodland and thorn thickets. It has one of the highest density of leopards, and it is also a very popular road among park visitors. We have seen leopards mostly crossing the roads or up in the trees. This road is very busy so sightings of any leopards tends to be very crowded.
The S3
Is a gravel road situated near Paul Kruger Gate, the entire route is surrounded by thick vegetation and large trees making it perfect leopard territory, this area is very bushy so drive slow and be observant and don’t forget to look in trees.
Thank you for reading our post, you can also read our top 5 roads for spotting lions.