Crocodile Bridge gate

Getting there from Marloth Park

Crocodile Bridge is Kruger's most easterly gate, near Komatipoort and the Mozambique border. It's 15-20 km from most houses in Marloth Park, about 20 to 30 minutes in the car. If you're leaving in the dark, let security at the Marloth Park boom gate and your host know where you're going.

The road to the gate crosses the Crocodile River on a low-level bridge, so the gate can close when the river floods. After the floods in January 2026, SANParks closed Crocodile Bridge to day visitors until 22 January. When it's shut, use Malelane gate instead, 35-39 km from Marloth.

Hours

Crocodile Bridge keeps the general Kruger hours, which change with the seasons. In November, for example, it opens at 05:30 and closes at 18:30. The gate times page has the full table and a page for each month.

The gate's phone number is +27 13 735 6012.

Paying at the gate

You pay the daily conservation fee at the gate on each day you go in. From 1 November 2026 that's R140 for a South African adult, and Kruger fees has the rest. With a Wild Card, you show the card and your ID instead.

Crocodile Bridge has been a cash-free gate since December 2025, so bring a bank card.

What's at the gate

Crocodile Bridge rest camp is a short way from the gate. It has a small shop with essentials, takeaways and coffee. There's no restaurant. SANParks runs sunrise, sunset and night drives from the camp, and you can book them online while staying in Marloth.

The camp's fuel station closed for maintenance in October 2025. Fill up before you go in case it's still shut.

The road to Lower Sabie

Most people head north from the gate to Lower Sabie camp on the Sabie River. The main route is the H4-2, a tar road of 34 km past the Gomondwane waterhole. It was the first road built in Kruger, and it's one of the best roads in the park for game.

The S28 (Nhlowa Road) is a gravel option. It heads north-east across the grasslands below the Lebombo hills and joins the H4-2 further north. To go west, the S25 (Crocodile River Road) follows the river towards Biyamiti and Malelane. Its first turn-off, the S27, goes to Hippo Pools, 8 km from the gate, with San rock paintings near the pool.

In July 2026 most of Kruger's gravel roads were still closed after the January floods. Ask at the gate which gravel roads are open before you plan a loop. For a full day out, see a Kruger day trip from Marloth.

Queues and quota days

Outside school holidays you'll usually have a short queue for the paperwork and not much delay. SANParks caps the number of day visitors each gate lets in, and the cap is mostly reached in school holidays and over long weekends. In school holidays it can fill up early in the morning, so be there before it opens.

In the 2025/26 festive season, day visitors could pre-book online for a non-refundable fee of R59 per adult and choose an arrival slot. Once the gate was full, only pre-booked visitors got in. The 2026/27 dates and fee hadn't been announced by 26 October 2026. Quotas and pre-booking explains how it works.

On busy days, be at the gate before it opens with your ID or passport and Wild Card ready, and pre-book if SANParks has opened bookings.

Crocodile Bridge or Malelane

From Marloth Park, Crocodile Bridge is the shorter drive and the way to Lower Sabie and the south-east. For Berg-en-Dal or the H3 road to Skukuza in the south-west, Malelane gate puts you closer.