Where to stay near Kruger: Marloth Park or another town?

The five towns side by side

Town	Gate you'd use	Town to gate	Part of Kruger
Marloth Park	Crocodile Bridge, or Malelane as a second option (35-39 km)	15-20 km	South-east: Lower Sabie is 34 km from the gate
Komatipoort	Crocodile Bridge	-	South-east
Malelane	Malelane	about 6 km	South: Berg-en-Dal is 12 km from the gate
Hazyview	Phabeni, Paul Kruger or Numbi	Phabeni about 19 km, Paul Kruger about 42 km	South-west: Skukuza is 39 km from Phabeni
Hoedspruit	Orpen (see closures below), or Phalaborwa	Orpen about 70 km	Central: Satara is 48 km from Orpen

Town-to-gate distances depend on where in town you stay. Driving inside Kruger is slow, so plan on an average of 30 km/h.

Places to stay and what they cost

The number of places to stay in each town gives a fair idea of how much self-catering choice you'll have. These are middle asking prices on 26 October 2026, with no dates set and before any specials.

Town	Places listed	Sleeps 2	Sleeps 5-6
Marloth Park	552	R1,500	R2,000
KomatipoortToo few large units to give a price	26	R1,200	-
MalelaneToo few large units to give a price	31	R1,365	-
Hazyview	167	R1,804	R3,600
HoedspruitIncludes full-board lodges, which push the middle price up	202	R3,820	R5,788

Last checked 26 October 2026

The small-town figures are rougher. Komatipoort's count takes in places up to 200 km away, and the Hazyview and Hoedspruit figures leave some places out. Marloth has the most houses to choose from, and a family house costs well under what it does in Hazyview or Hoedspruit. Komatipoort and Malelane are a little cheaper for couples but have far fewer places. For Marloth prices by house size and season, see where to stay in Marloth Park.

Which part of Kruger each town leads into

Marloth Park, Komatipoort and Malelane all lead into the south of the park. From Crocodile Bridge the main road runs up to Lower Sabie along the Crocodile and Sabie rivers, one of the most productive game-viewing areas in Kruger. From Malelane gate you're close to Berg-en-Dal in the park's south-west corner.

Hazyview's gates lead to Skukuza and Pretoriuskop, and with three gates you can pick the one with the shortest queue. From Hoedspruit you'd normally go in through Orpen to the Satara plains in central Kruger, one of the best areas for lions and general game in the dry season.

Closures and road problems in 2026

Where	What to know
Orpen gate (Hoedspruit)	Inaccessible from 20 Apr 2026 after a bridge on the R531 washed away; SANParks advised Paul Kruger or Phalaborwa gate. No reopening notice on sanparks.org when we checked on 26 Oct 2026
Crocodile Bridge gate (Marloth, Komatipoort)	Closed to day visitors by floods 14-21 Jan 2026; reopened 22 Jan 2026
N4 near Malelane	Stop-go roadworks on the N4 near Malelane reported in July 2026
R40, Hazyview to White River	Hazyview-White River repair, damaged again by January 2026 landslides; completion target 12 Dec 2026 (per a political party's release, Mar 2026)
R536 in Hazyview	Called nearly impassable near the Lowveld Mall circle in Hazyview (26 Feb 2026)
Roads inside Kruger	Many dirt roads closed and several tar sections under repair after the 2026 floods (July 2026)

Last checked 26 October 2026

Orpen was cut off on 20 April 2026, and Crocodile Bridge closed to day visitors in January. The N4 and park-road notes date from July 2026. If you're booking a Hoedspruit stay to drive yourself into Kruger, check the latest Kruger news first.

From Hazyview, Phabeni and Paul Kruger gates are the easier choice. Numbi mainly makes sense if you're staying at Pretoriuskop.

In the school holidays SANParks puts day-visitor quotas on all the main gates, Crocodile Bridge and Malelane as well as Phabeni and Paul Kruger, so no town gets away from them. Hazyview has a choice of gates, and Marloth has Malelane gate as a fallback. See quotas and pre-booking.

What each town is like on a day off

Marloth Park is a village in the bush. Kudu, zebra and giraffe walk past the houses, you can drive through the Lionspruit reserve, and there are spots where you can watch the Crocodile River and the Kruger bank across the water. It has small shops, a filling station and a few restaurants. The shops cover the basics, and the bigger stores, banks and pharmacies are in Komatipoort and Malelane.

Hazyview has plenty of restaurants and shops, with rafting and hiking nearby, and the Panorama Route is much closer from there than from Marloth. Malelane has lodges on the Crocodile River that look into Kruger. Komatipoort is the shopping town for the far south and the last stop before the Lebombo border into Mozambique. Hoedspruit is surrounded by private reserves and wildlife estates, close to the Blyde River Canyon.

Komatipoort and Mjejane

Komatipoort uses the same gate as Marloth and has 26 places to stay, mostly smaller units. It suits a couple on a tight budget, or anyone heading on to Mozambique.

Mjejane is a private reserve on the Crocodile River between Malelane and Komatipoort. It has its own lodges, which sell guided game drives. A stay there is closer to a lodge holiday than to a Marloth house.

When another town suits you better

Hazyview is the better base if it's your first time and you'd like a town around you, with more places to eat, a choice of gates and the Panorama Route close by for the days you skip the park. It's also closer to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA): about 40 km to Phabeni gate, against 100-106 km from KMIA to Marloth Park. Check the R40 and R536 before you drive.

Malelane suits you if you want the shortest drive from Johannesburg, a lodge on the river or easy access to Berg-en-Dal. It has far fewer places to stay than Marloth.

Hoedspruit is the place for a guided safari in a private reserve, or if you're flying into Hoedspruit's Eastgate airport. While Orpen is cut off it's a poor base for driving yourself into Kruger. Phalaborwa gate is about 74 km from the airport.

If you want guided drives twice a day in an unfenced reserve and the budget allows, a lodge in the Sabi Sand or Timbavati gives you more than any of these towns. The private reserves are by far the most expensive option.

Getting to each town

From Johannesburg, Malelane is the closest of the southern bases. Marloth Park is 420-440 km by road, and the N4 passes Malelane on the way, 40-45 km before you reach Marloth. You pay four tolls on the way from Pretoria, or three from Johannesburg if you take the N12, including the Nkomazi plaza just west of Malelane. From KMIA, Hazyview and Malelane are the quickest to reach. Our getting here page covers the drive to Marloth, and the trip cost page has the toll and fuel figures.

Still deciding between a town and a camp inside the park? Read Marloth Park or inside Kruger.