Lying in a well-watered and fertile valley, Clanwilliam is one of the oldest towns in South Africa and offers a variety of activities and attractions to the visitor including hiking, camping and watersports. The Clanwilliam Dam, on the Oliphants River, is a popular weekend destination for locals and offers excellent fishing grounds, as well as boating and water-skiing.
To the east the valley is overlooked by the magnificent Cederberg mountains - renowned for its bizarre rock formations and giant boulders and home to ancient sites of bushman rock paintings, caverns and tunnels. Wild flowers abound in the valley and in spring each year the landscape is a mass of brightly blooming flowers.
Clanwilliam is also at the centre of Rooibos (redbush) tea production. This herbal tea, which is tannin free and rich in Vitamin C, is enjoyed in most local households as well as being exported extensively overseas.
