The Great Winterberg is an extensive east-west mountain range lying immediately north of the small towns of Bedford

Bedford, Eastern Cape

Bedford is a town in the centre of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It was established in the mid-19th century when Sir Andries Stockenstroom sold portions of land from his farm Maastroom to raise funds for the restoration of his library, which had been burnt by British soldiers...

, Adelaide

Adelaide, Eastern Cape

Adelaide is a town and area in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Population 12,000 . Adelaide is situated near the Great Winterberg Mountain range...

 and Fort Beaufort

Fort Beaufort

Fort Beaufort is a town in the Amatole District of South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, and has a population of 78,300. The town was established in 1837 and became a municipality in 1883. The town lies at the confluence of the Kat and Brak rivers between the Keiskamma and Great Fish rivers...

 in the Eastern Cape

Eastern Cape

The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...

 of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. Elevation on average is about 1800 metres above sea-level. The Great Winterberg Peak north of Adelaide rises to 2371 metres, high enough to be occasionally covered in snow. The underlying geology consists of shale

Shale

Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...

s and sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

s of the Beaufort Series

Beaufort Series

The Beaufort Series is a geological formation forming part of the Karoo System and is rich in synapsid or mammal-like reptile fossils. The Karoo System comprises, from oldest to youngest, Dwyka, Ecca, Beaufort and Stormberg Series. The name is derived from the district of Beaufort West...

 of the Karoo System

Karoo System

The Karoo System or Karoo Sequence, is a geologic system of rock formations covering 1 500 000 square km and extending from the Equator south to the Cape of Good Hope...

, frequently with dolerite intrusions. Rainfall on the southern slopes (facing the sea) is fairly high. A notable pass over the range is the Katberg Pass

Katberg Pass

Katberg Pass is a mountain pass situated in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, on the road between Seymore and Tarkastad....

 built by Andrew Geddes Bain

Andrew Geddes Bain

Andrew Geddes Bain , South African geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.-Life history:...

in 1860-64.