GOLDEN GATE HIGHLANDS NATIONAL PARK

national park in southeastern Free State province, South Africa, near the Lesotho border. Established in 1963, it has an area of 18.5 square miles (48 square km) in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains. Noted for its red and golden cliffs, the park rises from a 6,000-foot (1,800-m) plateau in the north to peaks of 9,000 feet (2,700 m) in the south. Originally inhabited only by mountain reedbuck, Golden Gate Highlands was subsequently stocked with black wildebeest, eland, springbok, and red hartebeest that were transplanted from other parts of Africa. Headquarters are at Bethlehem.