Kraai River

Kraai River
River
256px A special tourist train steaming across the Kraai River bridge near Lady Grey in 1979
Country	South Africa
Province	Eastern Cape
Part of	Orange River
Tributaries
- left	Karnmelkspruit
- right	Bell River
Source
- location	Moshesh's Ford
- elevation	1,845 m (6,053 ft)
- coordinates
Mouth
- location	Aliwal North, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- elevation	1,340 m (4,396 ft)
- coordinates

The Kraai River ("Crow River") is a tributary of the Orange or Gariep River that flows near Barkly East in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

File:Lochbridge.jpg

Loch bridge on the river Kraai

The Kraai River originates in the mountains south of Lesotho and flows westward from the confluence of the Bell River and the Sterkspruit at Moshesh's Ford at all the way to Aliwal North, where it joins the Orange River at .

The river flows almost entirely over sandstone rocks of the Clarens Formation.

The Kraai is fishable, containing Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout and Smallmouth Yellowfish.

In 1881 a sandstone arch bridge called the J W Sauer bridge was completed over the river. The bridge linked communities in the Kraai River basin with Aliwal North. The Sauer bridge and the Loch Bridge on the farm Tyger Krantz, are now Provincial Heritage sites.

Major tributaries

• Bell River and a tributary of the Bell, the Kloppershoekspruit
• Sterkspruit, its tributaries are the Bokspruit and Riflespruit
• Joggemspruit
• Langkloofspruit
• Diepspruit and its tributary, the Three Drifts Stream
• Carlisleshoekspruit and the Maartenshoekspruit
• Klein Wildebeestspruit
• Saalboomspruit and its tributary, the Vaalhoekspruit
• Karnmelkspruit

See also

• List of rivers of South Africa
• List of reservoirs and dams in South Africa