Stormberg Mountains
{{Short description|Mountain range in South Africa}}
{{Use South African English|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name= Stormberg Mountains
| photo= View south to Stormberg - panoramio.jpg
| photo_caption=View from the north
| highest=
| listing=
| parent=
| country= South Africa
| subdivision2_type= Province
| subdivision2= Eastern Cape
| map= South Africa
| map_relief= 1
| range_coordinates=
| map_caption=
| label_position= left
| coordinates= {{coord|31|26|51|S|26|43|3|E|type:mountain_region:ZA_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref=
| geology= Bushveld igneous complex, sandstone
| age= Neoarchean to early Paleoproterozoic
| orogeny=Kaapvaal craton
| length_km=
| length_orientation= E/W
| width_km=
| width_orientation= N/S
| easiest_route=
}}
The Stormberg is a range of mountains situated in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, are an easterly extension of the Bamboesberge and form an outlier of the greater Drakensberg mountain range. They form part of the 'Amatola and Stormberg' region which includes major towns like Grahamstown, East London and Port Alfred.
Towns in the Stormberg Mountains include Sterkstroom, Jamestown, Molteno, Dordrecht, Barkly East, Rhodes and Steynsburg. South Africa's only ski resort, Tiffindell, is also situated in these mountains.
Geology
Geologically, the mountains form part of the Stormberg Series of the Karoo System where some of the only workable coal seams in the Cape are to be found.{{cite book|last=Gibson|first=Walcot|title=The geology of coal and coal-mining|publisher=E. Arnold|location=London|year=1908|pages=282, 283|chapter=XV. Coal fields of Africa, India, Australia and South America|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/thegeologyofcoal00gibsrich#page/282/mode/2up|accessdate=2009-12-24}} These coal fields are being explored for possible coal bed methane extraction.{{cite web|url=http://www.badimogas.co.za/operations/molteno/molteno.html|title=Background Information and Project Motivation|publisher=Badimo Gas|accessdate=23 November 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904214132/http://www.badimogas.co.za/operations/molteno/molteno.html|archivedate=4 September 2011}}
History
These mountains - like all of South Africa - was originally home to the Khoisan hunter gatherers. The Nguni migrations saw the arrival of the Xhosa herders from the north and the displacement of the Khoisan. The subsequent arrival of the Cape colonists in the area resulted in a series of 'frontier wars' which led to the region's incorporation into the Cape Colony.
During the Second Boer War, this was the site of the Battle of Stormberg, fought on 9 December 1899.
Gallery
File:R390 road-001.JPG|Highway R390 between Venterstad and Steynsburg
File:R56 Road-001.JPG|Highway R56 between Steynsburg and Molteno
File:Wilson-stormberg-map-121.jpg|Positions at the Battle of Stormberg, 1899