• Mac Mac Pools
• Mac Mac Falls
• Maria Shires Falls & Grave
• Forest Falls
• Diggers Memorial
• Herb Farm
• Natural Bridge
• Graskop Town
• Tsinini Silk Weavery
• Panorama Falls
• Pinnacle Rock
• God's Window
• Wonder View
• Lisbon Falls
• Berlin Falls
• Oswald Pirow's Grave
• Bourke's Luck Potholes
• Lowveld View
• Three Rondawels View
• Blyde River Canyon View
• Museum of Man
• Echo Caves
• Voortrekker Fort & Cemetery

Mac Mac Pools
Mac Mac Pools is 13 km from Sabie on the R532 road to Graskop.  The Pools is in a shallow rocky river with drops into a series of pools.  The crystal clear, cool water makes for refreshing swimming and splashing after a hot day's sightseeing.  Excellent picnic and toilets facilities.  A fee of R5/person plus R10/braai is payable at the entrance gate.  The circular 3 km Secretary Bird Walk begin and ends here.  Facilities at the Pools are wheelchair friendly.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.

Mac Mac Falls
The 65 m high Mac Mac Falls is 13 km from Sabie on the R532 road to Graskop. An entrance fee of R5/car is payable at the entrance gate to the curio stalls.  The falls was declared a National Monument in 1983.  A long stone step pathway (wheelchair unfriendly) leads from the curio stalls down to a viewpoint above the falls.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.

Webmaster's Note: The tarred road just before and after the Mac Mac Falls is extremely slippery, especially when wet. Many a holiday ended here tragically. Please drive carefully!

Maria Shires Falls & Grave
The petite Maria Shires Falls is 15 km from Sabie on the R532 road to Graskop, immediately after the railway crossing.  The grave of Maria Shires is close to the falls.  She was the mother of Joseph Brook Shires who planted the first commercial trees in the area.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.

Forest Falls
Forest Falls is 15 km from Sabie on the R532 road to Graskop immediately after the railway crossing.  There is a refreshing walk that takes you through fragrant pine forests to the falls - the only waterfall in the area that is wider than what it is high.  Toilet facilities is available at the picnic spot.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.

Diggers & Transport Riders Memorial
This memorial is located next to the R532 road to Graskop, 15 km from Sabie at the turnoff to the Mac Mac Forest Retreat.  The ceramic floor tiles depict the rivers and the routes of the area as used by the coaches and transport riders during the gold-rush days.  By lining up the hub of the wagon wheel with the ceramic name tags, these tags indicate the exact direction of towns and prominent geographical features of the area.  A Jock of the Bushveld waymaker is also located at the entrance to the memorial.

Herb Farm
The Bonnet Herb Farm is 22 km from Sabie on the R532 road to Graskop, just before the turnoff to Pilgrim's Rest. The Herb Farm grows both medicinal and edible herbs (herbs and plants are for sale on the farm).  The herbs are grown organically without the use of any insecticides or pesticides using vermi compost (compost produced by earthworms).  Visits by prior arrangement only.
Contact:
The Bonnet Herb Farm on (013) 767-1079

Natural Bridge
This natural wonder is 26.4 km from Sabie on the R532 road to Graskop (2.3 km from Graskop and 3 km from the Pilgrim's Rest turnoff).  Park at the curio stalls and follow the short footpath into a small gorge where the Mac Mac river carved a path under rocks to form a natural bridge.

Graskop Town
The small town of Graskop is 30 km from Sabie at an altitude of 1 490 m a.s.l. There are a number of fine curio shops, pancake bars and coffee shops in Graskop. There is a Jock of the Bushveld waymarker in the garden of the Municipal offices. For more information, visit the Graskop website.

Tsinini Silk Weavery
The Tsinini Silk Weavery in Graskop (Louis Trichardt Street) is well worth a visit. Silk thread is extracted from the cocoons of both the traditional silkworm, as well as from South Africa's own indigenous silkworm.  The silk is spun into garments that are for sale at the weavery.   If requested a demonstration of the process will be given.

Panorama Falls
Only 1.5 km from Graskop on the R533 road towards Hazyview and Bushbuck Ridge, this short detour to view the Panorama Gorge and Falls is well worth the time & effort.  Gorge swinging and high wire sliding is done across the gorge - for more information see our Adventure & Sport page.

The Pinnacle Rock
The Pinnacle Rock, a tower-like freestanding quartzite buttress which rises 30 m above the dense indigenous forest is 6 km north of Graskop on the R534 road (a scenic loop off the R532 road). To the right of the Pinnacle Rock is the first of eight small waterfalls in the Ngwaritsane River.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.

God's Window
God's Window - so called for the panoramic view of the Lowveld (and in the distance the Kruger National Park) more than 900 m below - is 9.2 km north of Graskop on the R534 road.  From the parking area a steep footpath along the edge of the escarpment leads to the actual view site where there is a Wild Nature Reserve at an altitude of 1 829 m a.s.l.  Curio stalls and toilet facilities are at the parking area.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.  Choose a clear day to best enjoy the view.

Wonder View
Wonder View is the highest viewpoint on the escarpment accessible to the motorist.  It has an even more magnificent view than at God's Window.  It is 1.3 km north of God's Window (10.5 km from Graskop), still on the R534 road.

Lisbon Falls
Where the R534 rejoins the R532 road, you turn left (back towards Graskop) for 800 m and then right onto a gravel road.  The falls is a further 2.2 km.  At 92 m the Lisbon Falls is the highest waterfall in the area.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.

Berlin Falls
From Lisbon Falls you drive back to the tar road (R532) and turn left (north). Drive for 2 km (past the R534 turnoff) and then turn off left.  Drive past the Berlin Sawmill and at 2 km from the main road, turn left and park at the parking area. A short walk takes you to a vantage point overlooking the 45 m high Berlin Falls.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.

Oswald Pirow's Grave
The grave of this South African statesman and author is located 24 km north of Graskop just off the R532 road.

Bourke's Luck Potholes
This world renown landmark is 35 km north of Graskop on the R532 road at the confluence of the Blyde and Treur rivers.  Over millions of years waterborne sand and rock scoured huge cylindrical potholes into the bedrock of the river.  The main building houses a Visitor's Centre displaying a model of the Blyde River Canyon, a permanent exhibition of the fauna and flora of the area, as well as the cultural and historical aspects of the Nature Reserve.  The offices of Mpumalanga Nature Conservation have a laboratory for biological research and a well equipped herbarium open to the public during office hours.

The 700 m walk to the actual potholes start at the main building.  There are also two short circular hiking routes (Bourke's Luck Potholes Interpretive Trail and the Bushman Nature Trail) that start at the main building.  For photos of Bourke's Luck Potholes, see our Picture Gallery page.

Entry Fees: (valid until October 2009)
R25/adult
R15/kid under 12 years
R10/learner (group bookings in advance)
Plus: R5/car, R30/combi, R50/bus
Contact: 073 774-3617

Lowveld View
From Bourke's Luck Potholes, continue north on the R532 road for another 9 km to the Lowveld View turnoff (36 km from Graskop).  From here the coloured strata of the awe-inspiring rugged peaks of the Blyde River Canyon can be viewed.  Far below the Blyde River foams and tumbles along the rocky Canyon floor, winding like an enormous green snake to the mouth of the Canyon and the Blyde River Dam between Mariepskop and Swadini.  Dense vegetation with moss and ferns fill the deep valleys, whilst the upper krantzes are covered with vivid coloured lichen.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.

Three Rondawels View
Further north along the R532 road, the turnoff to the Three Rondawels viewpoint is 4.6 km from the Lowveld View turnoff (41 km from Graskop) and the parking area another 2.8 km further.  The word "Rondawel" is a South African word that refers to a round hut-like dwelling (usually with a thatched roof).  The three well known gigantic peaks of quartzite and shale with their sheer rock walls tower more than 700 m above the surrounding landscape.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.

Blyde River Canyon View
One of the best viewpoints of the Blyde River Canyon is from the parking lot behind the chalets at the Overvaal Blydepoort Nature Reserve Resort, 51 km north of Graskop on the R532 road.

The Blyde River Canyon is the third largest canyon in the world and was formed by rivers cutting deep into the escarpment and eroding millions of tons of rock which were carried to the Lowveld and beyond to the Indian Ocean.  More than 700 m below the 370 ha Blyde River Dam is visible towards the lower end of the canyon at the confluence of the Blyde and Ohrigstad Rivers.  For photos see our Picture Gallery page.  For more information about the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve, see our Natural Heritage page.

Museum of Man
Take the turnoff to the Echo Caves where the R532 joins with the R36 road for the Museum of Man.  This open-air museum depicts archaeological and paleontological artefacts.

Echo Caves
Continue past the Museum of Man for the Echo Caves. These ancient caves are not as spectacular as the Sudwala caves, but still well worth a visit if you are in the neighbourhood.

Voortrekker Fort & Cemetery
From the Echo Caves continue south on the R36 towards Ohrigstad.  The town Ohrigstad have a rich history linked to the Voortrekkers and the town was, for a short time, the capital of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek.  Three kilometres north of the town is the remaining portion of what was once a fort used by the Voortrekkers and close by is a cemetery and a monument in remembrance of the many Voortrekkers who succumbed to malaria.