Activities in Graskop
Graskop and the surrounding area is easily one of South Africa’s most scenic locations and is less than a one hour drive from Mount Sheba Cottages.
The waterfalls are bountiful, the views are breathtaking and the landscape is undoubtedly one to be explored! Below is a guide to exploring this beautiful destination.
Table of Contents
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 stream.
Entrance Fee: Yes (please inquire at reception).
God's Window & Wonder View
God’s Window – so called for the panoramic view of the Lowveld (and in the distance the Kruger National Park and Mozambique) 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
Entrance Fee: Yes (please inquire at reception).
Wonder view is about 2lm north of God’s Window. At an altitude of 1,730m this is the highest viewpoint in the area. No walking is necessary as the walking point is right next to the road.
Entrance fee: Free
Choose a clear day to best enjoy the views from both God’s Window and Wonder View.
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 92m, Lisbon Falls is the highest waterfall in the area.
Entrance Fee: Yes (please inquire at reception).
Berlin Falls
From Lisbon Falls you drive back to the tar road (R532) and turn left (north). Drive for 2 km (past the R534 turn-off) 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.
Entrance Fee: Yes (please inquire at reception).
Shangana Cultural Village
The residents of the traditional villages of Shangana invite guests to share in the way of life of the Shangaan people. The picturesque villages are set in the shade of ancient trees in a reserve of forest and grassland.
They offer daytime tours (09:00 – 16:00 on the hour), as well as an Evening Festival when the history of the Shangaans is presented by a huge cast of choristers and dancers before dinner is served inside the huts. Prior bookings for the evening festival is essential. Located about 52km from Graskop on the R535 towards
Hazyview
Entrance Fee: Yes – varies depending on time of day, as well as lunch & dinner options (please inquire at reception).
Bourke's Luck Potholes
This natural water feature marks the beginning of the Blyde River Canyon. Through countless eons the swirling whirlpools which occur as the Treur River plunges into the Blyde River caused waterborne sand and rock to grind huge, cylindrical potholes into the bedrock of the river.
The Potholes were named after a gold digger, Tom Burke, who staked a claim nearby. Although his claim did not produce a single ounce of gold, he correctly predicted that large gold deposits would be found in the area. The Potholes is located 35km north of Graskop town on the R532 road. The informative visitors centre details some of the interesting natural and socio-historic features and is the starting point of the 700m walk to the potholes
Entrance Fee: Yes (please inquire at reception).
Contact information: 073 774 3617
Three Rondavels
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 dwellin
Blyde River Canyon
One of the best viewpoints of the Blyde River Canyon is from the parking lot behind the chalets at the Aventura Blydepoort Nature Reserve Resort, 51 km north of Graskop on the R532 road. The 25 km long 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.
Entrance Fee: Yes (please inquire at reception).
Echo Caves - Near Orgistad
The Echo Caves, located 15km west of the Strydom Tunnel in the Molopong Valley, have sheltered humans since the Middle Stone
Age, and continue to protect some of the region’s most inspiring ancient San rock engravings. The caves, which boast a chamber 100m long and 40m high, also have dripstone formations that echo eerily when struck.
The 2km guided tour lasts 45min.
Entrance Fee: Yes (please inquire at reception)
Times: 08:30 – 16:30.
Graskop Gorge Lift
The Graskop Gorge Lift is the latest and most innovative tourism development in South Africa and the only one of it’s kind in the Southern Hemisphere. Your journey begins as you drop off the grassy cliff top in a custom-designed 26-passenger viewing elevator. It travels 51m down the cliff face into the cool mountain forest below. An extensive network of elevated walkways, suspension bridges and interactive exhibits lead you along the 500m forest trails and across the streams. The ride down with the elevator only takes a few minutes, but you can spend hours exploring the indigenous forest below. And one ticket is good for multiple daily rides down into the forest
Entrance Fee: Yes (please inquire at reception).
Silk Farm
Visit the Africa Silks Farm for an educational guided tour (daily from 08:00 to 15:00) on how silk is produced by the cultivated Bombyx mori, better known as the Mulberry Silk Caterpillar. This is the only commercial silkworm farm in Africa. They also process the wild silk of our own, indigenous Mopani caterpillar. The whole process, from eggs, caterpillar, cocoons, pupae, to the extraction of the silk is demonstrated. A Restaurant on the premises serves light meals. Situated 23 km east of Graskop, down Kowyn’s Pass on the R533.
Entrance Fee: Yes (please inquire at reception). Advance booking required for groups of more than 10 people.
Phone: Trips SA on 013 764 3399
Coffee Farm
An educational guided tour of the Austrian Coffee Estate with an explanation of their planting, pruning and general cultivation practices as well as a visit the plant where the coffee cherry is pulped after picking, fermented to remove the sticky coating that remains after the pulping, washing and drying, hulling and roasting processes.
Visitors are given the opportunity of tasting coffees from other coffee growing areas and are shown how coffee experts taste and evaluate the characteristics of coffee, similar to the way this is done with wine. Enjoy something light to eat in their coffee shop. Situated about 25km east of Graskop, down Kowyn’s Pass on the R533