Panoramic Route and Blyde River Canyon

The Panoramic Route is the road circuit that follows the edge of the Drakensberg escarpment in Mpumalanga, where the plateau drops suddenly about a thousand metres down to the Lowveld savanna. In a stretch of less than 100 km viewpoints, waterfalls, canyons and old villages come together, and for that reason the route is often done together with the Kruger, which lies just below.

The focal point is the Blyde River canyon, about 26 km long, considered one of the largest in the world and covered in green forest. From the Three Rondavels viewpoint you can see the rounded peaks that resemble African huts and the Blydepoort dam down below. At the start of the canyon, Bourke's Luck potholes are cylindrical holes carved by water into the yellow rock, at the meeting of the Treur and Blyde rivers.

Further south, the escarpment has God's Window, a viewpoint from which, on a clear day, you can see the Lowveld to the horizon, and a sequence of waterfalls: Lisbon, Berlin, Mac-Mac, Lone Creek and Bridal Veil, many with names left by 19th-century prospectors. The region is covered in planted pine and eucalyptus forests, the economic base of Sabie and Graskop.

The history of the route is the history of gold: in 1873 alluvial gold was found in Pilgrim's Rest creek, and thousands of prospectors arrived in the region. The village was preserved with the corrugated iron and wooden houses of the time and today is an open-air museum.

This destination brings together 3 cities: Graskop, Sabie, Pilgrim's Rest.