Graskop

Graskop started as a gold mining camp in the 1880s, one of the earliest in the region, and the name comes from the Afrikaans for grassy peak. The gold ran out, the timber industry moved in, and the town stayed. Today it sits at 1,493 metres on a spur of the Mauchsberg, mist-prone in summer, and ringed by escarpment country that has made this corner of Mpumalanga one of the most visited in South Africa. The town itself is functional rather than charming, but the landscape it gives you access to is not.

The Panorama Route begins 3 km north of town on the R534. God's Window looks out over the entire Lowveld, Bourke's Luck Potholes are 45 minutes away on the R532, and the Blyde River Canyon, the world's third largest, is within an hour. Lisbon Falls and Berlin Falls are on the loop. The Graskop Gorge Lift drops visitors 51 metres into a forested gorge that runs through town. At the bottom, boardwalks and suspension bridges cross the river. At the top, the Big Swing covers 70 metres of open air.

Harry's Pancake Shop has become its own landmark, the kind of place people plan around, and it has earned that. The pancakes are done properly. Beyond the food and the gorge, Graskop has hiking trails, mountain biking, and enough accommodation to make it a multi-night base rather than just a passing stop.

What Graskop lacks in streetscape it makes up for in position. You are parked at the intersection of more accessible wilderness than almost any other small town in South Africa. The mist rolls in fast, the air is cool, and the views from the edge of the escarpment on a clear morning are worth every kilometre of the drive from Johannesburg.