The Breathtaking Panorama Route

Blyde River Canyon

The Panorama Route runs along the spec­tac­u­lar Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga and is argu­ably one of the most beau­ti­ful and pop­u­lar travel des­tin­a­tions in South Africa. The Panorama Route is best known for its cul­tural her­it­age and its dra­matic land­scapes. It leads through the rocky moun­tain range of the north­ern Drakensberg. It is here where the inland plat­eau declines abruptly and steeply and opens up fant­astic views of the plains of the Lowveld up to a 1000m below. It is prob­ably the most pho­to­graphed, painted and admired area in the country.

The Panorama Route boasts many excit­ing attrac­tions, water­falls, lovely towns and his­tor­ical sites all well worth a visit. Ohrigstad, Hazyview and Pilgrims Rest to men­tion a few, provide numer­ous scenic attrac­tions as well as an insight as to how the set­tlers lived many years ago.

On the Abel Erasmus Pass there is the oppor­tun­ity to see one of the rarest birds in the world known as the Taita Falcon. The pres­ence of these mag­ni­fi­cent birds in South Africa was only dis­covered in the 1990s.

The Panorama Route offers a vast array of excit­ing options for the vis­itor and boasts some of the best adren­alin pump­ing adven­tures in the coun­try such as white water raft­ing, hot air bal­loon­ing, bun­gee jump­ing, rock climb­ing and much more. It also affords many the oppor­tun­ity to go gold pan­ning just as the set­tlers did over a cen­tury ago.

For the less adven­tur­ous, enjoy superb bird watch­ing, game view­ing, trout fish­ing, moun­tain bik­ing, hik­ing or simply mar­vel at the splend­ours of the region. (See Things to Do in Panorama Route).

Panorama Route

One of the major high­lights of the region is The Blyde River Canyon Nature Sanctuary, home to spec­tac­u­lar wild­life, bird­life and plant-life and some of the best views in the coun­try. The Blyde River Canyon is the third largest canyon of its kind in the world.

Other high­lights include the exquis­ite water­falls in Graskop and Sabie, The Echo Caves that speak of Africa’s power­ful tribes, trails left behind by the Voortrekkers in regions such as Lydenburg and Ohrigstad, ancient artistic foot­prints left by the indi­gen­ous peoples of Africa and the Gold Rush ter­rit­ory, Pilgrim’s Rest, which was home to the early gold prospectors.

There is some­thing here for every­one. All activ­it­ies and attrac­tions are com­ple­men­ted by the unsur­passed scenery and sur­round­ing ter­rains. The Panorama Route is def­in­itely a must to visit when trav­el­ling in South Africa.

Useful Links:
Panorama Route Attractions
Mpumalanga Attractions
Mpumalanga Hotels
Mpumalanga Maps