8 Best Sights in Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park

You'll find more gorgeous waterfalls clustered on the Panorama Route than anywhere else in southern Africa. Just north of Graskop, the dramatic falls are set in a bowl between hills just outside the Blyde (Motlatse) Canyon Nature Reserve, sending cascades 120 feet onto rocks below, throwing up spray over a deep pool. Named nostalgically by European miners who came here looking for gold in the late 1800s, this is a good kick-off point for the whole Panorama Route. Hike down (roughly 40-minutes) to the pool on a path from the parking area, and enjoy a picnic below Mpumalanga's highest waterfall.

This is one of the most spectacular vistas in South Africa—you'll find it in almost every travel brochure. Here the Blyde River, hemmed in by towering buttresses of red rock, snakes through the bottom of the Blyde River canyon. The Three Rondawels are rock formations that bear a vague similarity to the round, thatch African dwellings of the same name. Before Europeans moved into the area, the indigenous local people named the formations the Chief and His Three Wives. The flat-top peak to the right is Mapjaneng (the Chief), named in honor of a Mapulana chief, Maripe Mashile, who routed invading Swazi at the battle of Moholoholo ("the very great one"). The three "wives," in descending order from right to left, are Maseroto, Mogoladikwe, and Magabolle.

The descent out of the nature reserve, down the escarpment, and through Abel Erasmus Pass is breathtaking. (From the Three Rondawels, take the R532 to a T, and turn right onto the R36.) Be careful as you drive this pass. Locals graze their cattle and goats on the verges, and you may be surprised by animals on the tarmac as you round a bend. The J. G. Strijdom Tunnel serves as the gateway to the Lowveld. At the mouth of the tunnel are stands where you can buy clay pots, African masks, wooden giraffes, curios of many kinds and subtropical fruit. As you emerge from the dark mouth of the tunnel, the Lowveld spreads out below, and the views of both it and the mountains are stunning. On the left, the Olifants River snakes through the bushveld, lined to some extent by African subsistence farms.

A small stream, Waterfall Spruit, runs through a broad expanse of grassland to Berlin Falls. A short walk takes you to a platform overlooking the cascade, shaped like a candle. It starts off as a thin stream that drops through a narrow sluice (this looks like the candlewick), and then widens out to fall 150 feet into a deep-green pool surrounded by tall pines. If the weather's good, plan to swim and picnic here. Why the not-very-local name? The German miners who came here during the gold rush named it nostalgically after their home country.

Starting just below the point where the Blyde (joy) River and Treur (sorrow) River converge, the world's third-largest canyon is also South Africa’s second-most-visited natural attraction (after Table Mountain). Discover the spectacular scenery of red cliffs jutting up from the canyon base, quirky geological formations, indigenous rare Afromontane forest, cascading waterfalls, and an abundance of birds, small animals, and biodiversity. You can also try your hand at all sorts of adventure activities, from white-water rafting and abseiling to mountain biking and hiking.

The amazing Bourke's Luck Potholes are 27 km (17 miles) north of Berlin Falls. Named after a gold prospector, the cylindrical and rather alien-looking deep potholes filled with green water are carved into the rock by whirlpools where the Treur (sorrow) and Blyde (joy) rivers converge—and where the canyon begins. Several long canyon hiking trails start from here, as do shorter walks and trails (pack a hat and sunscreen, there's very little shade). A three-hour walk, for example, could take you down into the bottom of the canyon, where you follow a trail marked by rocks painted with animal or bird symbols as the gorge towers above you. Be sure to stop by the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve visitor center at the entrance to the site, where interesting exhibits describe the canyon's flora, fauna, and geology.

God's Window is the most famous of the Lowveld lookouts along the Panorama Route. It got its name because of the rock "window" that looks out at the sublime view below. Gaze out into seeming infinity from the edge of the escarpment (which drops away almost vertically). Geared to tourists, it has toilet facilities, paved parking areas, curio vendors, and paved, marked walking trails leading to various lookouts. The God's Window lookout has a view back along the escarpment framed between towering cliffs. For a broader panorama, make a 10-minute climb along the paved track through the rain forest to a small area with sweeping views of the entire Lowveld. The altitude here is 5,700 feet, just a little lower than Johannesburg.

Pinnacle is a 100-foot-high quartzite "needle" that rises dramatically out of the surrounding fern-clad ravine, as it has for countless millennia. Way down below, beneath and to the right of the viewing platform, you can see the plateau beneath the escarpment. The watercourse drops down some 1,475 feet in a series of alternating falls and cascades. Stay away from the edge if you suffer from vertigo.