This is often called the Panorama Route for that is exactly what it is. The Blyde River Canyon stretch is about 33 kilometers long and to be enjoyed, will take the best part of a day. Two or three day tours can be arranged.

You reach the main stretch of the Panorama Route - along the Blyde River Canyon - on the road R532, north of Graskop. Access from Johannesburg either goes via Nelspruit, White River and Sabie or via Belfast, Dullstroom, Lydenburg and Pilgrim's Rest.

Just a few kilometers north a small loop road leads to ‘God's Window’, from where you will enjoy a wonderful view on the Lowveld. The Canyon starts at ‘Bourke's Luck Potholes’ and ends at the ‘Three Rondavels’.

From many well-positioned vantage points one has a view of the 33 km long gorge. Here, in the north-eastern part of the Great Escarpment, the inland plateau declines abruptly and steeply and opens up fantastic views of the plains of the Lowveld a thousand meters below.

This great escarpment is the kind of place where brochures and guide books run out of original adjectives to describe the fresh mountain scenery and magnificent panoramic views. The Blyde River Canyon is one of the most spectacular in Africa and its cliffs rise between 600m-800m from the river bed.

At the ‘Three Rondavels’ viewpoint (also called ‘The Three Sisters’) is an unforgettable view of three huge rock spirals rising out of the far wall of the canyon. Their tops appear to have a hut-like rounded roof. Where the Blyde River (‘river of joy’) and the Treur River (‘river of sorrow’) meet, water erosion has formed one of the most remarkable geological phenomena in the country, known as ‘Bourke’s Luck Potholes’. Over thousands of years, surreal cylindrical rock sculptures created by whirling water have formed a series of dark pools which contrast artfully with the streaked white and yellow lichen covered rocks. Following the road and the Treur River south, there are further viewpoints; Wonder View, God’s Window and the Pinnacle. Their names help to conjure up the indescribable enormity and vastness of the scenery, but nothing can take the place of the sheer wonderment you feel when seeing this kind of natural magnitude for yourself. 

These views are most reliable in the dry winter months. At other times the spectacle is often impaired, since the escarpment is a barrier for the clouds coming from the east, rising at this point and bringing a lot of rain.

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