Panorama Route

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Panorama Route point 1

   Graskop clings to the very edge of the Drakensberg escarpment, a small town that looks out over the Lowveld from a height of well over a thousand metres. Below, the land falls away in forested ravines to the plains that run all the way to the Kruger National Park. On a clear morning you can see far enough to understand why this stretch of road is called the Panorama Route.

   Read the complete Panorama Route point 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Panorama Route point 1 sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Panorama Route point 2.

2. 2. Panorama Route point 2

   East of Graskop the plateau comes to a sudden end. The road leaves the grassland and plantations behind and begins to fall toward the Lowveld, a drop of hundreds of metres in a few kilometres, with views opening between the trees and the air getting noticeably warmer as you descend. On this side of the escarpment the climate changes from cool highveld to subtropical bush, and you can feel it on your skin before the thermometer agrees.

   Read the complete Panorama Route point 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Panorama Route point 2 comes up 12 km in. Next is Panorama Route point 3.

3. 3. Panorama Route point 3

   Bourke's Luck Potholes is one of those places where water has done something so tidy that it looks designed. At the meeting of the Treur and Blyde rivers, the current has spent thousands of years swirling pebbles and grit against the sandstone and dolomite, carving cylindrical hollows in the rock that look like giant cooking pots. A footbridge crosses the gorge so you can look down into the swirling pools from above, and the colour of the water, a deep green over pale stone, makes a surprisingly good photograph.

   Read the complete Panorama Route point 3 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   At least 32 km in you reach Panorama Route point 3. Next is Panorama Route point 4.

4. 4. Panorama Route point 4

   Few places on the Panorama Route justify the superlatives as well as the Blyde River Canyon rim. The canyon is one of the largest green canyons in the world, in the sense that subtropical vegetation covers its walls rather than bare rock, and it runs for tens of kilometres along the northern end of the Drakensberg escarpment. From the viewpoint car parks the red cliffs fall away to the river, the Blydepoort Dam and the reeds along the shore.

   Read the complete Panorama Route point 4 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Panorama Route point 4, late in the day. Next is Panorama Route point 5.

5. 5. Panorama Route point 5

   The northern end of the canyon rim is where the Panorama Route begins to lose its altitude, and the road starts the long drop toward the Lowveld and the town of Hoedspruit.

   Read the complete Panorama Route point 5 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Panorama Route point 5 sits at 68 km, late in the day.