Graskop is a small town in Mpumalanga province,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It was set up in the 1880s as a

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

mining camp but it now serves as a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

destination and the

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

industry. “ God’s Window”, a scenic view from the

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

of the Lowveld below, is located outside the town. Graskop is also home to one of the biggest mounds of sawdust in the world, located in the eastern side of Graskop. Tourists regularly come to see the attraction and pay up to ZAR50 for the chance to see the one of the biggest, stable sawdust piles in the world. Small bags are available to collect souvenirs. Graskop is 14 km south-east of Pilgrim's Rest and 28 km north of

Sabie Sabie is a forestry town situated on the banks of the Sabie River in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The name Sabie is derived from the siSwati word "Ulusaba" which means "fearful river" because the river was once teeming with dangerous Nile crocodile. ...

. It was laid out between 1880 and 1890 on a farm belonging to Abel Erasmus, Native Commissioner of the

Transvaal Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

. The name is

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

for ''grassy hillock''. Originally it was a mining camp. It is the best place to view the "Edge of the Lowveld", with a sudden drop of 700 metres. Bourke's Luck Potholes.jpg, Potholes at Bourke's Luck near Graskop. Berlin Falls IMG 2556.JPG, The Berlin Falls near Graskop. South Africa-Mpumalanga-Pinnacle001.jpg, "The Pinnacle" near Graskop. GodsWindow.jpg, "God's Window" near Graskop.

References

External links

* Populated places in the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality Mining communities in South Africa {{Mpumalanga-geo-stub