{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Graskop | image_caption = Shops along the main street of Graskop | pushpin_map = South Africa Mpumalanga#South Africa | coordinates = {{coord|24|55|54|S|30|50|30|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = South Africa | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Mpumalanga | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Ehlanzeni | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_name3 = Thaba Chweu | subdivision_type4 = Main Place | established_title = Established | leader_title = Councillor | area_footnotes = <ref name="census2011">{{cite web |url=http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/873007 |title = Main Place Graskop |work=Census 2011}}</ref> | area_total_km2 = 35.01 | elevation_m = 1436 | population_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | population_total = 3996 | population_as_of = 2011 | population_density_km2 = auto <!-- demographics (section 1) -->| demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011) | demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics1_title1 = Black African | demographics1_info1 = 61.2% | demographics1_title2 = Coloured | demographics1_info2 = 13.0% | demographics1_title3 = Indian/Asian | demographics1_info3 = 0.9% | demographics1_title4 = White | demographics1_info4 = 22.9% | demographics1_title5 = Other | demographics1_info5 = 2.0% <!-- demographics (section 2) -->| demographics_type2 = First languages (2011) | demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics2_title1 = Afrikaans | demographics2_info1 = 29.4% | demographics2_title2 = Northern Sotho | demographics2_info2 = 22.0% | demographics2_title3 = Sotho | demographics2_info3 = 14.8% | demographics2_title4 = English | demographics2_info4 = 10.9% | demographics2_title5 = Other | demographics2_info5 = 22.8% <!-- blank fields (section 2) --> <!-- Other information -->| timezone1 = SAST | utc_offset1 = +2 | postal_code_type = Postal code (street) | postal_code = 1270 | postal2_code_type = PO box | postal2_code = 1270 | area_code_type = Area code | area_code = 013 }} alt=A street in Graskop|thumb|A street in Graskop '''Graskop''' is a small town in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. It was established in the 1880s as a gold mining camp but it now serves as a tourist destination and the timber industry. “God’s Window”, a scenic view from the escarpment of the Lowveld below, is located outside the town. Graskop is 14 km south-east of Pilgrim's Rest and 28 km north of Sabie. The name is Afrikaans for ''grassy hillock''. It is the best place to view the "Edge of the Lowveld", with a sudden drop of 700 metres.<ref name=dsapn>{{cite web|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)|url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames|publisher=Human Science Research Council|page=187}}</ref>
== History == Rock paintings and other archaeological sites in the Graskop area indicate that people have lived in the area for thousands of years.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Maseko |last2=Attwood |last3=Hollmann |first1=Mduduzi I |first2=Simon |first3=Jeremy C |date=April 2024 |title=Elephants In The Rock Paintings Of North-Eastern Mpumalanga And Eswatini |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/393976995_ELEPHANTS_IN_THE_ROCK_PAINTINGS_OF_NORTH-EASTERN_MPUMALANGA_AND_ESWATINI |journal=The Digging Stick |volume=4 |issue=1}}</ref> Evidence from an archaeological site 40 km from the town has been dated to show hunter gather occupation 27,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Porraz |first=Guillaume |last2=Val |first2=Aurore |date=2019 |title=Heuningneskrans and the Stone Age Sequence of the Ohrigstad River Catchment on the Eastern Border of the Great Escarpment, Limpopo Province, South Africa |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26841989 |journal=The South African Archaeological Bulletin |volume=74 |issue=209 |pages=46–55 |issn=0038-1969}}</ref> thumb|Rock painting near Graskop
Early ethnographical studies indicate that the wider Graskop area was inhabited by Eastern Sotho groups (Pulana, Kutswe and Pai), and the Tsonga people since before the 19th century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Van Wyk Rowe |first=Christine |date=2022 |title=Specialist Report Phase 1 Archaeological / Heritage Impact Assessment For The God's Window Skywalk Project On Portion 2 Of The Farm Lisbon 531kt & The Farm De Houtbosch 503kt, Graskop, Mpumalanga |url=https://sahris.org.za/node/21776 |journal=Adansonia Heritage Consultants}}</ref> In the 1800s, when Swazi chiefdoms expanded north into the lowveld, groups of Pai people fled to caves in the Graskop area.<ref name=":0" /> Historically, diverse groups of people traveled between the highveld and the lowveld using footpaths along the route that became Kowyn's Pass, which connects Graskop to Bushbuckridge.<ref name=":0" /> The pass is named after Pulana chief, Kobêng, who had a homestead halfway down the pass.<ref name=":0" />
In the 1870s, Abel Erasmus, Native Commissioner of the Transvaal Republic, owned the farm of Graskop. Following the discovery of gold at Mac Mac, the farm was bought by the Government of the Republic of Transvaal and settlers set up a mining camp at Graskop. Pilgrims Rest however remained a more popular and worthwhile mining site and there was not extensive prospecting and mining at Graskop in the 19th century.<ref name=":0" /> Percy Fitzpatrick established a camp in Graskop in the 1880s at Paradise Camp.
One kilometer outside the town is a natural bridge, formed of dolomite that crosses the Mac Mac River. In the colonial era, voortrekkers and settlers used the bridge to cross the river with their wagons.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-09-20 |title=Natural Bridge |url=https://travelexperiencetimelife.wordpress.com/2018/09/20/natural-bridge/ |access-date=2026-01-18 |website=Travel experience time |language=en}}</ref>
The first trading store in Graskop was established by Max Carl Gustav Liebnitz in 1902.<ref name=":0" />
In the early 1910s, a railway line was built between the Graskop area and Nelspruit to transport supplies to Pilgrim's Rest.<ref name="graskop.co.za">{{Cite web |title=Graskop: History of the town of Graskop, Panorama, Mpumalanga, South Africa |url=https://www.graskop.co.za/history/index.html |access-date=2026-01-18 |website=www.graskop.co.za}}</ref> Graskop was declared a town on 12 September 1914.<ref name="graskop.co.za"/>
== Government == Graskop is a town within the Taba Chewu Local Municipality, which is within the wider Ehlanzeni District Municipality. The municipality is led by the African National Congress.
<gallery widths="300"> File:Thaba Chweu Municipality - Graskop Administration Unit.jpg|Thaba Chweu Local Municipality - Graskop Administration Unit </gallery>
== Tourism == Graskop has become a popular tourism destination. It is located on the Panorama Route, which many tourists visit to view waterfalls and vistas of the Mpumalanga escaparment. The town is close to the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve, God's Window, Berlin Falls, the Pinnacle and Bourke's Luck Potholes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Graskop: Panorama, Mpumalanga, South Africa |url=https://www.graskop.co.za/ |access-date=2026-01-18 |website=www.graskop.co.za}}</ref>
== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed-hover"> File:Graskop Street Vendor, Mpumalanga, South Africa (20329418179).jpg|Crafts for sale in Graskop File:Pancakes in Graskop (5683818944).jpg|Graskop is known for its pancakes File:Give the world a finger - Gods Window Area, Mpumalanga (36427414540).jpg|The Pinnacle, a landmark near Graskop File:Blyde rivier God's Window 06.jpg|God's Window, a viewpoint near Graskop File:Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve (ZA), Blyde River -- 2024 -- 0002.jpg|Bourkes Luck Potholes, near Graskop File:Berlin Falls IMG 2556.JPG|Berlin Falls, close to Graskop </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Wikivoyage inline}}
{{Ehlanzeni District Municipality}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Populated places in the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality Category:Mining communities in South Africa