Waterval Boven

The tiny town of Waterval Boven is also called Emgwenya – the Place of the Crocodile. Once a railway depot, this little gem is now not just a rock climbing, fly-fishing and adventure tourist destination, but a destination for those seeking answers to the esoteric mysteries of the world.

As its name suggests, Waterval Boven sits above a waterfall. The magnificent Elands River Fallsdrop off the Mpumalanga Drakensburg escarpment in a spectacular rush of water – particularly after summer rains. The Elands River Gorge it drops into is very popular for climbing and abseiling – in fact it is one of South Africa’s best rock climbing destinations, with a many routes for advanced to beginner climbers and abseilers to choose from – routes with interesting names like Doom, Jabberwocky and Too Early for the Sky. 

The area is also popular for other outdoors pursuits such as hiking, mountain-biking and horse-riding. A fantastic trail in the area is the Num Num Trail.

Waterval Boven sits in an area of outstanding natural beauty, and this beauty can also be enjoyed from the Stone Circle Bistro and Museum – a little restaurant, bar, bookshop and museum quite unlike any other – where the displays are unique in the world, as are the very strange origins…

Waterval Boven sits within the ‘Trout Triangle’ and there are many dams in the area. The Waterval Boven Trout Association is very active and one of South Africa’s biggest fly-fishing clubs.

They hold regular competitions and dams in the area are stocked with and rainbow and golden trout. More on fly-fishing in and around Waterval Boven.

If you are travelling from Johannesburg, stop at Waterval Boven en-route to Kaapsehoop. The two ‘villages’, apart from vying for scenic supremacy, and both balancing near the edge of the escarpment, have a somewhat bizzarre link – Adam’s Calendar.

Waterval Boven is connected to its sister town Waterval Onder (Under the Waterfall) by the Elands River Pass Tunnel, and by an historic railway line. The two towns were established in the late 1800’s as stations on a steep gradient rack railway on the Pretoria – Delagoa Bay railway line. The railways and the beautiful steep curving tunnel, and the bridge below the tunnel, were built to facilitate the passage of trains up a gradient of 208 metres over a distance of 7.5km, and are now National Monuments.

Getting there: Waterval Boven is just past Machadadorp on the N4.