Waterval Onder

Waterval Onder, the ‘sister town’ of Waterval Boven in the Highlands Meander region of Mpumalanga, sits at the base of the Elands River Falls, in a particularly picturesque area known for the Elands River waterfall, towering cliffs, eagles and crystal streams between forests and farmlands.

Waterval Onder (Under the Waterfall) in fact barely qualifies as a town; it is a small holiday village, offering superb country accommodation, farm-stays and adventure activities in the surrounding area – an area of astounding beauty.

Attractions in Waterval Onder include the old home of Paul Kruger, one of South Africa’s ‘founding fathers’, and of course the magnificent Elands River Falls.
Waterval Onder is also connected to its sister town Waterval Boven (Above 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.

Besides rock climbing, for which the area is famous, activities in the Waterval Boven and Waterval Onder area include fly-fishing, hiking and walking trails, horse-riding and horse trails,  mtb and abseiling.

Gettng there: Waterval Onder is 12km from Waterval Boven (Emgwenya), on the N4.