Graskop Gorge Lift

The escarpment at Graskop ends abruptly, and this lift takes the drop directly: a glass-fronted car on the cliff face descending fifty-one metres from the rim into the gorge floor, opened in 2018. What is at the bottom is the reason it works - an indigenous Afromontane rainforest patch, wet and dark, with about six hundred metres of raised boardwalk and suspension bridges through it, past tree ferns, a stream and a waterfall. That forest type survives only in these sheltered ravines along the escarpment and is otherwise hard to walk into. Back at the top there is a viewing deck, a market and a restaurant. It takes about two hours and is easy - the lift removes the climb, which makes the forest accessible to people who could not otherwise get down. Adventure options including a zip line and a big swing operate from the same site.

What you actually see

• The lift - a glass car dropping fifty-one metres down the cliff face.
• Afromontane rainforest - a wet forest type surviving only in escarpment ravines.
• The boardwalk - about six hundred metres of raised walkway and bridges.
• Easy access - the descent done by lift rather than by path.

When to go

All year; December to March is greenest and wettest. Two hours.

Honest expectations

It is a short, commercial and fairly quick experience for the ticket price. The lift queues in holidays. Rain makes the boardwalk slippery and the gorge often sits in cloud. Adventure activities are charged separately.

Nearby

God's Window is south on the escarpment; the Blyde River canyon is north.