DEVELOPMENT - Road construction

Access to the various development nodes of the reserve and creating a comprehensive network of game viewing roads was a large undertaking in the mountainous terrain, which stretched over a two year period. Currently, this road network comprises around 117 km of roads varying from all weather access roads to the Private and Commercial development sites to game viewing routes. Additionally, there are a further 86 km of 4x4 tracks and old roads on which conditions may vary according to season.

Careful planning and emphasis on creation of circular routes was important to enhance the experience in the reserve. To this will be added additional link roads where required in some areas.

The road construction was done within the framework of the approved Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) with additional measures undertaken to protect the very unique and unspoilt habitat. The now completed road network consists mainly of old 19th century prospectors roads which first had to be located and surveyed. The network was then designed based on these existing and well rehabilitated roads with the addition of only select access roads and links through a process of upgrading the old roads.

Some pioneering techniques, such as hydro seeding with local grasses, were adopted to stabilise and rehabilitate road cuttings and fills. The end result is a well stabilised, low maintenance road network which blends well into the surrounding terrain.

The reserve is directly accessible from tarred national roads on two sides. The R40 and R38 tarred roads offer easy access via the N4 from Johannesburg (three and a half hours) and Pretoria (three hours).