The Blyde River Canyon Reserve offers visitors a remarkable experience that they will remember long after leaving the lowveld. Blyde Canyon cuts through the Drakensberg Mountain Range, one of the seven major mountain systems in Africa.

The impressive mountain scenery and panoramic views over the Klein Drakensberg escarpment give the area its name of 'Panorama Route'. The different viewpoints are named after the scenic view they offer, God's Window and Wonder View hint at the scale of their scenery. The 'Pinnacle' a single quartzite column rising out of the deep wooded canyon and the ‘Three Rondavels' ('Three Sisters’) are three giant spirals of dolomite rock rising out of the far wall of the canyon. Their domed heads are covered in vegetation while their sides are stained with flaming orange lichen. From the vantage point of the 'Three Rondavels' one can see the far-reaching Swadini Dam in the distance, which demarcates border of the reserve.

The unique geology and climate of this high rainfall plateau give rise to numerous cascading waterfalls, rich in varied plant life influenced by extreme climate, a choice of altitudes and diverse soil conditions.

The variety of plant life supports an abundance of fauna such as klipspringer and dassies seeking food and shelter in rocky crevices. The grassland is the habitat of the grey rhebuck , oribi including rodents, reptiles, seed-eating birds and a variety of insects. Game animals prefer the cover of wooded bushveld and the dense growth on the riverbanks.

Five of South Africa's primates can be seen in the The Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve (the somango and vervet monkeys, bushbabies, chacma baboons). The kings of inland rivers the hippopotami and crocodile live, hunt and graze in swampland of the Swadini Dam. For the bird lover a kaleidoscope of birdlife is resident in the reserve and all species of South African Loerie can be observed here.