Anyone driven up to the view point at the top of Mariepskop  mountain thats near Swadini........

Many Moons ago, was based in Hoedspruit, Mariepskop is currently a Ghost Town, you will need 4 x 4 to get up to the top as no Maintenance was done in the last few years on the road.

The view is incredible though, We put up the DSTV Mast those years with Samil 100 Recovery

This was paid for by the staff but the Truck was supplied by the SAAF

Check Vids on Facebook of the views and the base and  Rohrbeck Road that leads to the top

Agree with Theo the view from up there is awesome. George while you are there go to Klaserie Falls as well.

Mariepskop used to be a Radar station for the SAAF but its derelict now.

We also did some geocaches on Mariepskop as well. Not sure if they are still there. There is also the wildlife endangered species centre that's worth a visit.

Oh and there is the Moholoholo Animal Rehabilitation Centre. 

Saw a video on Youtube about the fall of this place.  The lady that was the guide stayed at one of the houses there.

  Must have been fantastic to see those views every moring.

BrianB wrote:

Agree with Theo the view from up there is awesome. George while you are there go to Klaserie Falls as well.

Mariepskop used to be a Radar station for the SAAF but its derelict now.

 

 

Hi Brian, when where you up there last, what was the condition of the road.......

George wrote:

Hi Brian, when where you up there last, what was the condition of the road.......

That was in 2013 then the road was pretty good. Sure by now it has changed much as SAAF have vacated the base on top, thus the road would not be maintained. Hopefully some one here can give you a better update. I wonder if Swadini would be able to give you better info. But If you are there last time we went up we stopped at the ranger station at the bottom they too would be able to advise the current condition.

BrianB wrote:

 

That was in 2013 then the road was pretty good. Sure by now it has changed much as SAAF have vacated the base on top, thus the road would not be maintained. Hopefully some one here can give you a better update. I wonder if Swadini would be able to give you better info. But If you are there last time we went up we stopped at the ranger station at the bottom they too would be able to advise the current condition.

Thanks, going to give it a go this weekend.

George wrote:

Thanks, going to give it a go this weekend.

Awesome enjoy the trip up don‘t forget Classerie Falls you are virtually driving right past it. The turnoff is not far from the ranger station.

I think you will need to get a permit to go up to the top. Was not expensive abut R30.

I see that the geocache at the top was last logged on 27 July 2025 so at that time the road was still drivable. Unfortunately they never commented on the road condition just that it was very cold.

Please give us an update after you have been it would be appreciated. 

I just remembered that I had been up to the top after our last trip with a family member who was the CO of Hoedspruit Airforce base some time ago and he showed us where the barracks and other buildings (which are close to the ranger station) at the bottom of the road as well as some interesting info at the top and as well as how the base functioned.

Once again enjoy the trip up. Some pics would be nice as well. :)

Going up Mariepskop, to say the road going up [ before the cement road ] is rough is an understatement, a lot of the road is almost washed away and the forest is busy reclaiming the bits that are left.

The concrete road is in good nick and very steep, we did not realise just how steep it was untill we came back down.

Pics from the top, it was windy with very strong wind gusts, we did not venture anywhere near the edge.

What an adventure! What a sight!

Pics around the top

The cement road on top

The now deserted air force signal base......

Thanks for the intro George, I did not know of it's existence.

RichardJ wrote:

Thanks for the intro George, I did not know of it's existence.

Hi, Richard, type in MARIEPSKOP on google, theres a short history that goes with it.