Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve

About Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve

The Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve is situated north-east of Lydenburg next to the R37 (Long Tom Pass) road. The Lydenburg Museum is located at the entrance to the reserve. The reserve is named in honour of Mr Gustav Klingbiel, a former councillor who campaigned to have the area declared as a Nature Reserve. Apart from various species of game, the reserve also features numerous stone-walled enclosures particular to the Late Iron Age of the area. Some of these sites belong to the early phases of the Iron Age (500 AD) and are known by Iron Age Archaeologists as the Klingbiel phase of the Early Iron Age. The pottery found on these sites is closely related to the pottery found at the Lydenburg Heads site in respect of age and decoration. The majority of the stone-walled enclosures inside the Reserve date to the later stages of the Iron Age and was occupied by the BaKoni about 500 years ago.

The Reserve comprises an area of 2 200 ha and is characterised by typical escarpment fauna and flora. This is the type of countryside that Sir Percy Fitzpatrick and his famous dog, Jock, frequented. Although parts of the Reserve can be visited by motor car, it will always be the hiker who discovers more of the plant and animal life within the Reserve. Numerous species of game can be found here, including Eland, Zebra, Kudu, Impala, Blue Wildebeest, Duiker, Blesbuck, Bushpig, Steenbok, Baboons, Monkeys. Predators include Jackal, Caracal, Serval and the occasional leopard.


There are 276 bird species listed for the Reserve including 164 resident, 55 visitor and 46 migrant species. The reserve is also known to have breeding colonies of Gurney's Sugarbird. Goliath Heron and African Finfoot have been spotted in the area. Species spotted commonly include Dabchick, Hamerkop, Pied Kingfisher, Hoopoe and Woodpeckers. White headed and White Backed vultures also visit the Reserve on occasion.The Crane Hiking Route is recommended for good bird watching, a list of all the birds that can be found inside the Reserve is available at the museum information desk.


During the course of the year sporting events are hosted in the Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve. This mainly consists of Mountain Biking and Trail Running races. Local athletes and scholars take part as well as events where schools from other regions come to compete. This is a very popular venue for these extreme sports activities both for training as well as official races. Tourists are also encouraged to make use of these recently added trails, a wonderful way to experience the outdoors characteristic of the Lydenburg area. Entry is R10 per person and hours are from 08:00-16:00 during the week and 08:00-17:00 weekends.