About Badplaas

Badplaas, Grass & Wetlands

Once you've booked your hotel or Badplaas accommodation, look through the destination pages below for info on attractions and things to do during your visit to Badplaas in the Mpumalanga province.

Lying nestled at the foot of the Ndlumudlumu Mountains between Machadodorp and Carolina in the grasslands of South Africa, Badplaas has become known as a resort town, due in no small part to the hot, suplphurous spring that spews 30 000 litres of warm, healing water an hour out of the ground.

Badplaas came into being as a result of the discovery of gold in Barberton, when it became a major stopover on a wagon route that made its way to the Lowveld, where Boer farmers had settled. There is something of the mystic to the little resort, with its healing waters known to the local tribespeople as Emanzana and the rolling Ndumudlumu hills (place of thunder) that form the beautiful backdrop of the town, and life here is seriously laidback.

The area is rich with birdlife that includes the Knysna loerie, olive bush-shrike, malachite humming bird (or sunbird) and the trumpeter hornbill and bird watching is a serious pastime.

Hikes and walks in the area include a walk along 100-year old water canals to a cascading waterfall with views over the valley, and, of course, game viewing at various game farms in the area is a requisite. There is also a 9-hole golf course about 7 kilometres from the Forever Resort in Badplaas that provides some pretty spectacular views and incorporates the natural contours of the surroundings for a great game of golf.