This route starts at the town Graskop and includes God's Window, the Pinnacle and Bourke's Luck Potholes.

Blyde means "glad" or "happy"[3] in old Dutch, a name derived from a voortrekkers' expedition.

The 'happy river' was thus named in 1844, when Hendrik Potgieter and others returned safely from Delagoa Bay to the rest of their party of trekkers who had considered them dead.

[clarification needed][4] The Blyde River Canyon supports large diversity of life, including numerous fish and antelope species as well as hippos and crocodiles, and every primate species that may be seen in South Africa (including both greater and lesser bushbabies, vervet monkeys and Samango monkeys).

The canyon and the surrounding Drakensberg escarpment is a very popular tourist region with a well-developed tourism industry supported by good public infrastructure.