Pilanesberg National Park

The crater of a long extinct volcano is the setting for the Pilanesberg Game Reserve and National Park – a fascinating alkaline complex produced by volcanic eruptions some 1300 million years ago. Pilanesberg is one of the largest volcanic complexes of its kind in the world. Its rare rock types and structure make it a unique geological feature.  The area is fringed by three concentric ridges or rings of hills – the formation rises from the surrounding plains like a bubble. The structure of the park is termed the “Pilanesberg Game Reserve Alkaline Ring Complex”.
Ancient, even by geological time scales, this extinct volcano is the most perfect example of an alkaline ring complex. A number of rare (but not necessarily economically important) minerals occur in the park. Pilanesberg Game Reserve rates high amongst the world’s outstanding geological phenomena.
The creation of the Reserve is considered one of the most ambitious programmes of its kind to be undertaken anywhere in the world. Thanks to Operation Genesis in 1979, which involved the game-fencing of the reserve and the re-introduction of many long-vanished species, the park now has in excess of 7 000 animals including 24 of the larger species.

Pilanesberg Game Reserve (Pilanesberg is not a National Park under the control of SANParks) is in the Bojanala Region of the North West Province, adjacent to Sun City.  An abundance of wild life proliferate in +/- 55,000 hectares of diverse and interesting bushveld terrain. The park is home to healthy populations of lion, leopard, black and white rhino, elephant and buffalo – Africa’s “Big Five”.

A wide variety of rare and common species exist like the nocturnal brown hyaena, the fleet-footed cheetah, the majestic sable, as well as giraffe, zebra, hippo and crocodile, to mention but a few.
There are nearly 200 kilometres of excellent quality roads for either self-drives or guided drives. Numerous hides and scenic picnic sites enable the tourist to experience “out-of-car” experiences as well. Bird watching is excellent with over 300 species recorded. Some are migrants, others permanent inhabitants; some eat carrion or live prey, others eat seeds, fruit or tiny water organisms.

The park exists within the transition zone between the dry Kalahari and wetter Lowveld vegetation, commonly referred to as “Bushveld”. Unlike any other large park, unique overlaps of mammals, birds and vegetation occur because of this transition zone. The varied topography features syenite koppies, thickly forested ravines, typical bushveld and also rolling grasslands and lightly wooded areas.