The village of Kaapsehoop, originally gained fame as a gold mining town once known as the the Devil’s Office. Established towards the end of the 19th century, when gold was discovered in 1882 in a small creek running through the town. This led to a portion of the original township layout being cancelled and opened up for gold diggings. However, the earlier better paying discoveries of gold at both Pilgrim’s Rest in 1873 and Barberton in 1881, followed by the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 (later to become the city of Johannesburg), coupled with the meagre returns obtained at Kaapsehoop, led to the town going into decline, and becoming almost a ghost town.
It has now become a popular weekend retreat with its period housing and includes many accommodation establishments. The town is amid the rock out crop, a fascinating formation… and with the horses is a hotly photographed area…
The rock field formations near the town are made up of quartzite’s. Here are a few photos I’ve taken, but it is difficult to decide which to post, as what I like you might not.. here goes…
The Photographic Journey of bulldog. 
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Those are very interesting!
As a horse lover, I especially like your photos with the horses!
That is probably one of the biggest draws for me to Kaapsehoop… those wild horses are something else…
You made great choices! That one looks like ocean waves, so cool, love it!
Thank you… it is difficult to depict the extent of the rocks on a two dimensional plane.. but they cover a huge area…
I can see why this would be an interesting place to visit. Does anyone still search for gold?
No the gold was never really that good here and any panning that’s done now would be purely for fun…
Dear Rob, the contrast with horses, amazing. Fascinated me. Thank you, love, nia
Thank you Nia… a beautiful place where our friend Zannyro needs to go….
Stones aren’t moving regularly, but these are looking as living stones, so beautiful. The environment with the three horses is beautiful, looks like a postcard 🙂
Thank you so much… a magical place…
This is SO interesting…..First of all,I’ve always like and been fascinated with rock formations like this..used to collect rocks as a kid and still do from Bob’s pasture…..and of course!, you combined it with horses!! What could be better?
Thought you might enjoy this… but would love to see what you would do with your camera here… some of these horses are out of this world…
I would LOVE to be able to take a try at it….it looks like it would be amazing 🙂
these photos are beautiful!
.. but the eleventh me back to the sea!!
fantastic Nature
Kiss
vento
Thank you so much for the wonderful comment…
I love these rock formations, Bulldog! They are really beautiful. I like them all for different reasons. Some are so prominent and the shapes remind me of large anvils. But the shots taken from a distance really give the sense of proportion and how they are covering such a large expanse. They indicate such a sense of age!
Thank you.. the one thing I’ve felt difficult, was the depicting of their size and expanse… they caver a huge area and it is difficult to capture this in a two dimensional form…
Awesome photos!! They kind of remind me of the hoodoos in Alberta, Canada. Google them and you will see :).
That I will do… thank you… it is special to have them here in such a place as Kaapsehood, combined with the horses and history of the town it just completes the scenery…
What amazing rock formations, and how fortunate you are to have such a photogenic place on your doorstep. Those horse look so at home there. 🙂
Oh those horse love that area… and make the scenery just that little bit better…
Beautiful, natural scenery. I love the rock formation that looks like waves! 😀
Thanks Dianne…. it is a magical place and the formations are difficult to depict in a two dimensional plane…
Anche le rocce hanno il loro fascino, a volte è il vento insieme al tempo a dare loro strane forme
Ciao, Pat
Thanks Pat… wind and rain the artistic tools of nature…
Quite the display of rock formations. I’ll soon be posting some “rock” of my own 🙂 Beautiful horses!
I look forward to it…
the horse, or course… 🙂
Thank you…
Wow – I love rock formations like this bulldog ~ truly magnificent natural sculptures… beautiful post my dearest friend.. much love to you ~ RL
Thanks Robyn… again one I had trouble deciding which photos to post…. a two dimensional depiction of a three dimensional magical phenomena…
totally like magic ~ loved this bulldog!!
This reminds me about Easter Island … the rock figures (massive) and wild horses. Your photos are so good – you and your camera as a great team work.
thank you Viveka…so kind of you to say..
Great photos – I like them very much! The formations look magical or mystical or spiritual. Tell me, are horses native to the area?
No the horses here come from an abandon herd when the gold mining in the town died in the early 1900s and they have just bred and live their natural lives out in the area…
do they mess with the eco system?
not in the least and now I believe they have the honour of being protected by Government … which I think is marvelous as they are a definite piece of our countries history…
That’s good. We have previously domestic horses in Alberta that eat the food of natural wild life here but I think it’s also ranchers who have an issue about the available grazing food and the horses breeding with their papered animals…
No matter which ones you chose to post you probably will never be able to give the total affect of the formations as you see them straight on. Still, they are beautiful and worth posting. Thanks for enlarging my view of a world I have never seen.
Thanks for the comment … yes one needs to see the depth and third dimension… it is such a wonderful spot yet so unusual…
Well Done! these are some spectacular rock formations, natures artistic history Is simply amazing.
It is unbelievably beautiful and I don’t think any photo would actually do it justice…
I’ve never seen anything like that. I’m intriqued to know more and will be researching the theories behind these formations!
It is most strange that this formation is at the top of the escarpment, from the look out point you can look down on the lowveld and actually see towns that are 40 – 50 km away… these outcrops with grass in between that seems to be growing on a very fertile soil… amazing…
What an amazing area of the world!
Thanks Julie .. a very special place…
Each of those rock formations are a natural work of art in itself.
I agree Alex… there are so many in my folder and I just can’t decide which to post… as you say a lot look like someone sat and carved them out of the rock…
Looks very similar to parts of the South Island of New Zealand, an area called Central Otago. Great photos as always, thanks for sharing.
I have often wondered if these type formations come anywhere else in the southern hemisphere… now I know, thank you…
Those rocks are amazing – just like clouds form pictures, so do your rocks. The second last one looks like a perched bird.
I have taken so many photos of these rocks and none seem to show their true beauty… the shapes and deformities if I can call them that fascinate me… I often wonder how they came to lie in the formation that they are.. almost hand placed and arranged…