Hartbeespoort Dam

About this place

Hartbeespoort Dam, known locally as Harties, is an arch dam in South Africa's North West Province, set in a valley south of the Magaliesberg range and north of the Witwatersberg, about 35 km northwest of Johannesburg and 20 km west of Pretoria. Its Afrikaans name means dam at the gorge of the hartebeest, as hunters once cornered these antelope in this gap in the Magaliesberg. A study into building an irrigation dam here began in 1906; floods and other setbacks delayed the work for years until it was completed in April 1923. Irrigation is still its main use, alongside domestic and industrial supply. A road runs across the curved stone dam wall, with a triumphal-arch gateway at one end and a tunnel cut through the rock. From the wall the view drops into the deep gorge on one side and stretches over the broad lake on the other, its shores lined with towns and villages. The water has been rich in nutrients since the 1970s, so water plants sometimes cover parts of the surface. Visitors drive or walk across the dam to take photos and browse the town of Hartbeespoort near the wall, with its restaurants and shops. It makes an easy day trip from Pretoria or Johannesburg.