Lonehill Nature Reserve

About Lonehill Nature Reserve

Close to the Monte Casino, roughly 28 kilometres from the city centre, stands a lone koppie (little hill) on the northern outskirts of Johannesburg. Around the koppie is a little piece of conserved nature – a remnant of what this part of the world looked like before development.

Did you know? A walk around the Lonehill nature reserve might bring you into contact with the local dassies and porcupines.

At first glance, Lonehill Nature Reserve is little more than the rocky outcrop of large boulders surrounded by a bit of rocky veld and shrubs. The only piece of nature in a concrete jungle.

Lonehill Nature Reserve is fenced and locked. The reserve is unlocked on weekends, and you can hike to the top where you can picnic, or just lay out a picnic blanket on the surrounding grassy areas.

A walk around the Lonehill reserve might bring you into contact with the local dassies (of which there are quite a few) and porcupines (they only come out at night).

There are beautiful views out over Johannesburg from up here. If you sit still you will see birds that include the: black-collared barbet, crested barbet, red-headed finch, African paradise flycatcher, black-headed heron and willow warbler.

The significance of the Lonehill Nature Reserve is that it conserves three stone age furnaces, built around 1600 that were excavated in the 1960s and then covered to protect them. Lonehill is an important Stone Age site. Near the furnace site the original excavation uncovered another site nearby where pottery was obviously made. Both have been closed off as there was no further funding to develop the site, after they were discovered.

The discovery did call a halt to the quarry where the government was mining granite rock around the base of the Koppie, and you will notice a huge mound of square granite blocks there if you look out for it.