Lonehill Nature Reserve
Gauteng
The Lonehill Nature Reserve stands out as, you guessed, a lone hill in the northern suburbs of Sandton, Johannesburg. It gives us a glimpse of what the city looked like before urbanization: grasslands strewn with bushes and boulders, and little streams bubbling through it.
Popular with weekend walkers and picnickers, there is a small dam called Lonehill Loch and a few easy walking trails. The short stroll to the top of Lonehill is rewarded with sweeping views across the city. During the week the reserve is closed.
Lonehill is also renowned as the site of three Stone Age furnaces dating to 1600. Artefacts have been found near the furnaces, including large indented flat rocks, clearly used for grinding. Another site shows evidence of pottery manufacture.