Paul Roux can be explored on three spatial levels: the Paul Roux Private Museum is in the town, dinosaur tracks and a cave with rock paintings are in the nearby area, and cycling options extend into the wider region. This distinction is helpful for planning your trip: it shows whether you want to build your stay around a museum, discoveries outside the town, or a multi-night cycling tour. So the first question is what you want to focus on: a stay in town, additional points of interest nearby, or a regional cycling trip.
Culture at the Paul Roux Private Museum
The Paul Roux Private Museum is located at 31 Voortrekker Street in Paul Roux. Its themes include a large Stone Age exhibition and stories from the Anglo-Boer War. The two topics offer different historical perspectives and give the museum visit a clear cultural focus. If you include the museum in your plans, check which exhibition is currently on display before your visit.
Prehistoric traces and rock paintings nearby
On Uniondale Farm in the Paul Roux district is a large sandstone block from the Clarens Formation. It broke away from a high cliff on the mountain below the overlying lava layers and rolled onto the plain below. The block contains parts of the fossilized tracks of at least two fairly large carnivorous dinosaurs. They lived in this part of the Free State in the Early Jurassic, about 185 million years ago. What makes the block notable is the combination of a geological formation and fossil tracks. In contrast with the museum’s themes, the focus shifts from human history to a much earlier part of Earth’s history. The site is in the area near the destination, not in Paul Roux itself.
On the Holhoek Hiking Trail, one of the five sites visited is a cave near a stream with numerous rock paintings known as “Bushman rock paintings.” In contrast with the fossilized dinosaur tracks, these are rock paintings—two very different ways of discovering the past in the landscape. The cave is in the area near Paul Roux, not in the town itself. If you plan to visit it or the site at Uniondale, check the current visiting arrangements in advance.
Cycling: understanding the tour and starting point
In the wider region, the Tour De Gazer cycling route covers 203 km of the Sungazer Pilgrimage Route and includes comfortable accommodation for five nights. The cycling Camino in the eastern Free State begins in Paul Roux. One detail gives the route length and accommodation arrangements; the other identifies a starting point. This distinction helps with planning: a tour with five overnight stays is a different proposition from a stay with Paul Roux itself as the destination.
Discover more destinations: Fouriesburg, Clarens, Phuthaditjhaba, Harrismith, Senekal, Roadside, Bethlehem, Kratzenstein
For the broader travel overview: Thabo Mofutsanyane.
