The reserve was established on the farm Weynek 505KQ, located on the outskirts of Rooiberg, along the southern reaches of the Waterberg mountain range in the Limpopo Province of South Africa.
The town Rooiberg (“Red Mountain”) was known in its heyday for its tin mining operations. Tin mining in the area is said to have lasted for approximately 800 years. Mining operations only ceased in 1993 (Rozendaal et al, 1995). On the reserve one can still find a number of collapsed tunnels and sections of tunnels dating back to the tin mining era. There are also some remnants of stone buildings from this time period. Most of these relics have been reclaimed by nature and now form part of the prevailing ecosystem. Many of these tunnels are now inhabited by a myriad of wildlife including near threatened Brown Hyena (Hyaena brunnea) and critically endangered Short-eared Trident Bat (Cleotis percivali), to name a few.
The original farm Weynek was part of a cattle ranch before it was re-established as a nature reserve. Evidence hereof can still be seen in the remnants of old rock kraals and fences that were erected by using trees as anchor poles. These trees have now engulfed the last of these remaining wire-fences. Along some parts of the reserve evidence of the impact of overgrazing during the cattle farming era may still be spotted.