Situated on a plantation owned by forest products company Sappi, picnic facilities are provided, but the area is closed to the public during the fire season.  Keep an eye out for the Karkloof blue butterfly which is endemic to the area and which is also the emblem of the Midlands Meander.  At one time, the valley was the main route between Natal and the Transvaal, the Afrikaans name means horse cart ravine, and refers to an incident in 1845 when a horse cart overturned after the horses took fright.  The Karkloof River is a tributary of the mgeni River, and its Zulu name, Mlambornunye, means one stream or another stream.