There are two main routes between Skukuza and Lower Sabie. These are the Sabie River Road via Nkuhlu Picnic site (H4-1) - which can get very busy during weekends and school holidays, and the less travelled dusty alternative, the Salitje Road (S30).

The Main Sabie River Road (H4-1)

The Sabie River Road from Skukuza to Lower Sabie (H4-1) tracks the Sabie River through mixed thornveld into the open grasslands of the south-east. It is both a beautiful drive and a good game route as the riverine bush, nutritious thornveld browsing and sweetveld grazing attract a wide variety of herbivores which, in turn, attract the predators.

The chances of seeing lions, leopards, hyaenas and their kills are as good on the H4-1 as anywhere else in Kruger. The Sabie riverine forest supports a large population of leopards, probably because of the high density of impala in the area. Studies by Michael Mills and Paul Funston indicate there are almost 100 impala per square kilometre in this part of the Park.

The H4-1 can be something of a mixed blessing, however. On the one hand, the area teems with wildlife because of the sweet grazing and permanent water, but, on the other, it is probably the busiest road in the Park and good sightings quickly attract a lot of vehicles, which can compromise the quality of the game viewing.The first 12km from Skukuza offers many vantage points over the Sabie River, which has undergone a radical change because of the 2000 floods. The raging floodwaters washed away many of the big old sycamore fig trees that lined the river, and the course of the central river channel shifted, changing the location of sandbanks and reedbeds. Some scientists argue that these floods brought about the most rapid changes to an ecosystem since the Park's inception.Colonel James Stevenson-Hamilton
The success of Kruger as one of the world's leading game reserves is due mainly to the man who actually made it happen. Scottish-born James Stevenson-Hamilton (1867-1957) was the man tasked with transforming Paul Kruger's vision of an African Eden into a viable game reserve.
This tough and doughty soldier and adventurer took up his post in 1902 shortly after the Anglo-Boer War, and was instructed to preserve what little wildlife there was in what was then the Sabi Game Reserve. He took on the challenge with grit and enthusiasm, with one of his first jobs being to persuade tribes-people living in the Park to move out in exchange for not paying tax for one year. He also took on the vested interests of settler farmers and landowners who regarded the Park either as winter grazing or hunting grounds.
The major was also given responsibility for policing the Shingwedzi Reserve which was seen as a lost cause because of hunting and lawlessness However, his persistence paid off and his efforts were rewarded with the consolidation in 1926 of the Sabi and Shingwedzi reserves into a single Park.
Known for his perseverance and obstinacy, Stevenson-Hamilton devoted his life to Kruger, deciding only to get married at the age of 63 once his obligations as a game ranger had been met. He and his wife, Hilda, had three children. He died peacefully at the age of 90 and his ashes were scattered at one of his favourite places in the Park - Shirimantanga Hill just south of Skukuza.