Melville Koppies is a Nature Reserve and a Johannesburg City Heritage Site.
This highly historic site, which has a geology that goes back three billion years, is an entirely indigenous area where the early years of humankind are documented in the remnants of everyday items such as stone tools, dating back at least 500 000 years ago.
There is a Late Stone Age living floor/area where visitors can view the space and get a taste of what it was like to live as a caveman. Other sites include the remaining kraal walls left by Iron Age immigrants as well as an iron-smelting furnace excavated in 1963.
The vegetation of the Koppies is indigenous to the region and is a remarkable example of the richness of highveld grasses, flowers, and trees so close to the city centre. Three areas accompany this nature reserve. They are known as Melville Koppies Central, East and West. Melville Koppies Central is always locked and has controlled access only for people on organised tours and hikes. Dogs are not allowed because it is a proclaimed Heritage Site. East and West are open daily for walks and socialised dogs are welcome as long as they are kept on a leash.