city in the Free State, South Africa
Kroonstad is a city of 169,000 people (2011) in the Free State Province of South Africa. The main industry of Kroonstad is agriculture. It is the centre of a rich agricultural district, producing maize, wheat, dairy and meat products and wool.
It is the third largest city in the Free State (after Bloemfontein and Welkom). Maokeng is an area within Kroonstad, and is occasionally used as a synonym of the town. Maokeng is Sesotho and means "place of the thorn trees (mimosa trees)".
In Afrikaans, Kroonstad mean "Crown City". While Kroon means "crown", this was in fact the name of a horse that had drowned in the nearby ford. A lover of animals, Orpen had witnessed the incident, and named the infant settlement in honour of the unfortunate creature.
The Bloemhoek Dam lies just east of the town and supplies much of its water needs.
Kroonstad lies directly on the N1, which bypasses the town to the east. Other regional roads in the town are the R34 to Odendaalsrus (south-west), the R76 to Steynsrus (south-east), the R721 to Vredefort (north-west) and the R82 to Heilbron (north-east). Because it is on the N1 (the main route between Cape Town & Johannesburg) it can be a convenient stopover when driving between these two parts of the country.
Kroonstad Railway Station serves the town and is on the important railway junction from Cape Town to Johannesburg via Bloemfontein. Overnight trains operated by Shosholoza Meyl running between Johannesburg and Cape Town, East London, Durban and Port Elizabeth all call in Kroonstad. Most trains runs two or three times per week in each direction.
Kroonstad is served by a small airport with no passenger flights.
Leisure opportunities are plentiful in Kroonstad, where visitors can enjoy golf on the 18-hole course in the town, lion tours and interaction with lion and tiger cubs at the Boskoppie Lion and Tiger Park, fishing in the well stocked Vals River or on the Bloemhoek Dam, and boating on the Serfontein Dam. Horseriding, gliding and hiking trails are also available.
It's well supplied with B&Bs but most are not visible to search engines yet. Fear not; as one enters the town from the N1 there is a lay-by in front of a large billboard which is as good as a website, giving a basic map of the town surrounded by panels with names and contact numbers of various establishments.