Hoedspruit (Afrikaans for Hat Creek) is a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa, situated at the foot of the Klein Drakensberg (Afrikaans for "Small Dragon Mountains"). The town is located on the Selati railway line, which connects Phalaborwa to Kaapmuiden.

Hoedspruit is located at the foot of the Klein Drakensberg, a mountain range that forms part of the larger Drakensberg escarpment. One of the highest peaks in this part of the range is Mariepskop, which stands at 1,947 metres above sea level. The mountains in this area are composed of Proterozoic sedimentary rocks, including quartzite, shale, and dolomite, belonging to the Transvaal Supergroup. This erosion-resistant quartzite layer, which is over 2 billion years old, also forms the Magaliesberg mountains near Pretoria.

Stone Age artifacts and sites from all three periods suggest continuous occupation by early humans. Several Iron Age sites have been identified in the region. An Early Iron Age site, excavated on the Happyland farm, dates from between AD 450 and 1000 and has provided insights into early agriculture and cultural practices. Another significant discovery was made on what is now the Zandspruit Aero Estate, where archaeologists Anton Pelser and Anton van Vollenhoven found a site estimated to date to around 800 AD. They identified it as part of a pre-existing network of trade routes.

Dawid Johannes Joubert became the first owner of the Hoedspruit farm, acquiring the land in 1844 and settling in the region between the Blyde and present-day Zandspruit rivers. On 5 May 1848, Joubert officially registered the farm at the land office in Ohrigstad, which gave the farm its first official registration and name.

In the 1850s, Ohrigstad became the central town of the area, but only older settlers were permitted to live in and around Ohrigstad itself. Younger settlers under the age of 45 were encouraged to move farther away. Consequently, a group of young men established a settlement between the mountains and the Blyde River on a farm they named Jonkmanspruit (meaning "young man's stream"). Other young men settled on nearby farms such as Welverdiend (meaning "well deserved") and Driehoek (meaning "triangle," due to the farm's shape). These farm names are still in use in the area around the original Hoedspruit farm.

The name "Hoedspruit" reportedly originates from an incident in 1844 involving Dawid Johannes Joubert. After a severe cloudburst caused the local river (now the Zandspruit) to flood, Joubert lost his hat in the water. He subsequently named the river "Hoedspruit," meaning "Hat Stream," to commemorate the event, and the farm later took the same name.

Dawid Johannes Joubert owned another farm in the Ohrigstad area and divided his time between both properties. In 1860, he was killed by a leopard while on his farm in Ohrigstad.

During Joubert's ownership, the Hoedspruit farm he had registered was extensive, stretching from the Blyde River to the Klaserie River and encompassing the present-day town center.