Mariepskop (also Marepe or Maripekop), at 1,947 m above sea level, is one of the highest peaks in the northern Drakensberg, and the highest point of the Blyde River Canyon, South Africa. It is situated at the junction of three conservation areas, namely the Mariepskop Forest Reserve, Mariepskop State Forest, and the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve. The mountain is bordered by sheer cliff faces on several sides, and is composed of Proterozoic sedimentary rocks of the Transvaal Supergroup. It is named for the 19th century Pulana chief, Maripe Mashile, whose tribe used the mountain as a stronghold. Some infrastructure and roads were built in the 1950s to service a military radar station. Mariepskop is flanked by Tshwateng (1,628 m) at the opposite side of the Blyde River, and by Hebronberg (1,767 m) in the south.

The mountain is composed of Proterozoic sedimentary rocks, namely quartzite, shale and dolomite of the Transvaal Supergroup. The plateau consists of resistant Black Reef Quartzite which rests on quartzite and shale of the Wolkberg Group, with a granite-gneiss layer forming the base.

The Mfecane disturbances of the 19th century were responsible for the settlement of the escarpment region by fragments of Sotho-speaking tribes, who once lived on the highveld. Bakwena chief Kowyn settled on the Graskop escarpment, and the Mapulana settled in wretched circumstances in the lowveld. Everywhere south of the Olifants River and North of the Crocodile River, these refugees were harried and looted by the Swazi raiding parties of Mswati II.

Chief Maripe's tribe settled at the base of "the great one", or Thaba ya Moholoholo, as the mountain was then known. To evade their common enemy, chief Maripe and Chiloane's Pulana, Pulana of Mokgotho and Mohlala's Pedi people, sought refuge on the mountain plateau. In the Moholoholo war of 1864, boulders were rolled down to ward off the enemy, and numerous attacks on their stronghold were repelled. Skeletons of the Swazi casualties littered the mountain for a long time afterwards.

Quite a number of local place names commemorate this tumultuous period. The nearby Three Rondavel peaks are named for three of the chief's wives, Magabolle, Mogoladikwe and Maseroto, while the adjacent Mapjaneng promontory, once again recalls the chief. Swadeni (also Swadini or Swatini), meaning "the place of the Swazi", seems to be the only place name to commemorate the Swazis, who attacked but never occupied the region for an extended period.

Mariepskop is the resting place of author, adventurer and statesman Deneys Reitz. He had bought a nearby farm along with some land on the hill in 1935 and intended to retire there, but died suddenly in 1944 whilst serving as the South African High Commissioner in Britain. He described it as:

[...] a piece of land more beautiful, in my eyes, than anything in the country. It has a crystal clear mountain torrent of its own, it has flower-carpeted forests and from the rim one looks down a mighty gorge and almost the whole of the Low Country lies stretched beyond.

Reitz's son, Michael, and his wife Leila Reitz, the first woman elected to the South African Parliament, are also commemorated at the site.