Askham is located about 180km north of Upington, on the road to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, making it an ideal refuelling spot and rest stop for those en route to the conservation area. 

Although it is in the southern Kalahari wilderness and is the starting point for the Kalahari Red Dune Route, the village is actually situated in the green belt surrounding the Orange River.

Askham is part of the Dawid Kruiper Local Municipality, which is named after one of the indigenous leaders in this area that has traditionally been home to San, Koranna and Nama people. Their descendants still live and trade their traditional wares and handicrafts here. The area is an ideal base from which to experience authentic San culture and traditions, benefiting local communities in the process.

The village itself, according to local legend, was either named after a town on the Irish coast or was derived from a farmer saying, “Ask him,” referring a query to the settlement’s founder, Scottish land surveyor Roger Jackson. 

Askham developed around a school boarding house that was built in 1931 and, like many other Northern Cape towns, a Dutch Reformed Church that still serves the greater Kalahari region. The local police station was once a breeding station for camels (up to 400 at a time) that were dispatched for police patrols across the Kalahari.