Blogs

Petrus se Brand MTB Trail

7 Sep 2015

Diepwalle is a wet forest with dense, indigenous trees and strands of ferns along a multitude of streams, located some 21km north of Knysna, and offers forestry tracks and some single-track. Your best option is to do this as a one-way from Diepwalle to Garden of Eden, as the other way around is not marked and you could easily get lost. Or, if you’re super-fit, opt to do the entire 48-kilometre return ride...

(GPS coordinates: -33.947774, 23.158171)

Mankele MTB Trails

Nightjar Travel

26 Aug 2015

Mankele, with its awesome scenery of luscious mountains, rivers and springs, is a great place to be a mountain-biker! The trails are complemented by wooden boardwalks and bridges that have been carefully constructed over the terrain. The adrenaline-pumping trails have an excellent balance: from lung-bursting climbs, disc-burning descents, big drops, river crossings and fast, smooth single track. There is a network of trails to cover all needs, no matter what your riding skill, fitness level or age may be...

(GPS coordinates: -25.388746, 30.712028)

Wild Coast MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

18 Aug 2015

Head off from the Hluleka Reserve’s main gate and then slip left towards the coast along a rutted jeep track to a pebble beach to start this 33km one-way trail from Hluleka to Coffee Bay. Summer is very wet; the trails are drier during May and June…

(GPS coordinates: -31.825658, 29.30088)

Golden Gate MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

15 Aug 2015

Golden Gate Highlands National Park and the surrounding Maluti Mountains offer a selection of riding options, although the roads inside the Golden Gate section of the park are all (sadly) tarmac. Beyond Golden Gate, the rough and ready gravel roads of the QwaQwa National Park buck and slide along valleys and mountains...

(GPS coordinates: -28.503393, 28.609343)

Red Hill MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

13 Aug 2015

Red Hill will never rate up there with the likes of Tokai, but as it is within easy reach of Cape Town, it makes sense for the mountain-biking crowd to know where and what it is. With 4km tar, 6km gravel road and 2km single-track, there's an 18km return option. Winter is most fun when the sand is compacted. Start your ride from the Pine Haven Village...

(GPS coordinates: -34.182949, 18.414701)

Meerendal MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

3 Aug 2015

Meerendal Wine Farm is ideal for beginners wanting their first taste of single-track riding, but the flat landscape makes it perfect for those in search of some endurance training too. Start at the wine farm buildings along a track meandering gently uphill before descending onto the first stretch of single track down the “Mineshaft” and across a small plateau…

(GPS coordinates: -33.799673, 18.623157)

Otters' Haunt MTB Trails

Nightjar Travel

25 Jul 2015

Numerous trails of varying distance and difficulty are organised in the Dome Bergland and Vaal River Valley from Otters’ Haunt. Some of these routes are closed to the public but you can get access via Otters’ Haunt, although in some cases this is on guided trails only. The area is a paradise for mountain-bikers. The annual Crater Cruise around the Vredefort Dome is one of the best mountain-biking races in SA, and trail-wise there is something to suit every level of fitness and interest from competitive trainers to family outrides with the kids...

(GPS coordinates: -26.909887, 27.428361)

Eselfontein MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

16 Jul 2015

Mountain-bikers in the know rate this route as one of the best places in SA on which to ride single track. They are right on the money too, as the trails - the brainchild of Eselfontein Farm owner Deon Malherbe – constitute 45 kilometres of cycling ecstasy. The route starts off flat through the orchards, but this will not be a leisurely ride…

(GPS coordinates: -33.401602, 19.433699)

Rebellie Game Farm MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

4 Jul 2015

The Rebellie Game Farm is nestled in the mountainous landscape of the majestic Maluti Mountains at more than 2 000 metres above sea level. Several 4x4 trails crisscross the reserve and most are also suitable for mountain-biking. The reserve is in the foothills of the Maluti Mountains and the trails offer a number of serious sandstone and rock obstacles, rapid descents and steep climbs. It’s definitely not for the novice cyclist as it is a difficult 30-kilometre ride. Spectacular mountain scenery along the way provides the bonus of game-viewing opportunities...

(GPS coordinates: -28.582411, 28.476992)

Bottelary Hills MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

21 Jun 2015

The Bottelary Hills mountain-bike routes run over 20 farms in the Bottelary Hills Renosterveld Conservancy area just outside Stellenbosch. Income from the routes is used to fund the conservancy. The trails are well signed and maintained...

(GPS coordinates: -33.87886, 18.792318)

Augrabies MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

11 Jun 2015

Mount up in a place where kokerbome and lunar rockscapes rear up from plains as old as the continent itself. This is Planet Aukoerebis, but, even though this means “Place of Great Noise” in Khoi, the chances are you’ll hear little besides the slash of gravel below your bike tyres. Crank off from Main Camp along this undulating dirt ride...

(GPS coordinates: -28.593594, 20.33763)

Moletadikgwa MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

7 Jun 2015

Moletadikgwa (pronounced Mo-let-a-deeg-wa), in the heart of the Waterberg, is at an altitude of 1400 metres above sea level. This wildlife sanctuary has 420 hectares of woodland, savannah, plains and cliffs – fascinating rock features being a characteristic of the geology here. The farm is ideally suited to mountain-biking. One formal route of about 10 kilometres has been laid out and marked on a map, but there are numerous other vehicle and game tracks that can be used...

(GPS coordinates: -24.103229, 28.387041)

Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

3 Jun 2015

Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve is one of Gauteng's premier ecotourism destinations. Set a short distance from Johannesburg and near the historical town of Heidelberg, this reserve boasts a representative sample of the fauna and flora of the Rocky Highveld Grassland biome. The reserve is popular amongst mountain-bikers and road-cyclists for its quiet roads and trails, beautiful scenery, brutally steep climbs and fast, twisting descents...

(GPS coordinates: -26.48106, 28.211818)

Richtersveld MTB Trail

Nightjar Travel

30 May 2015

This ancient mountain desert landscape brims with lava, porphyry and rocks more than two-billion years old. Volcanic ridges rear up along alluvial plains, making for extremely challenging riding. Once you adjust to the vastness of the land and the ferocious elements, the allure of the Richtersveld will surreptitiously weave its spell on you. The sandy gravel roads grinding through this land of wide horizons and stacked rock are sure to remain the domain of endurance mountain bikers, so be warned...

(GPS coordinates: -28.180943, 17.177896)

Mount Anderson MTB Trails

Nightjar Travel

28 May 2015

Mount Anderson Reserve offers some of the best single-track mountain-bike riding in South Africa, and it’s extremely popular with mountain-bike enthusiasts. With its rugged terrain and valleys with crystal-clear streams, the trails follow steep inclines, weaving up to alpine heights before winding down forested paths to the valleys below. Riding along dramatic quartzite escarpments and over rocky crescents, any mountain-biker is guaranteed a thrilling ride. Mount Anderson has world-class tracks for biking aficionados – from flowing and relatively easy to steep and very technical...

(GPS coordinates: -25.004864, 30.563611)

Olive Grove MTB Trai

Nightjar Travel

28 May 2015

This 7 000-hectare Karoo farm outside Beaufort West rates as a perfect mountain-biking escape, offering three route options suited to anyone from your stock-standard tarmac “trapper” to full-on fat-track superheroes. Most of the riding is along dual-track roads winding through the undulating and scrubby plains of the Karoo, with a handful of roughshod ascents, stony downhills and sandy river crossings. Expect some sand, although the overall surface is a well-packed combination of gravel, clay and stone...

(GPS coordinates: -32.507246, 22.582794)

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