Hiking in South Africa
There's no better way to experience South Africa's wild places than with your boots on and your feet on the ground, one in front of the other, taking in the country's fantastically scenic hiking trails. Here are some highlights.
The Otter Trail along the Tsitsikamma coast is probably the most popular hike in the country. Lush forests, rugged shorelines, mountain streams and waterfalls and fragrant fynbos make this a special one. It's strenuous, with lots of ups and downs, but the distances aren't too great.
If you want the scenery and walking with less slog and more luxury, try the Dolphin Trail. It traverses similar terrain to the Otter - joining up with it in places - but instead of hiking huts you stay in fully catered guest houses with great views and good food. Your pack is transported to your next overnight spot by vehicle, and you carry only a day pack with lunch, water, camera and swimsuit.
The Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape offers similar trails but dramatically different scenery: miles of deserted beaches, wave-lashed rocks and occasional tropical forest.
Accommodation is in coastal hotels instead of huts. The usual is to carry your pack, but you can arrange to have it driven around, if you plan ahead.
Purists can tackle the Wild Coast rough as they like. There are miles and miles of unspoiled hiking trail traversing high mountains, deserts and forests, where the accommodation is the usual hiking hut, and the cuisine whatever you decided to carry.
For an even wilder experience, you can hike for days in the Cedarberg, near Cape Town, or the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal, without seeing a hut or a route marker. These are designated wilderness areas, and you simply take a map and a permit and set off, sleeping under the stars or in convenient caves.
There are many others, some of which are on private land. You can get a reasonable idea of what's available from the Footprint Hiking Club.
Of course, the most important aspect of a hiking trail is that you don't constantly bump into other people. And the only way to ensure that is to limit numbers, so that means you have to book.
Hiking in South Africa
Active Escapes is a leading authority on Wild Coast Hiking. From traditional backpacking trails to fully supported 'slackpacking' holidays; the entire Wild Coast can be hiked, with accommodation ranging from luxury hotels to tented camps or village based homestays. They also offer fully guided and supported hiking trails in the Drakensberg, Eastern Cape Highlands and KZN Midlands, as well as more challenging Drakensberg hikes with a registered mountain guide.
Adventure Dynamics specialise in organising mountain and trekking logistics and guided mountaineering expeditions worldwide. They also offer team building through Peak Teams.
Berg Free is run by Dave Sclanders, a registered mountain guide. He offers hikes in the beautiful Drakensberg, ranging from one day in length up to five days. Descriptions of a wide variety hikes are provided, along with extensive safety information, photos, and feedback from hikers.
The Boksburg Hiking Club meets on the first Wednesday of every month. They organise trails and a hiking programme is available on the club's website. To see what it's all about, take a look at the club's photo section too.
Cape Nature provides information on numerous outdoor activities, including hiking - from one day to multi-day trips in the province's many nature reserves. Other offerings include mountain biking, kloofing, canoeing, kayaking, fly-fishing and horse trails, among others.
EveryTrail in South Africa features a list of trails, which are described and rated by users. Google maps are included which show useful features like elevation and satellite shows. Photos are included and a list of similar trips is also provided.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife oversees game parks in KwaZulu-Natal, from the coast to the Drakensberg Mountains. They have a section on hiking, which includes a weekly hiking report, links to weather reports, safety information, tips, and vital information. Some links to hiking operators are also provided.
The Footprint Hiking Club offers pictorial reports on various trails, as well as written reports. A hiking calendar is included, as well as advice on hiking equipment, hiking with children, and how to start hiking. The club's mission statement is "to offer members the opportunity to enrich their lives by partaking in environmental and socially related activities offered by the club while taking an active and responsible stance in the preservation of the environment".
High Adventure is a mountain guiding and training company based in Cape Town. They offer guiding services that cover the Cape Peninsula mountain chain and other Cape mountain rangers, as well as all the the significent ranges and climbing areas in other parts of South Africa and Namibia. Their guided activities include mountain walking through to rock climbing and accomodate all levels of ability and experience.
Hike Cape Town - is a comprehensive site that focuses on day hikes in the Cape Peninsula. There is also information on guided walks and trail running. Walks are graded according to difficulty, and a good description is given of each one. Time and distance is included.
Info Hub has a list of hiking and trekking tours. Each of the tours includes comprehensive information on the itinerary and links to tour operators are supplied.
Johannesburg Hiking Club - Organises hikes and hiking-related events, and fosters a sense of responsibility towards the environment. Meet like-minded outdoor and conservation-orientated people who wear heavy boots and smell like the mountain air. The club offers youthful, midweek and Sunday hikes, backpacks, base camp weekends, slide shows, club evenings and social events.
Linx Africa - Trails in Southern Africa is a useful resource which, region by region, allows one to click on specific areas in each province and find out more about the hiking trails in those areas, including the type of trail, the closest town, a description, and contact details.
The Mazda Adventure Zone provides information on a wide variety of outdoor adventure activities, including hiking. A clickable map of South Africa allows one to specify a province and then select a town. A description of the town and its surrounds is provided, as well as a section on what to do there.
Mountain Club of South Africa - Hiking is one of the MCSA's main activities, with the club's different sections organising hikes ranging from short day walks in kloofs to multi-day traverses across remote mountain areas.
Namaqualand.com has a section on hiking. A number of trails are suggested. The website also provides information on other adventure activities, such as biking and canoeing. Namaqualand is famous for its spectacular Spring flowers, which carpet the region in a rainbow of colour.
Peak High Mountaineering offers trekking, rock-climbing, ice-climbing, and Mountain Development Trust Courses in mountaineering, trekking and abseiling. Equipment is also available for hire. Mountain biking is another option, as well as mountaineering on Mount Kenya. A nice photo gallery is included.
Ridgways Ramblers offer guided tours and operate out of Cape Town. They cater to all levels of hikers, including individuals, families and schools. Table Mountain is a favourite venue, but the hikes go further afield too, including at Kirstenbosch, the Lions Head, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve, Kogelberg Nature Reserve, and the Three Sisters.
RockSport Mountain & Outdoor is based in Sedgefield on the beautiful Garden Route. They offer rock climbing, hiking, backpacking information and equipment. Descriptions of climbing routes around South Africa are also presented, as is info on hiking routes in the Eastern Cape.
SA National Parks manages a system of parks which represents the indigenous fauna, flora, landscapes and associated cultural heritage of South Africa. Click on the links to Game Parks run by SA National Parks to find out more about hiking opportunities inside of them.
South African Hiking Trails has information on more than 300 trails. Useful details such as duration, layout, difficulty, distance, and a good description of the trails are provided. A list of popular trails is also provided.
Take-a-Hike specialises in guided trails around Cape Town. They include "Table Mountain: Constantia Corner Trail", "Cape Point: Shipwreck and Sirkelsvlei Trail", and "Hout Bay: Manganese Mine and Blackburn Ravine Trail". Galleries of the three trails show what is on offer.
Venture Forth International is based in Cape Town and incorporates the Cape Town School of Mountaineering. It's a specialised mountain guide service and an accredited mountaineering school. They offer guided treks and hikes in the the Cedarberg, Swartberg, and Drakensberg mountains, as well as on Table Mountain. Rock climbing and kloofing are also undertaken, while expeditions to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina are also offered.
Wikitravel - Hiking in South Africa features a list of trails with contact e-mail addresses and phone numbers for them.
Last updated: May 2009
SAinfo reporter
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