All should be aware that Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife manages the park and most of it is a world heritage site. Some areas are declared wilderness. All this means that international treaties are in place and govern, to some extent, the activities that may take place there. Loss of world heritage status, for example, would be detrimental to local tourism businesses. At present very little MTB is permitted within park boundaries managed by Ezemvelo. As far as I know, only Mike's Pass and the old forestry jeeptracks are permitted. Some resorts and hotels have very tame short trails too. There is room for some development of mtb but please lets not have the massive over-utilisation and erosion caused by skiing, hiking and mtb in some parts of the world (dare I mention Morzine and surrounds?). I would be much in support of a responsible attitude to development and for this to be done in consultation with the authorities. From contacts I have, belive me that we are a hair's breadth from an outright ban on mtb in the park because many have pushed the boundaries and not stuck to permitted trails in the past. Please don't be the box that wrecks it for all of us. If you really must adventure in the mountains with your bike then Lesotho is far less regulated and has much more rideable terrain than the Little 'Berg region referred in this thread. One of those pilots mentioned has already trashed at least 1 chopper in the mountains and I have witnessed his approach to flying at altitude 1st hand. As a long time hiker, climber and mtb'er with extensive knowledge and experience of the Drakensberg I am happy to debate some of the issues mentioned here if they seem a bit controversial to you. Yes we would all like to see mtb access improved but understand that this environment is very sensitive and critically important to the water supply of KZN. There are many forces at play and access will have to be negotiated carefully to avoid a hardening of attitude by authorities who have limited budget for developing and monitoring a new activity. It is easier for them to just say no. Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
