Garden Route Trail Park Shutdown???

[JohanDiv]

Rob posted this last night on the Garden Route Trail Park facebook page:

 

"After further consideration we have had to take the decision to close the coffee shop and the pumptrack. The coffee machine will be moving down to the Shell Garage in Sedgefield .
All accommodation at the park will also remain closed. 
The future of the park as a whole is currently being considered, decisions in this regard will be communicated once things have been finalized.
Thanks for all the well wishes and support so far."

 

I really feel sad about this.

He also commented that donations aren't an option at this time.

Is there anything we as a cycling community can do to help these guys?

GRTP is by far the best trails I've ever ridden, it would be a real shame if this place can't survive!

[Eldron]

Noooooooooooo!

 

I have awesome memories from my Cape Bike Park Tour a few years ago with GRTP topping the list.

 

It would be a real shame if they closed down.

[Headshot]

That's a bit of a downer. I was looking forward to heading out that way later this year. I've been twice so I feel as if I've experienced it, but it is such a great place to take kids for a riding weekend and stay at the house on the hill. 

[Shebeen]

I'm guessing you're never going to get huge foot traffic there, just too far off the beaten track.

 

Then you get a fire cleaning out your trails and the sums look even worse.

 

 

not great news, but would be nice if more riders used it in the interim

[Amberdrake]

I was also trying to plan a way to get out there this year. It is a wonderful park and had great atmosphere. I really hope they recover and can restore it to its glory days!

[Bos]

Yes, PhillipV shared that with me yesterday as well. 

 

K@k news. The fires are really taking a toll the last 2 years. Those mountains are scorched.. The plant material in the soil has all been burnt and all that remains is sand and holes. Doesnt help that they had lots of rain afterwards and caused lots of erosion. 

 

Seeing it in person is devastating. The same as all the other amazing tracks we've lost in the Knysna area. I rode there since 1995, and those forrests will not recover in my lifetime. Really sad.The time Rob put into those trails cant be insured, and I can imagine right now, after putting so much into it, he's a bit over it.  

 

With regards to the business model, Knysna has a big off-season, and for the locals to keep the trailpark going is never viable. Yes, its also quite off the beaten track. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see this rising from the ashes. 

[Eddy Gordo]

Wss always on my list to do, and being dissapointed year in and out for 4 years I decided to load the bike and family in the van and off we went. Enjoyed it immensely a year ago. Stoked I had the opportunity.

Sad to hear its closed.

Are the trails completely unrideable?

[Dirt Tracker]

Noooooo. That is so sad. Such an amazing spot but they have had no luck in the last couple of years on that whole stretch. The fires that have gone through have been so vicious and most of the focus has been on the coastal bits close the Kysna and Plett. Now throw in the flooding and it's going to be a bad situation. 

 

Really hope there is a way to get it back to the good ol' days. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Dirt Tracker

[flymango]

Devastating news! Truly the best trails in SA, now destroyed by fire. So, so, sad.

 

If you haven't been there before, you wouldn't understand the magnitude of the potential loss.

 

Hoping it somehow manages to stay open in time ... please Rob!!

[Wayne pudding Mol]

I don't know for sure the reasons but will ask. The land is Robs and I don't think the trail park was ever about money, more about Rob's passion. The fires properly destroyed the forest you could ride through and to see it now would blow your mind. Barren and lunar. Maybe trails could be redone but trees take a lifetime. Any hope he had of clearing the fallen tress and making the trails useable was put to bed by massive rainfall we had not too long after the fires.

I can't speak for him but I know I would be distraught and over it after seeing my land and years of toil destroyed.

I will see if I can get some concrete info from him via a mutual friend

[Skylark]

Sad news, did all those wooden mega ramps also get burnt to the ground?

[JohanDiv]

Sad news, did all those wooden mega ramps also get burnt to the ground?

Some of it yes.. The Loop of Doom is now dead. I guess that will give Matt Macduff sleepless nights knowing he will now never have the chance to go back and conquer it after his failed attempt.

[bullet77]

Very sad. The most fun myself and many other riders have had in a day all gone. I really feel for Rob, he put so much into those trails and you could see he loved seeing people having a great time on the trails.

[Bos]

I don't know for sure the reasons but will ask. The land is Robs and I don't think the trail park was ever about money, more about Rob's passion. The fires properly destroyed the forest you could ride through and to see it now would blow your mind. Barren and lunar. Maybe trails could be redone but trees take a lifetime. Any hope he had of clearing the fallen tress and making the trails useable was put to bed by massive rainfall we had not too long after the fires.

I can't speak for him but I know I would be distraught and over it after seeing my land and years of toil destroyed.

I will see if I can get some concrete info from him via a mutual friend

 

That's it right there man.

Its never as much fun doing something the second time around.. and I would have to get over the "loss" first, before I could even think of a rebuild. So give him time. 

[bertusras]

Man that would be really sad, but I think we all would understand the reasons behind the decision.

[craig82]

I was super bummed to hear the news too, been riding there since the park opened.