The Ground Cafe to Hartebeespoort around the dam and back

[EmileT]

Hi Everyone,

Me and a few of my mates are planning a 100km MTB ride from the ground cafe in Muldersdrift around Hartebeespoort dam and back. The estimated route that I got from Garmin suggested that this will be roughly 100km's, but unfortunately, with my limited knowledge and the common safety factors one needs to be 100% certain before embarking on such a journey.

 

Have any of you done a ride in recent months to and from harties and the cradle, and what routes did  you use?

Garmins suggested route link below

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/83099336

Thank you so much for you assistance in advance.

Emile

[Ozzie NL]

I'm familiar with the route you've got to and around the dam: It is pretty busy in terms of traffic but has a wide shoulder and I have no problem riding it.

The bit you have after the bridge across the dam on the way back I do not know but it looks interesting. Please post here if it worked out and what you thought of it.

[EmileT]

2 minutes ago, Ossie NL said:

I'm familiar with the route you've got to and around the dam: It is pretty busy in terms of traffic but has a wide shoulder and I have no problem riding it.

The bit you have after the bridge across the dam on the way back I do not know but it looks interesting. Please post here if it worked out and what you thought of it.

Will do!????

[geomark]

On 11/19/2021 at 12:52 PM, Ossie NL said:

I'm familiar with the route you've got to and around the dam: It is pretty busy in terms of traffic but has a wide shoulder and I have no problem riding it.

The bit you have after the bridge across the dam on the way back I do not know but it looks interesting. Please post here if it worked out and what you thought of it.

Following on from this the section from the R512 to the R3 is some public access gravel then a portion of van Galen's trails (concrete track climb) then hooking onto some private farm roads and not following the van Galen's trails. So unless have permission there it will be an issue but by following their trails can get to the R3 with minor route mod (but should pay van Galen for the pleasure).  

South of the R3 I suspect only a few km of gravel is public access and the rest pvt. Strava heat maps shows occasional riding in the  past https://www.strava.com/segments/13889137 but I would be dubious that the route is legally open.  If you look at more recent rides on the segment leaderboard posted will see other routing options and get an idea of frequency, how many of them are public access not sure though.  If you undertake the adventure will also be interested in how it turns out!

[WR 1.0]

There is this route that you could adjust to your liking:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/30174248

 

[Charity85]

On 11/19/2021 at 12:19 PM, EmileT said:

Hi Everyone,

Me and a few of my mates are planning a 100km MTB ride from the ground cafe in Muldersdrift around Hartebeespoort dam and back. The estimated route that I got from Garmin suggested that this will be roughly 100km's, but unfortunately, with my limited knowledge and the common safety factors one needs to be 100% certain before embarking on such a journey.

 

Have any of you done a ride in recent months to and from harties and the cradle, and what routes did  you use?

Garmins suggested route link below

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/83099336

Thank you so much for you assistance in advance.

Emile

Did you end up doing this ride? Do you mind sharing the route you ended up riding