Top MTB Trails in SA

[Ozzie NL]

Regte manne ride the woes trails ... if you know, you know

[Andrew Buckley]

7 hours ago, Eddy Gordo said:

The only top trails in Cape Town is Jonkers and Helderberg

Banhoek/Boschendaal/Plaisir are excellent.  Bottelary also great.

[PhilipV]

Een man se lelik is 'n ander man se vrou. 

There are some real gems that didn't feature, but that suits me, as I don't share that well. 

[Headshot]

If you want to see what the real top trails are, go to trailforks and check the South Africa page. Based on rider numbers and trail ratings I believe. 

 

https://www.trailforks.com/region/south-africa/?activitytype=1&z=4.0&lat=-31.00468&lon=32.38236

Edited May 22, 2023 by Headshot

[OVERDRIVE]

On 5/19/2023 at 1:49 PM, Sandro said:

They lost me at Northern Farms being the best trail in Gauteng.

Which soul was brave enought to say this? 

On 5/18/2023 at 7:47 PM, MORNE said:

Riding jonkers after not doing it for a while is almost what some ppl would describe as a religious experience. 
There is just something about that place, the mountains, the quiet, the views, the exposure on some of the trails. It makes you feel….small, but also calm and most importantly….100% in the moment. I almost like that I can only go there once in a while. It makes it even more of an experience.

 

On 5/19/2023 at 11:01 AM, PregoRoll said:

Sheesh, you ous never been around the Cradle or something?

🤣

[ajnkzn]

On 5/18/2023 at 3:53 PM, lechatnoir said:

de gustibus non disputandum est

if the thing cannot be empirically measured, the thing can't be better than another thing

Which is why any sport that relies on judging (rather than time, distance, weight etc) is not a sport but rather a fun activity. 
 

 

[MORNE]

“There are only 3 sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering. The rest are merely games” - Ernest Hemingway 

that metric puts mountain biking pretty high up the list😁

Edited May 23, 2023 by MORNE

[MilkManMike]

Living in the Western Cape, especially the winelands, can make one very biased. There is probably no where else in the country with the sheer volume and variety of trails on offer as this region, and especially if you consider how much of it is public access trails, or can be accessed on a single membership, and can be linked together into one ride, especially if long marathon type rides are your thing.
 

But as someone who rides Stellenbosch/Jonkers/Banhoek/Idas valley etc at least twice a week, I fully agree with this article. Karkloof is absolutely the best trail park/network in the country, hands down. Very little local riding gets me as excited as planning a visit to Karkloof, and then throwing in some laps at Cascades for good measure.

I still love Jonkers, and I think from a sense of place perspective, it, and the rest of the trials networks around it, are second to none, but pure riding bliss, Karkloof is the daddy. 
 

Northern Farsm as the best in Gauteng though, I really dont know how anyone who actually mountain bikes can come to that conclusion. Basically all the Pretoria east trail networks own it hands down, in terms of both riding, as well as trail head facilities and gees.

Edited May 23, 2023 by MilkManMike

[El Duderino]

1 hour ago, MilkManMike said:

Living in the Western Cape, especially the winelands, can make one very biased. There is probably no where else in the country with the sheer volume and variety of trails on offer as this region, and especially if you consider how much of it is public access trails, or can be accessed on a single membership, and can be linked together into one ride, especially if long marathon type rides are your thing.
 

But as someone who rides Stellenbosch/Jonkers/Banhoek/Idas valley etc at least twice a week, I fully agree with this article. Karkloof is absolutely the best trail park/network in the country, hands down. Very little local riding gets me as excited as planning a visit to Karkloof, and then throwing in some laps at Cascades for good measure.

I still love Jonkers, and I think from a sense of place perspective, it, and the rest of the trials networks around it, are second to none, but pure riding bliss, Karkloof is the daddy. 
 

Northern Farsm as the best in Gauteng though, I really dont know how anyone who actually mountain bikes can come to that conclusion. Basically all the Pretoria east trail networks own it hands down, in terms of both riding, as well as trail head facilities and gets.

Absolutely 💯 agree. Karkloof is awesome. And people who think its just smooth, manicured singletrack, need to visit there and ride Batchelors, Sisonke, Keira's, Sid Vicious or Skyfall and many others and then come chat. Not to mention Howick trails that are all part of the same network. 

I'm glad you mentioned Cascades, because I've found nothing in the Wes Kaap that can compare to the arse-puckering steepness that you get at Cascades. Cascades is probably the steepest, most technically demanding trails I've ever seen. Awesome place. 

But, yeah, overall it's hard to beat the Winelands for variety, volume and overall experience. We are spoilt in the Wes Kaap!

 

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by El Duderino

[MilkManMike]

34 minutes ago, El Duderino said:

Absolutely 💯 agree. Karkloof is awesome. And people who think its just smooth, manicured singletrack, need to visit there and ride Batchelors, Sisonke, Keira's, Sid Vicious or Skyfall and many others and then come chat. Not to mention Howick trails that are all part of the same network. 

I'm glad you mentioned Cascades, because I've found nothing in the Wes Kaap that can compare to the arse-puckering steepness that you get at Cascades. Cascades is probably the steepest, most technically demanding trails I've ever seen. Awesome place. 

But, yeah, overall it's hard to beat the Winelands for variety, volume and overall experience. We are spoilt in the Wes Kaap!

 

 

Ja no, there's a reason GM is as good as he is. Cascades was were he learnt to ride, and like you say, proper arse puckering steepness, especially after a bit of rain - of which that part of the world has no shortage.

Edited May 23, 2023 by MilkManMike

[El Duderino]

8 minutes ago, MilkManMike said:

Ja no, there's a reason GM is as good as it is. Cascades was were he learnt to ride, and like you say, proper arse puckering steepness, especially after a bit of rain - of which that part of the world has no shortage.

Yep, Cascades is Greg Minnaar's playground...the PMB trails are where the GOAT 🐐  learned his craft. 

Edited May 23, 2023 by El Duderino

[Headshot]

There is no doubt that KK is rather amazing in terms of volume - 500km of trails - and the way they've been built. Videos look awesome.  https://www.trailforks.com/region/karkloof-country-club/?activitytype=1&z=10.3&lat=-29.40746&lon=30.28375

Every riding area has to be seen in terms of its geography and status ( nature reserve or commercial) and there is no doubt that the lower reaches of the Berg are not as rocky and sandy as the Cape Mountains, in general.

The clay soil makes trail building much easier and  you're basically riding degraded plantation land, not nature reserve or national park, making it much easier to build wherever you want as long as the plantation buys into it. That's why the plantation area of JH has way more trails than Tokai, which is all national park. The Sappi plantation at KK is also massive, far bigger then MTO Jonkers

I just wish KK was easier to get to...I will have to plan a monster road trip holiday to get up there some time.

* It would help if KK got on board with Trailforks and got some proper trail descriptions written. (to see what they should look like see TokaiMTB's trail descriptions.

* Interesting fact - Tygerberg trails have the highest usage in the country at over 40000 check ins p/a with Tokai a close second also in the 40k check ins per year. 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Headshot

[MilkManMike]

2 hours ago, Headshot said:

There is no doubt that KK is rather amazing in terms of volume - 500km of trails - and the way they've been built. Videos look awesome.  https://www.trailforks.com/region/karkloof-country-club/?activitytype=1&z=10.3&lat=-29.40746&lon=30.28375

Every riding area has to be seen in terms of its geography and status ( nature reserve or commercial) and there is no doubt that the lower reaches of the Berg are not as rocky and sandy as the Cape Mountains, in general.

The clay soil makes trail building much easier and  you're basically riding degraded plantation land, not nature reserve or national park, making it much easier to build wherever you want as long as the plantation buys into it. That's why the plantation area of JH has way more trails than Tokai, which is all national park. The Sappi plantation at KK is also massive, far bigger then MTO Jonkers

I just wish KK was easier to get to...I will have to plan a monster road trip holiday to get up there some time.

Very well worth it in my opinion, and a great way to escape the *** midwinter weather in the cape.

Last year this time we did an awesome road trip. Flew from Cape Town to JHB, got picked up at the airport and straight to Pretoria. That afternoon we spent hitting the trails at Wolwespruit, loads of fun, but limited - but its essentially a inner city trail park, with proper trails, so cool in that sense.

Next morning we did a 2 hour ride at Rosemary Hill - very fun, but very pedally/flat, so not really suited to gravity types. Awesome brunch and atmoshphere after at the trail head. Very cool set up all around.

Then we spent the afternoon driving down to the midlands, and spent a few nights at Notingham Road Hotel, enjoyed some craft beer from Notingham brewery, and spend the evenings tell war stories around the kagel. Using Notties as a base, we rode Cascades and Karkloof (morning session at cascades, afternoon at Karkloof and then the next day, a full day on the Karkloof trails). The next day, we did a morning shuttle assisted ride at Giba Gorge and then when on to Ballito. Next day we spent the whole day at Holla Trails, with local guys showing us around again, and then flew back to Cape Town the next morning from Durban.

The road trip was epic, But next time, I would skip Giba Gorge, and rather do another half day riding at Karkloof.

Planning to do this again in August.

Edited May 23, 2023 by MilkManMike

[remfactor]

https://goo.gl/maps/CV6fsiVS8bGEvrXn7

These trails are unfortunately (or not) not very well known but they are certainly worth a try if you are in the area. (Probably more for the intermediate to advanced rider)