Tokai MTB Trails are (mostly) Open

[DieselnDust]

29 minutes ago, Captain Fastbastard Mayhem said:

LOL. It's been put forward so many times, even in the old, original Tokai plan back in (I think) 2012 / 2013

 

Agreed though that this presents a far better opportunity than any in the past, though. 

Try 2005, but back then there were trees and we had lots of down trails to play with so no one tripped over each other. 

[DJR]

17 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

Try 2005, but back then there were trees and we had lots of down trails to play with so no one tripped over each other. 

Were far fewer cyclists also

[marko35s]

The Lizard trail is now open again, it's a little soft in places (lots of new soil in some spots) but should be okay after a few wheels have been down there.

Not too much in the way of changes other than a little extra rock lining near the entrance in an area that was suffering a lot of water damage, a slight change to the first corner (slackened out a bit to allow for a bit more speed to be carried) and the mid trail step down is now made of rock because the log that was there previously burned.

Also the exit track alongside the road kind of peters out about halfway down so watch out for that.

Next on the to do list are Fairy Garden (find all the bits of bridge still missing and rebuild and then sort out the top exit) and DH1 (a lot of water damage on here, should be ready in the next two weeks if nothing goes horribly wrong).

Edited July 21, 2025 by marko35s

[Shebeen]

On 7/4/2025 at 10:28 AM, marko35s said:

That's going to be quite a while I would guess, if ever. That jeep track is absolutely toast in large areas - over time we hope to add by pass sections to all the worst parts but it's going to be a longer term project.

From trail running on the silvermine east section, there's a section of jeeptrack that also become a river. There is a section where the road just disappears into a hole, so hazard tape for now! Can see that the basic prep work has started on sorting this out, but looks like only remedial stuff till summer when they can properly fix it.

overall, the wapad, silvermine loop and tokai forest all require some decent roadworks to actually get them fixed and winter proofed. I doubt there is funds or plans for this so we will just see bandaids until it gets destroyed.

 

[PappaWatTrap]

Hi Everyone,

Haven't cycled in Cape Town in a while,

Is the following rout still possible, and what is safety like these days?

[capediver]

6 hours ago, PappaWatTrap said:

Hi Everyone,

Haven't cycled in Cape Town in a while,

Is the following rout still possible, and what is safety like these days?

Didn't I see this in another thread...answered there...but basically, yip, should be good...just Rhodes Memorial area..be vigilant...if by safety, this is what you meant...the other safety....well keep off the tar as much as possible!

Edited July 24, 2025 by capediver
spelling

[marko35s]

On 7/23/2025 at 1:22 PM, Shebeen said:

From trail running on the silvermine east section, there's a section of jeeptrack that also become a river. There is a section where the road just disappears into a hole, so hazard tape for now! Can see that the basic prep work has started on sorting this out, but looks like only remedial stuff till summer when they can properly fix it.

overall, the wapad, silvermine loop and tokai forest all require some decent roadworks to actually get them fixed and winter proofed. I doubt there is funds or plans for this so we will just see bandaids until it gets destroyed.

 

Local management appear to have been able to chase up some emergency budget for road repairs this year with more to follow next year, whether this makes much difference remains to be seen.

[marko35s]

Fairy Garden is finally open, bridge has been replaced and the upper exit has been repaired.

Most of the trail remains 'as is' but watch out for one or two wet patches. One or two spots do need trimming and the steep corner needs a little work and these will be attended to in the next few weeks.

[Shebeen]

from a trailrunning group:

(my comment)This is what happens when you have no one maintaining roads...

 

 

Dear Park Users, 

After the fire in April and the recent heavy rains, soil erosion has severely impacted Upper Tokai and other areas within the Central section of Table Mountain National Park. As a result, some jeep and horse trails are damaged, which primarily affects horse riders and cycling groups.

 The area remains in need of attention, and a proper assessment will be conducted by the Technical Department to determine the best way forward. The affected areas include Upper Tokai, Level One and Two, the Arboretum, and the Tokai picnic bridge. 

We are currently in the rainy season, and we anticipate that additional damage may occur. In response, our teams will intensify their efforts to prevent further erosion while maintaining the integrity of existing structures. 

 

[marko35s]

On 8/1/2025 at 11:16 AM, Shebeen said:

from a trailrunning group:

(my comment)This is what happens when you have no one maintaining roads...

 

 

Dear Park Users, 

After the fire in April and the recent heavy rains, soil erosion has severely impacted Upper Tokai and other areas within the Central section of Table Mountain National Park. As a result, some jeep and horse trails are damaged, which primarily affects horse riders and cycling groups.

 The area remains in need of attention, and a proper assessment will be conducted by the Technical Department to determine the best way forward. The affected areas include Upper Tokai, Level One and Two, the Arboretum, and the Tokai picnic bridge. 

We are currently in the rainy season, and we anticipate that additional damage may occur. In response, our teams will intensify their efforts to prevent further erosion while maintaining the integrity of existing structures. 

 

Fortunately for us that is on the side used primarily by the horse riders, if you thought the roads our side were bad they have real issues. The best part is we get told by botanists that our trails ruin the area, and yet they will ignore the state of the roads they have to drive up and damage in these pictures.

[Baracuda]

1 hour ago, marko35s said:

Fortunately for us that is on the side used primarily by the horse riders, if you thought the roads our side were bad they have real issues. The best part is we get told by botanists that our trails ruin the area, and yet they will ignore the state of the roads they have to drive up and damage in these pictures.

Please ask "the botanists" to review the available peer-reviewed literature on the subject e.g. 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19864052/

There is no evidence that mtb single track has higher impact than hiking trails, and it generally has far less impact than horse trails and jeep track. The impact of horse hooves breaking up soil and then the seeds introduced through their manure have far higher impact. Regarding jeep track, one can see the sheer impact of it after these rains. 

Very few of the mtb trails in Tokai have turned into erosion gullies or have been washed out during the recent storms. 

[DJR]

1 hour ago, marko35s said:

Fortunately for us that is on the side used primarily by the horse riders, if you thought the roads our side were bad they have real issues. The best part is we get told by botanists that our trails ruin the area, and yet they will ignore the state of the roads they have to drive up and damage in these pictures.

Situational blindness - it is an epidemic! 

[splat]

On 8/1/2025 at 11:16 AM, Shebeen said:

from a trailrunning group:

(my comment)This is what happens when you have no one maintaining roads...

 

 

Dear Park Users, 

After the fire in April and the recent heavy rains, soil erosion has severely impacted Upper Tokai and other areas within the Central section of Table Mountain National Park. As a result, some jeep and horse trails are damaged, which primarily affects horse riders and cycling groups.

 The area remains in need of attention, and a proper assessment will be conducted by the Technical Department to determine the best way forward. The affected areas include Upper Tokai, Level One and Two, the Arboretum, and the Tokai picnic bridge. 

We are currently in the rainy season, and we anticipate that additional damage may occur. In response, our teams will intensify their efforts to prevent further erosion while maintaining the integrity of existing structures. 

 

I am struggling to place that.
Where in Tokai is that ?

Does this mean that its closed again ?

[Baracuda]

2 hours ago, splat said:

I am struggling to place that.
Where in Tokai is that ?

Does this mean that its closed again ?

It is in the area directly up the hill from the Arboretum, reserved for hikers and horses :). 

[marko35s]

The AM Trail was re-opened this afternoon.

Entry is as per usual via the DH1 entry which has had a bit of a spruce up (DH1 still closed from the split with AM).

The top section (the shared part with DH1) and just after the split are a little loose but will compact with use. The trail has been cleaned up and vegetation cut back and one or two of the features have been repaired and now you get a bonus stream crossing. The area after the stream crossing has had some additional rock lining and the exit has had quite a bit of repair work but is still pretty intimidating.

Oh and those pesky bees have finally left the area.

 

Edited August 18, 2025 by marko35s
Added photo

[Jono]

38 minutes ago, marko35s said:

The AM Trail was re-opened this afternoon.

Entry is as per usual via the DH1 entry which has had a bit of a spruce up (DH1 still closed from the split with AM).

The top section (the shared part with DH1) and just after the split are a little loose but will compact with use. The trail has been cleaned up and vegetation cut back and one or two of the features have been repaired and now you get a bonus stream crossing. The area after the stream crossing has had some additional rock lining and the exit has had quite a bit of repair work but is still pretty intimidating.

Oh and those pesky bees have finally left the area.

 

That's great news! Will give it a go tomorrow.

I assume the bees moved out during the fire?  

Cobra next please 🙏