Best trails to ride in Wellington, Paarl, etc, on a short visit

[Nuffy]

Hi all. I am going to be visiting Wellington for a wedding over the weekend of the 17th of January, then staying in Cape Town southern suburbs for a few days. I’m hoping to bring my bike and hit up a few trails. What’s worth checking out?

I’ve seen mention of the Wild Boar trails in Wellington (in this topic, among other places). I remember riding the Welvanpas trails years ago and loving those – are they still going?

I’m also thinking of checking out the downhill track at Spice Route. Is that open to the public, and are there other good trails there too?

I am mostly into enduro-type riding, so looking for trails that are steep and technical, but I enjoy a wide mix of stuff. My bike will be a 140/160 mm all-mountain/enduro rig. I am not afraid of a big climb or two, but am not super fit at the moment. 20 to 30 km with 500 to 1,000 m elevation or a bit more would probably be ideal, but I’ll take what I can get.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

[Paul Ruinaard]

Look at Paarl Trails and maybe some of the Rhebokskloof rides. Also Plasir will suit you and Banhoek. Lots of trails all over Paarl mountain. All you do is scan a QR code and then pay a day fee and ride. Try Jonkershoek as well. Bothe closer to Stellenbosch but lots of more technical trails.

 

[Nuffy]

Thank you, @Paul Ruinaard. paarltrails.com looks like an excellent resource. I’ll try to plan for a day on those trails. I’d love to do a Jonkershoek outing too, but that might depend on my other commitments.

Edited January 8 by Nuffy

[Robbie Stewart]

12 hours ago, Nuffy said:

I am mostly into enduro-type riding, so looking for trails that are steep and technical

Say no more. You only need to venture to Jonkershoek for the best Enduro type trails in Cape Town. 

You say you like steep and technical, so you should go ride Iron Monkey, Armageddon, DH, Red Pheonix, and maybe even Plumber if you're really into steep and big rocks. 

Closer to Paarl to the south of Spice Route is the Paarl DH line which is a fun line. It was recently revamped and apparently has some added spice. 

Trust me on this, you can skip all the rest around Paarl and the greater Drakenstein area. They pale in comparison.

[Nuffy]

Thanks, @Robbie Stewart. Sounds good! Although, I’ll need to be a little bit restrained – I’ll be riding my spare bike, and don’t have any riding companions lined up yet, so I don’t want to break myself. Anyone fancy joining me in Jonkershoek on the 19th, 20th, or 21st?!

[Robbie Stewart]

3 hours ago, Nuffy said:

Thanks, @Robbie Stewart. Sounds good! Although, I’ll need to be a little bit restrained – I’ll be riding my spare bike, and don’t have any riding companions lined up yet, so I don’t want to break myself. Anyone fancy joining me in Jonkershoek on the 19th, 20th, or 21st?!

You will be fine on all the lines except Plumber if you want to keep things mild. I may be able to whip together a group of fellow like-minded riders in your window. I will ask around and drop a DM.

Edited January 8 by Robbie Stewart
Clarity and context

[Robbie Stewart]

I just saw that the days you're able to ride are during the week which will make getting a crowd together near impossible. I'm starting work again on the 12th myself so I won't be available either. If you do ride Jonkers you can do it alone, just ride within your ability and don't go full blast.

[ALLMTB]

22 hours ago, Nuffy said:

Thanks, @Robbie Stewart. Sounds good! Although, I’ll need to be a little bit restrained – I’ll be riding my spare bike, and don’t have any riding companions lined up yet, so I don’t want to break myself. Anyone fancy joining me in Jonkershoek on the 19th, 20th, or 21st?!

Howzit, I'm on leave that week, I'll be glad to show you around Jonkershoek and Banhoek. I'll send you a DM. 

[Nuffy]

Big thank you to @Paul Ruinaard, @Robbie Stewart, and @jannosmit for your trail suggestions. Sorry I was only available during the week for Jonkershoek and @Robbie Stewart and your crew couldn’t join me.

I ended up having two lekker rides from Doolhof (where I was staying on the weekend) around the Wild Boar White Trail, I think, plus a bit of exploring some of the branches off there. I was hoping to ride Canetsfontein, but I couldn’t justify the R2,000 fee. I understand that they probably need a deterrent to keep trails like Cliffhanger from getting congested and causing pile-ups and rescue and recovery missions. Looking up at that mountain in person really brings home how dangerous it could be.

Then on Monday I rode Jonkershoek, hitting Armaggedon, Red Phoenix, and Iron Monkey. Huge thank you to @ALLMTB for showing me around! I had a bit of a look at some parts of Plumber. It looks proper! I’d like to give it a go someday, but when I’ve got more time to figure it out bit by bit.

I was glad I rode the Wellington trails first. They were great, and full credit to the trail builders, but there wasn’t anything technical, and I might have been disappointed if I was coming to them after having done Jonkershoek. I knew Jonkershoek would be good, but it exceeded my expectations. There’s plenty there that I’d like to come back to and work on.

If any of you fine people ever find yourselves in Harare, Zimbabwe, please do hit me up. I’d love to show you around some of our trails here.

[Robbie Stewart]

Glad you had a good time on the local trails @Nuffy. Thank you for the feedback. It would have been great to ride with you, maybe next time. Jonkershoek is a special trail indeed and you can really have so much fun on that mountain.