We finally hiked, or walked, the Kings Kloof Trail. It is only 30 minutes from our house, which is a massive plus, but also very telling that we haven’t been to this trail before. Some might call it being busy, other laziness. In our case it is probably a case of both!
At the end of May 2025 we have booked to do the 2-day bakpack hike called Oom Paul’s in Machadadorp. So, needless to say we were looking for some training trails to get the feel for the trail again and our hiking fitness up! The Kings Kloof Trails seemed like a good choice given the proximity and our general trail malaise!
Getting there and first impressions
I knew the general location of the Kings Kloof trail because I had done a quick look through their website, so I didn’t bother putting the location into google maps until we were close to the area, and I am happy to say that we probably did not have to use google maps because the signage is large and you couldn’t miss it if you tried. The parking area is expansive and secured, as you drive in it is clear that this is a well looked after venue.
We were welcomed by a very friendly ticket clerk who shares a kiosk with a coffee vendor. We were quickly assisted with our tickets at R50 a pop, received our wristbands and went on our merry way with the assumption we were dong the Blue Trail which is 12km, according to their signage at the ticket kiosk. Interestingly, we did not have to sign an indemnity.
The hike
The hike starts off with a gentle meander through fields with farm gates and cattle grids, it has an immediate sense of peace, even with the sounds of the sunday bikers on Hendrik Potgieter right along side us. The direction markers are clearly denoted by colour-coded arrows and at most of the markers you get a lovely motivational quote to spark conversation and good vibes.
The walk through the the dark and eerie wattle tree forest conjures up Blair Witch, but thankfully we did not meet her out there! At this stage it has been mostly flat, but you then start to feel the incline as you head into the open towards the Witwaterand ridgeline. It was not s steep incline, the trail takes a gentle approach as it meanders upwards, and before we new it we were headed downhill again towards the trail split and the Waterfalls.
Decisions and sweatpants
Due to a sports injury the day before we decided to take the Yellow Trail split just before the first waterfall. The knees were not coping with the trail, even the gentle meander, so the yellow markers looked the safest bet. The first ‘waterfall’ is a large weir along the river which you cross using a metal bridge. We then headed towards the main waterfall which is very impressive. A little less impressive was the pair of sweatpants on display at the waterfall, not sure what happened for the wearer to lose their pants, but there they were!
From there it is an approximate 1km walk back to the main parking and ticket area. We enjoyed a ‘beige’ cappuchino and a lovely breakfast roll, sans pork, before heading on our merry way.
Let’s do it again
It was a very relaxed hike with lots of hikers and a trio of cyclists out on trail with us. It was 99% clean, but we did note that some of the hikers on the trail that morning were stopping to pee along the way and leaving their little white flags out there. Not a great look, but it is a definite kyk-weer to check out the longer trails they have on offer in the future.
Link to Kings Kloof Trails website.
