SANParks.org Forums

In response to your question - firstly, no, one cannot sleep overnight in the new Hoerikwaggo Trails' Tented Trail campsites without having a guide, or being part of the trail itself. But this in no way infers that it is exclusionary.

We do hope to open a trail "called the indoor clasic" that caters to your wishes in a year or two's time - once the tented trail from Cape Point to Cape Town is complete. Unfortunately - we are mere humans and have limited capacity to create well-built trails and overnight facilities, so sorry for the wait but good trails and good planning takes time. Time well invested.

This indoor trail (mentioned above) is intended to be non-portered and thus cheaper that the tented trail. However all the trails that involve overnighting on the mountain (in the TMNP) are guided. This again, is for good reason (to keep people safe, and the mountain safe from people..) while sleeping in the unique City Wilderness of Table Mountain.

You will be pleased to know that no new trails have been created, they are all sub-sets of existing trails that have been upgraded over the past three years. This work has been done by our poverty relief teams - people living in townships around TM and they have done a magnificent job of doing so.

Remember that there were over 1000 km's of paths and tracks on TM Chain, and that we have rationalised many of them, as they where created and left unchecked for some time prior to the Park starting it's EPWP Program three years ago. This contributed to erosion, people getting lost on the mountain and uncontrolled visitor management (which goes hand in hand with us trying to keep hikers safe)

So it's all about "softening the footprint of tourism" on our beloved mountain while doing the best to meet the needs of those who love and enjoy it. I like to say: "The fynbos and the fyn-mense. Equally important"

Lastly, the Hoerikwaggo Trails refers to a grouping of trails - not just one trail. It would be confusing to the end user if he/she did not know this. For more info, please visit our website www.hoerikwaggotrails.co.za

The mountain you used to walk on is still here, and looking better each day thanks to the people who are conserving it (SANaprks and the citizens of Cape Town alike) I hope you have time to come back sometime soon - and walk the pathways of your World Heritage site again.

All the best,

Stephen Lamb
Hoerikwaggo Trails Project Manager
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Take a hike in your park

Stephen! Welcome to the forums and thanks for responding You're definately best equipped to do so and we'll try our best to get you hooked

In all seriousness, I know how great you are at your job and how passionate and professional you are about it too...so thanks for sharing some of that online!

Dianne

Hi all

I would just like to say that I think the bungallows look marvellous.

Hi all

I echo Larks' thoughts. I am sure that this will be very successful attracting tourists as it is the ideal fynbos experience

I spotted the request for reports and photos about the Hoerikwaggo trails - an all-female group of us did the Silvermine - Table Mountain section in April 2007 and loved it. We thoroughly impressed the guides with our braai skills )

Photos and more detail here: (link edited to comply with forum guidelines. If you really want to read my report you can PM me, but suffice to say this is a trail well worth doing!)

We LOVED the 'tents' - more like cabins, so beautifully designed and so innovative - and could not rate our guides highly enough both for their knowledge and their personability.

This is a great set of trails and I'm looking forward to doing Slangkop to Silvermine next. It's wonderful to see the mountain paths so well looked after.