Jonkershoek Nature Reserve

5 Jean-Pierre Smit - 6 months ago

It is an absolutely lovely place with great hiking routes.
The waterfalls may not be the most impressive during the drier seasons, but it is still lush, beautiful and magical.
The staff at the gate and info desk were so friendly and extremely helpful.
I will most definitely be back.

5 Renier Z - 5 months ago

Great place to go mountain biking. They have amazing trails for a wide range of riders. Easy to very advanced.
A definite must if you are into mountain biking.
Above the great trails, the park is beautiful with amazing views. There is a shop with great coffee at the entrance, too, so after your hike or ride, you can sit on the benches and enjoy something hot whilst taking in the scenery.

5 Yolanda Ntungele - 5 months ago

My Team really Enjoyed this Hiking trail.. Althow it was a Long walk from the main gate to the actual hiking Trail, we walked 5km Before our hiking trail then we did 3.5 km hiking trails... started around 7:30am till 12pm. Total of 19km.. But It was a nice experience the Waterfalls were awesome definitely going it again

5 Malicia Lott - a month ago

Absolutely beautiful. Do not do the waterfall hike if you're not fit,as there is a few steep spots on the trail. The long walk is worth it.

4 Kyle Wright - a month ago

Paths are well maintained. Make sure you go early because there is a limit on parking on the inside. You can park by the gate but expect a very long jeep track walk to where the waterfalls start

2 Kobus van der Merwe - 4 months ago

10 April 2022 - Jonkershoek ‘Saaltjie’ hiking trail! It’s time I introduce a scoring system, as for the first time we’ve done a hike we think is not worth the effort. The problem with Jonkershoek is that its best parts, the waterfalls and panoramic views, are deep into the nature reserve. There are two parking areas; one at the gate and another that is only accessible by 4x4 based on comments on a Cape Town Hiking Facebook group. Were you to park at the gate, you are forced to hike a meh 5 km route before you even get to the start of the good trails. I’m sorry to say that you have to hike that same 5 kms back again.

If you have a 4x4 or know a hiking friend who does, consider yourself lucky. If, like us, you don’t and don’t want to risk damaging your car, I’m sorry to say you’ll have to hike quite far to reach the view this nature reserve is famous for. We opted for the Saaltjie trail (Afrikaans for small saddle), which is a 14 km trail in the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. The Panorama Trail via the 2nd waterfall, in comparison, is a 22 km trail, which we are probably not ready for yet. We definitely want to give Jonkershoek a second chance by exploring this trail in 2023.

We score the Jonkershoek Saaltjie trail as follows:
Overall Score: 4/10
Cost: R 50 per permit
Difficulty: 5/10 (some parts are steep)
Technical: No, but rather rocky at parts
Views: Yes
Pools and Waterfalls: No (this trail does not access either of the two waterfalls)
Crowds: Not as many hikers, some trail runners and quite a few mountain bikers.
Fun Stuff: A couple of benches and baboon encounters. Other than that, no.

The reason for the low score is the overall vibe of the hike. It spans across a rocky, sloped area that we think used to be forests and plantations. Unfortunately some of it seems to have burnt down at some point and the rest of the pine plantations have been harvested, leaving dead and charred wood and stumps behind. The overall vibe is that of a pine plantation graveyard. This part of the reserve needs time to heal and grow. There were some plantations at the end of the trail and some lovely parts as well, but they were sparse and far between. Unfortunately this, and the glorious views at the top of the trail, does not make up for the 12 or so kms of same-same sights.

This trail is more suited for mountain bikers who seek the thrill of an uphill and downhill ride. We followed the trail from the Alltrails app, which unfortunately took us up mountain biking paths. This is not safe for hikers, nor the mountain bikers racing down the hill.

I hope Cape Nature has plans on improving the road to the waterfalls. Based on the photos seen on the interwebs, this is a spectacular area so many more people could enjoy if they had easier access to it. We got a really good workout though!

5 Faheem Seedat - 8 months ago

Mystical place????, always come out feeling refreshed with renewed energy. The waterfall trails are amazing with lots of exploratory sensation. Truely magical????