Garden Route Unearthed

Great hiking trails at Goukamma Nature Reserve, Buffalo Bay

Goukamma Nature Reserve is a wonderful place to enjoy a hike in the Garden Route, as it has a number of different trails and a lot of diversity in the scenery, from fynbos to dune forests as well as coastal and river views and it is very easy to find (if you know where to look). Bryan and I decided to enjoy one of these hiking trails one glorious Sunday afternoon.

Take the Buffalo Bay turning off the N2 between Sedgefield and Knysna and after about 8kms, turn right. The turning only goes to Goukamma Nature Reserve. (It is before you reach the Wildside Parking area – more about this in another post!)

As your turn into the track, there is a boom gate (which is often open), and an entrance office where you need to sign in and pay your day visitor fees.

Goukamma Nature Reserve is part of Cape Nature, so if you have a Wild Card, day entrance is free, otherwise the charge is R60 per adult and R30 per child (at the time of writing – 2023).

Once you have signed in, there is parking a little further down the dirt track, next to the picnic and braai sites. There are 6 braai stands, so if you are a keen braai master, pack your charcoal and meat and cook up a storm after your hike.

Next to the braai stands and the picnic area, there are canoes for hire. So, if you prefer a paddle rather than a hike, why not hire a canoe and enjoy the Goukamma River by waterway instead.

Once you have parked your car, take a short stroll up the track past the picnic sites (and toilets on your right), until you find the punt!

Yes, you read it correctly, all the trails start on the other side of the Goukamma River, so there is a punt boat you have to travel in to cross the river. Consider it a little warm up for your hike.

Pulling the punt across the river is actually surprisingly quite strenuous and Bryan and I found that slow and steady pulls on the rope, were more efficient than rapid, frantic pulls. But see for yourselves which works best for you.

At this point, I would like to recommend that you make sure you have a small towel, or something to dry your feet with as you have to take off your shoes and wade into the water to get into the punt.

Just a suggestion, otherwise those hiking shoes might be a little uncomfortable quite quickly!

So, you have made it across the Goukamma River, You have blisters on your hands and you forgot your towel, so your feet are soggy in your shoes. Ready for that hike!

There are a variety of different trails, some are circular and some are linear. The linear ones end at Groenvlei Lake on the outskirts of Sedgefield.

We decided to do a circular route, which actually incorporated two trails, the Galjoen Trail and the Bush Pig Trail. In total, it was about 8.5kms

This trail incorporates some beautiful ocean views (especially if you decide to take the walk along the beach. We preferred to follow a no entry jeep track instead and were treated to some stunning coastal forest scenery, as well as views of the river and estuary.

There is a real diversity of flora to experience on this trail too, from the thickets of the milkwood and yellow-wood forest to the coastal fynbos found on the ridges.

Sadly, we didn’t come across any buck or other wildlife during our hike, but they are around and some hikers will be lucky enough to see some buck during their trail.

In terms of difficulty, I would describe the trail we did as easy to moderate. there were some inclines, but not too steep nor too long. The path is fairly well signposted too, so you shouldn’t get too lost!

This route can be hiked in either direction, but we decided to follow the Galjoen section along the coast first, then turned inland and took the Bush Pig Trail back over the dunes. This meant that our view coming over the dunes was towards the river and estuary,

In my opinion, this is the best direction to take this route, as otherwise you would not get to see river and estuary views as below. Just spectacular!

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