Want to enjoy the rugged grandeur of the Cederberg, but aren't up to traipsing through the peaks with a backpack on? January saw the launch of the Cederberg Heritage Route, a collection of three community-based portered walking trails in the Cederberg mountains of the Western Cape, ranging from three to five nights.

The majestic Cederberg mountains are only two hours drive north from Cape Town. The 100km long mountain range rises above vineyards and citrus groves and is a gigantic mass of sandstone, richly coloured by iron oxides. The Cederberg is also famous for its unique rock formations as well as for fine examples of San (Bushmen) rock paintings and spectacular wild flowers in spring (August to early September). Most of the Cederberg is a designated reserve and thus remains an almost undisturbed wilderness areas of South Africa.

Historically this wilderness status meant walkers had to choose between taking day walks into the mountains, restricting them to more accessible shorter walks, or taking a pack and camping out in the forestry huts. However the hiking trails of the Cederberg Heritage Route now make this beautiful area accessible to walkers via the use of charming community guest cottages in the Moravian Mission villages of Heuningvlei, Brugkraal and Wupperthal on the eastern side of the Cederberg Wilderness area and guesthouses in or near Clanwilliam on the western side. Thus walkers can explore some of the classic walks of the northern Cederberg; Heuningvlei, Krakadouw peak and Boontjieskloof in comfort and safety.

The trails are fully inclusive: guests stay at comfortable community guesthouses in the picturesque Moravian mission villages, guided by local community guides with their overnight luggage taken to their next night’s stay.

The Cederberg Heritage Route is a not-for-profit association set up to market the trails and is supported by Cedarberg African Travel who arrange the walking trails, Cape Nature Conservation, the Moravian Mission villages and the Living Landscape Project which focuses on rock art walks in the region. The revenue from these walking trails is directly helping the local community.

The Trails

Most of the hiking/walking on the Cederberg Heritage Route Trails is not difficult and is suitable for regular walkers or people with a reasonable level of fitness. However, some optional hikes are more arduous to give keen walkers more of a challenge.

The three night trail is ideal for a long weekend in the mountains. You arrive in the late afternoon in Clanwilliam where you settle in. The following morning you enjoy a 2-3 hour guided rock art walk to a couple of the rock art sites. After a picnic lunch you are transferred to the top of the Pakhuis Pass where you meet the Heuningvlei donkey carts. You can choose to walk along the jeep track to Heuningvlei or take the exhilarating donkey cart ride. The following day you enjoy a magnificent scenic walk up and over the Krakadouw pass and into the Boskloof valley (five to six hours) where you stay overnight ready to depart the following morning.

The four night trail has a greater focus on walking with 3½ days spent on the trail. You arrive before lunch on the first day and enjoy a guided rock art walk in the afternoon. The following morning you walk (or take the donkey cart) to Heuningvlei and continue to the remote hamlet of Brugkraal. The next day you enjoy a full day’s walking up to Boontjieskloof, in the heart of the Cederberg Wilderness Area, and then down to Heuningvlei with swimming in the rock-pools to cool down. The final walking day is over the Krakadouw pass down to the beautiful Boskloof valley for your final overnight stay.

The five night trail differs from the other two trails in that it offers an optional hike up Krakadouw peak, the highest mountain in the northern Cederberg, as well as walking all the way to Wupperthal, the picturesque mission village founded in the early 19th century, via the hamlets of Heuningvlei and Brugkraal. On the final day you walk the Sevilla Rock Art trail, a three hour trail visiting nine separate rock art sites, en route back to Clanwilliam.