Coetzenburg Botmans Peak trail

TThis is one of the hidden gems when it comes to unmanaged trails ( unmanaged = the trail is not marked and you ride free of charge).

A good place to start is at the Engin Garage on the R44 at Paradys kloof. You then have a short section of tarred road to get to the Eden Plantation. From here you head into forest roads and end in a single track ( with tricky rock garden sections) heading along the contour of the western side of Stellenbosch mountain. The single track disappears as you head down to Coetzenburg over lose stones. Half way down the trail heads right through a dip and out on the other side - again this is quite a tricky section. once out on the other side you head into another single track and exit the mountain at the "Hang Brug".

From here it is up Botmans peak. This is an extremely tiring climb on forestry roads. On top you have an unparalleled view over Stellenbosch and it`s surrounds all the way to Table mountain. Going down Botmans peak there is a single track hidden about halfway down - make sure you don’t miss it.

Heading back you pass the “Hang Brug” again and cycle the fire roads behind Coetzenurg. From there its tarred road back to where your car is (if you want to avoid unnecessary tar roads you can head back up to the contour path and cycle back the way you started)