Jonkershoek

Jonkershoek was the “Holy Grail” when it came to MTB in the Stellenbosch area. Unfortunately the catastrophic fire early in 2009 destroyed half of Jonkershoek - taking along several single tracks (most notably the, "Never Ending Story" is no more). Jonkershoek is mix of pine plantations and “nature reserve” under the unimaginative fist of Cape Nature (who closed the 2009 SA champs DH trail right after the event and has now destroyed the bottom section by forestry activity). Permits are obtained at the main gate next to the tea garden, which also rents out bikes.

There are no marked MTB routes in Jonkershoek, the start of the single tracks are however marked. This leaves getting to the single track up to the rider. I`m covering Jonkershoek in four trail guides that cover the following routes: “Southern Loop”, “Circle Route”, “Tadea Single-track”, “Canary Single-track”, “Lower Contour Path”, “Middle Contour Path”, “Upper Contour Path” and “Heartbreak Hill”. How you stitch the different routs together depends on how much effort you want to spend in getting to the top.

Circle Route:

The “Circle Route” is about 10km of gravel road and does not entail any substantial climbs. This is an easy route for the absolute beginner or getting your kids into MT-Biking. The route takes you into the reserve on the southern side of the “Eerste Rivier” and returns on the northern side. On the return just after you pass the dam the Tedea Single-track starts on your left hand side.

Tedea Single track:

This is not a long track and usually serves as a warm-up or cool-down section. The Trail is a combination of lose sand and rock gardens with tight turns – probably not for a beginner.

Upper Path:

The second part of this trail guide heads to the northern side of Jonkershoek. Turning north just beyond the main gate. After about a climb of 600m a jeep track to your left takes you in Stellenbosch`s direction and you soon reach the forestry road starting at the hidden gate. From here the climb starts, and the road turns back to Jonkershoek becoming the Lower Contour Path. Take the forestry road that turns off to your left for the next climb (Middle Contour Path). Just before the road flattens take another left onto the Upper path and more climbing. By now will notice that you are above the tree line and there is not much higher you can go. The road soon splits in two, the upper contour path to the left and the top road to your right (The top road takes you even higher and you can head to the neck that crosses over the mountain – last time I tried the jeep-track was un-rideable, but be my guest). We turn off left into the contour path which soon turns into a fast decent – Loads of fun….. The upper path joins with the Middle Contour Path and takes you deeper into Jonkershoek. This path also starts to descend and gives you a chance to reach quite high speeds….. The Middle contour path ends in a T-junction. To your left a decent to the Lower contour path and to jour right a grueling climb. This trail log takes you right up the steep climb. Three quarters of the way up a landslide will force you to carry your bike a couple of meters – but the worst is over. The accent gets less steep and the road forks again.  We go left and start another fast decent with lose rocks and anti erosion banks to keep you on your toes. At the cross road we turn right into the lower contour path towards the start of the Canary Single Track (Straight on you will ride down Heartbreak hill – a waste of all the effort you put into the climb)

Canary Single-Track:

This is unfortunately the only single track of substance left in Jonkershoek, It will take the accomplished rider about 20min to reach the bottom. The may be viewed in three sections (as divided by forestry roads). The top section has several rock-garden sections and a few tight switchbacks as you weave your way through the trees. The second section is more of the same, although the decent becomes slightly less steep. And the trail offers a few more opportunities to fine tune your bunny hopping skills over rocks and roots. The last section starts out in an open field with a combination of lose sand and rock gardens. Soon after entering the trees again the track becomes smooth and flowing.  This is a very worthwhile single track to ride. Most of my trail logs thus ends with it.