Hi Wednesday Walkers! I’m new to this community but I absolutely love walking (and hiking) so I thought I’d share the little 1 hour walk that my husband and I took through Newlands Forest, about 30 minutes from our home.
We slept a little later and decided to take a walk in the forest. It’s been quite hot the last few weeks and we were keen to hike in the shade of the tall pine and gum trees.
We started from the lower path and immediately took a left up the jeep track headed towards Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens. Soon we decided to leave the jeep track and headed up the slopes towards the Wood Cutters path.
Refreshed! We headed on through the beautiful dappled light of the forest. The trees blocked most of the hot sun light and kept us cool.
We left the dense bushy trees and entered the plantation of gum trees. These gums are an invasive species that are not indigenous but originate from Australia. Now you’ll find blue and red gums all over South Africa.
The path began to wind down the slope gently along the contour towards the opposite side of the forest. Now we were heading for the Newlands river and were in search of the path back down towards the car park.
The single track path got slightly more complicated when we got to some fallen trees that had continued to grow over the path in quite a dramatic fashion.
The last section took us along a ridge with the Newlands river on our right, down below. We passed kids playing in the river and a mom watching over them.
We had such a lovely walk and made it back to the car in just over an hour. Walking in the forest is a wonderful way to get some air and exercise with your loved ones. There’s nothing more refreshing and invigorating than a hike!
Here’s a little map of our route through the forest. The paths are like a spiders web with many options.
I hope you enjoyed our walk with us.
