Hiking & Trails
Most reserves make you drive to the trailhead. At iKhayalamafu, it’s a few steps from the front door of your cabin.
The property sits inside 95 hectares of indigenous forest and mountain grassland in the Champagne Valley, threaded with six kilometres of private trail we’ve built and maintain ourselves, alongside a public Ezemvelo trail that crosses a corner of the land. Shorter routes wind along the river and through the forest edge, good for an hour before breakfast. Longer ones connect with Ezemvelo’s network at the bottom of Keartland’s Pass, under the Sphinx, and at Crystal Falls, with Verkykerskop, the Breakfast Stream, and Gray’s Cave also inside our borders.
A few things to know before you set out: the Ezemvelo Monk’s Cowl gate is locked from 18:00 to 06:00, but we provide guests with a key, so it’s no problem opening it later than that if you’re heading further afield. Weather in the Berg turns quickly even in summer. A clear morning is not a promise about the afternoon, so a layer and a rain shell are worth carrying even on a short walk. And because this is a working reserve rather than a manicured park, expect the odd bramble scratch or insect bite; each cabin’s first-aid kit is stocked for exactly that.
Ask at check-in if you want a route recommendation matched to your time and fitness: the trails aren’t signposted the way a national park’s would be, and a five-minute pointer can save an hour of backtracking.