Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve: Back. Again!

For those of you who refuse to hike free suburban trails because you have heard they are "dirty", "dangerous", and possibly home to several unsolved crimes, I truly hope that I’ve managed at the very least to nudge your paranoia down a few percentage points.

Even a reluctant 0.5% I would regard as a win.

So my son Pepper and I headed out to this trail - in the south of Johannesburg - spanning 640 hectares.

This wasn’t my first time there - which is unusual for me, because there are too many trails and too little time to revisit the same hill multiple times.

But this one is always a new trail.

Partly because it’s enormous, but mostly because the trail markings are less “follow me” and more “have you considered wandering vaguely in this direction?”

Previous Hikes

My first couple of hikes there - with either Pepper or my other son, Salt - weren’t exactly magical.

We were new hikers. The inclines were… ambitious, and I spent a large portion of the time convinced we were lost.

In reality we probably weren’t lost.

Just… briefly unaffiliated with the official route.

We still saw good scenery and eventually returned to the car, which is the key metric for a successful hike.

My last visit with Pepper felt different.

The hills didn’t feel quite as hostile, which suggested my fitness had improved slightly, and I was much calmer about the trail network’s general commitment to creative interpretation.

Pepper, however, has never been concerned that we were lost out there.

Except the one time.

There was… an incident.

It involved an Uber.

And no, we are absolutely not discussing that again.

Arriving Early

When a trail is both free and excellent, arriving early is a must.

The reserve opens at 6 a.m., perfect if your goal is to beat both the crowds and the heat.

We arrived closer to 7 (because Pepper), and were greeted by an extremely friendly guard at the gate.

The entrance area is immaculate, with clean toilets and outdoor gym equipment in great condition.

Trail Options

You’re immediately presented with multiple options:

Straight? Left? Right? Yellow? Black? Red?

After several visits I’ve realised the trail markers are merely saying “Go this way. Or don’t. Live your life.”

I also approached the hike with a new strategy - accept that you might not always know exactly where you are.

Strangely, that makes the whole experience much more relaxing.

Pepper made his own adjustment - specifically to my habit of photographing absolutely everything.

The eye-rolling still happens, but it’s become more discreet.

Mostly behind my back, where he seems to believe I can’t hear his eyeballs rotating inside his skull.

Even the usual “Come on, Mom…” has been scaled back slightly whenever I stop for the fifteenth photo of a rock that looks “interesting.”

The upside of moving slower is that I actually noticed things I’d missed on previous hikes -which is impressive (troubling) considering this was my fourth visit.

Because Pepper wanted a “chilled hike,” we avoided any trails leading to inclines.

It turned out to be a beautiful 7 km hike, winding through quiet trails, past a small stream, and eventually past some old ruins - which I’m fairly certain weren’t there the last time I visited.

Either the reserve has recently added a historical feature, or I somehow missed an entire set of ruins on three previous hikes.

Both possibilities are concerning for different reasons.

By the time we were heading back, more hikers were starting to arrive.

But for those of you who are comfortable occasionally seeing another human while outdoors - also known as most normal people - this is not really an issue.

Despite its reputation among suburban skeptics, the trail was clean, peaceful, and genuinely beautiful.

RATINGS

Trail Information

AREA

Kibler Park

COST

Free

Trail Details

TRAIL DIFFICULTY

Up to you.

TRAIL LENGTH

I’ve finally figured it out - this reserve is a network of smaller trails that can be combined, separated, or completely improvised.

Which means you’ll probably wing it or hike a longer trail than you expected.

TRAIL MARKERS

Plenty

Meaningless.

TRAIL HIGHLIGHTS

It's a ridiculous amount of peace in the middle of suburbia

WEATHER CONDITIONS TO CONSIDER

Very exposed.

You might run out of water and need to call an Uber.

Just saying.

ABLUTIONS

Spotlessly clean.

SAFE FREE PARKING

AMENITIES

None

WILDLIFE & BIRD LIFE

Dassies were the full extent of our wildlife experience.

Apparently I remain a wildlife repellent, and when Pepper and I hike together we generate a field that encourages all wildlife to immediately relocate.

NOTE TO SELF

If wildlife sightings are the goal, consider hiking separately and even then, without my apparently intense human aura.

FAMILY FRIENDLY

Yes

PET FRIENDLY

No

ON A FINAL NOTE

It was virtually spotless.

Yes, we arrived early - probably among the first hikers of the weekend - but it had clearly been prepped for the incoming crowds.

Expecting a trail to stay pristine after dozens of feet pass through is… optimistic.

Nature is many things.

A freshly vacuumed lounge is not one of them.

(TO)SOLO OR (NO)SOLO

(NO)SOLO for me.

I have bad directional skills and a habit of falling over imaginary rocks.

But we did see a few solo hikers and joggers toward the end - which tends to indicate if you willing and able (TO)SOLO is possible.