Constantia Green Belts & Tokai
The Constantia Green Belts occupy a couple of areas throughout this leafy suburb. There are a number of beautiful trails where you can walk.
Routes
De Hel Nature Area
Easy
Park at the entry on Constantia Nek Road, look out for the small parking area on the left side of the road if you’re coming from Rhodes Drive. There’s another parking lot on Southern Cross Drive and the route is semi-circular so you can start at either entrance. There’s a clear path around the valley with smaller paths leading down to the streams that run through it.
A dell of overgrown Fynbos and invading forest under pines, with superb flat walks and steep alternatives). When there was more Fynbos, this area was renowned for its Knysna Scrub Warblers, but is now overgrown and is unlikely to be regularly burned (approximately every 10 years) to maintain the Fynbos because of the houses upslope.
Duration: The circular route will take just under an hour, but spend some time following the paths and exploring.
Alphen Trail
Easy
Park on Alphen Driveoff of Constantia Main Road and set off along the path next to the Diep River. There are a couple of bridge crossings where you can choose to walk on the other side. This isn’t a circular route and you can also start the walk on the other end and park on Le Sueur Avenue.
Alphen Hotel west to Le Sueur Meadow, along Diep River. More details under Easy day hikes.
Duration: Approximately 1 hour return
Brommersvlei Walk
Easy
Park on Rathfelder Avenue or BrommersvleiRoad, this tree lined trail leads alongside the road before circling the Bel Ombre Meadow.
Duration: This walk will take half an hour or so.
Diep River Trail
Easy
This route can link up to the Alphen Trail, the Brommersvlei Walk and the Klaasenbosch Trail. Park on Le Sueur Avenue or Southern Cross Drive. The route takes you along this green belt and you can then continue on along one of the other three routes or retrace your steps. Lovely shaded walk
Le Sueur Meadow west to Cecilia Forest at Southern Cross Drive
Duration: This will take over half an hour.
Doordrift Walk
Easy
This starts in the same place as the Alphen Trail but the walk goes in the other direction, or you can park on Doordrift Road and do the route the other way round.
Doordrift Rd Plumstead northwest to Alphen Hotel, along Diep River, and over the detention ponds.
Duration: 25-30 minutes
Grootboschkloof Trail
Easy
Park on Strawberry Lane, Spaanschemat River Road or Willow Road and follow the path along the river. This isn’t a circular route and you can link up to the Spaanschemat River Trail if you want a longer walk.
From Firgrove Way north to Spaanschemat Road along the Grootbos River.
Duration: Twenty-five minutes or so.
Klaasenbosch Trail
Easy
There are several parking areas along this trail with the top two being off Rhodes Drive near the Kirstenbosch top gate and at Cecelia Forest. The bottom two can be found at Le Sueur Avenue or Hohenort Avenue. The middle of the walk passes by the Cellars-Hohenort Hotel.
Le Suer Meadow north along Klaasenbosch River to Klaasenbosch – Kirstenbosch Rycroft Gate. Lovely shaded walk, with a planted “indigenous” section wherein some of the plants are named (i.e. indigenous to South Africa, not the Peninsula)
Duration: Just under an hour.
Silverhurst Trail
Easy
You can park across the road from Peddlar’s on the Bend on Spaaschemat River Road or at the other end of the trail on Constantia Nek Road. After a five-minute walk from Peddlers across Constantia Main Road to Silverhurst.
Duration: This will take about forty minutes.
Spaanschemat River Trail
Easy
This trail starts out from the same parking area as the Silverhurst Trail on Spaaschemat River Road but goes off in the other direction. You can also park on Strawberry Lane at two different locations. You can link up to the Grootboschkloof Trail at the far end from the Spaaschemat start.
From Firgrove Way west to Spaanschemat River Road at Peddlers along the Spaanschemat River)
Duration: It’ll take about thirty five minutes.
Lower Tokai Forest
There are several paths through the Fynbos at Lower Tokai Park, and a perimeter walk (Bridle Path) which is mostly shaded. Do watch out when walking under the Gum trees, which are known to shed their branches.
The paths through the Fynbos are called: Candelabra, Kalkoentjie, Fountainbush, Brightfig and Silkypuff – after some of the beautiful Cape Flats Sand Fynbos species.
Walking from the Tokai Restoration Trail (which starts at the Lions Gate carpark) along the Brightfig trail to the Silkypuff trail will take you to The Mound where there is a viewing deck which affords beautiful views of the park.
The Main Drag is a sandy path which currently divides the plantation (roughly) from the Fynbos at Lower Tokai Park.
A beautiful river – which is also undergoing rehabilitation – runs along the Main Drag, and the best time to see this in full flow is towards the middle or end of winter (July/August)
