Tesselaarsdal Hiking and MTB Trails

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Tesselaarsdal Hiking and MTB Trails Tesselaarsdal, Overberg, Western Cape. Tessies Trails for short.

We take care of maintenance and building of Hiking and Mountain Bike Trails around the Kleinrivierberg, in the Tesselaarsdal area.

Barber's Trail / Haarkappers Roete access is open again.We spent the morning this morning cutting and removing the many ...
19/11/2023

Barber's Trail / Haarkappers Roete access is open again.
We spent the morning this morning cutting and removing the many trees fallen from The Storm on this section of the trail.
Please remember to buy your permits from Tessies Trails if you intend on hiking the Barber's Trail Circular if you intend on starting and ending back in Tesselaarsdal, or from Phillipskop website if you intend on starting or ending at Phillipskop. And please, no dogs are allowed on any of these trails as they traverse private property and private nature reserves.

13/11/2023

This is just a small portion of the fallen trees at the access to the Barber's Trail. Also, sadly, the big sentinel Pine Tree at the turn to the Barber's Trail just beyond this old reservoir, has also fallen.

The BIG Storm of 25 September left us reeling in the aftermath. There was so much damage everywhere and the trails also ...
13/11/2023

The BIG Storm of 25 September left us reeling in the aftermath. There was so much damage everywhere and the trails also suffered badly under the onslaught. We've spent the last month, working every weekend, weather permitting, cutting up and moving of the countless fallen trees off the trails. The section from the Lekkerdroom road, up past Oom Daniel and through De Meul, connecting with the Otium Oasis road is open again.
Unfortunately the mtb section through the kloof which links the old reservoir to the switchbacks is closed indefinitely due to the many fallen trees, some of which are massively huge pines. So the only MTB access to the trails across Elzaksa towards Bietoskloof are via the Otium Oasis road, the Koppie and the Switchbacks. Please take care down the switchbacks as due to the storm there is still a fair amount of erosion damage to repair. And the section immediately after the big bridge will need a walkway built, as the torrential rain washed away too much of the trail for ordinary repairs to take place.

Yesterday a record was accomplished, when at 88 years of age, Dominee At Putter became our oldest hiker to walk the comp...
11/06/2023

Yesterday a record was accomplished, when at 88 years of age, Dominee At Putter became our oldest hiker to walk the complete Barber's Trail Circular route.
With a distance of 8.76km and total climbing of 360m, this is an amazing accomplishment by this soft spoken courageous man. A remarkable feat. Well done, sir. Respect!

Now that the ground has softened from all the rain, I spent some time this morning on the trails, repairing the major da...
04/06/2023

Now that the ground has softened from all the rain, I spent some time this morning on the trails, repairing the major damage created by the Hermanus Camino.
A few weeks ago I incredulously discovered that they had gone and dug steps down the last bend of the Switchbacks down the Koppie, just before the big bridge, creating an extremely dangerous situation for riders.
All attempts to try get them to make right their damage and to come to a meeting with me to discuss an alternative route for them, detouring past that bend, have fallen on deaf ears!
So today I took matters into my own hands and not only repaired their damage, but also created a bypass for them.
The first photo shows their steps around the last bend of the switchbacks, where they dug out steps and used rocks and a huge log across the trail as steps.
The rest of the pics shows my repair work with the berm I've built as well as an improvement to another section between that bend and the bridge where I've rebuilt a washed away section and given it a berm too.
I've also added a photo of the bypass I've created through the bush for the Camino with steps going down the new bypass.
I will add the necessary signage during the week.
Please give the work chance to settle before riding it, as it is a bit soft despite my compacting the sections.
Lekker lekker.

12/12/2022

Saturday's event was a big learning curve for all of us. We learnt a lot. What works, what didn't work, where to improve, where to change a little bit, where to change a lot. Will persevere until we get it to a point where the routes are enjoyable for all, both riders and landowners alike and so that riders will want to come back for more.
Thank you to everyone who helped put this together, thank you to the riders who rose to the challenge of what wasn't an easy ride, but came in still managing to smile afterwards.
Thank you to all the riders who have given me feedback, the good and the bad, I value that input, it will help us to make improvements.

Replaced the old mtb bridge between Sixpence and Tessies on Wednesday. It had become dangerous to cross with one of the ...
09/12/2022

Replaced the old mtb bridge between Sixpence and Tessies on Wednesday. It had become dangerous to cross with one of the bearer poles starting to give way and some of the old latte broken. This is the bridge which the Green route crosses over on the return run back into town.
A million Thank You's to Overberg Agri Feed Store in Caledon for their generous sponsorship of all the materials required for this construction.

The TessFees is back and so is the Mountain Bike fun ride.Come experience a number of new sections of the trails at the ...
02/12/2022

The TessFees is back and so is the Mountain Bike fun ride.
Come experience a number of new sections of the trails at the reopening of the MTB Trails on the 10th of December.

02/12/2022

Hello, riders and followers.
Barend, who has been managing this page, is moving to greener pastures and has added me as one of the keepers of this page.
I've taken over the Tesselaarsdal Mountain Bike and Hiking Trails, or Tessies Trails for short.
We've been busy resurrecting the MTB trails over the past few weeks, as time has allowed.
Much of the route has now been completed, with new sections now ready, as some of the original sections became off limits due to land changing hands and landowners changing policies.
You are invited to come experience the changes, some areas may still be a little rough around the edges, where work is ongoing, but there is approximately 40km of rideable mixed trails in the red route, which goes up to the historic Slave Tree. There are a number of sections where the not so fit rider can peel off and take a shorter route back to the start at De Poskantoor, in town.
The big bridge in the Kloof below the Koppie, has been rebuilt.
The entrance to the trails through the Kloof has changed entirely, and now runs along the old ledge from the old reservoir to the switchback path out of the Kloof by the big bridge. This entry also becomes the finish after riders have descended the series of switchbacks down the Koppie and have crossed the big bridge.
There is also approximately 10km of Green Route for the novices.
Both routes have all new handmade route markers.
The old honesty box Permit system will also be undergoing an upgrade to online permits/snapscan, which will mean that riders can buy their permits from wherever they are, whether they're staying at one of the local Guest Establishments or visiting friends etc, and can join on to the trail from the nearest entry point, your notification on your smart phone becomes your permit.
Remember, no permit = no ride.
Please respect landowners and their property, respect the environment, no littering, no smoking/fires on the trails, no deviating from the marked routes - no rogue riding.

Franschoek with BFF.
28/05/2022

Franschoek with BFF.

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This is just a small portion of the fallen trees at the access to the Barber's Trail. Also, sadly, the big sentinel Pine Tree at the turn to the Barber's Trail just beyond this old reservoir, has also fallen.

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