Rooikat Hiking Trail

Beautiful trails. Trailmarkers not very clear and easy to take a wrong route. No real cell reception, so make sure you know where you are going and have a gps before setting out on the trail.

Did this trail today. Only one sign about 500m from the start. The trail is on service roads all the way to the picnic site. From there, no signage as to which route or path to take and so, rather than finding myself getting lost, decided to back track from where we came. I was very disappointed.

My first time hiking and I enjoyed every moment , even with my walking challenge (being differently abled) I was accommodated by the trails

Good day all. The Rooikat is awesome but i had to do 2 rescues in the last 2 weeks.Please make sure u have a map of the area and the all the emergency numbers.

This is a beautiful route and really enjoyable. However, that being said I feel anyone who is considering the Rooikat Trail needs to know the following:The trail is about 18 Kilometers and will take a reasonably fit hiker about 6 to 8 hours to complete. I think a well seasoned hiker might be able to complete the trail in 4 to 5 hours.The trail is not clearly maked anymore, perhaps a long time ago it was clearly marked and walked regularly. The trail alternates between plantation roads and bush. The plantation roads are easy to follow and provide beautiful views. The bush segments of the trail are not so easy to follow, you will be back-tracking often to try and find the trail (if you do not have the nerves or the patience for this, see my recommendation down bellow).Make sure that you register at the site/platation office and if you are staying somewhere, notify the reception at your accomodation that you will be doing the Trail beforehand. The reason I say this is because we got lost. The trail is broken up into segments ( map available at the office with registration) there are 10 segments/markers, with markers 1 to 9 alternating between plantation roads and bush. And the last segment is completed on plantation roads ( where we got lost), we got lost because the trees were cut down and the yellow paint makers along with them. We somehow ended up again at the halfway marker at 16:00, we started at 09:00 and then we knew we were in trouble because it was getting dark and THERE IS ALMOST NO CELLPHONE SERVICE ANYWHERE. We went up the hill and by some chance had cell service and notified people of our situation. (an employee of the plantation picked us up and took us to our car). We almost spent the night there.My recommendations are that if you want a light walking route start the route (the first hour or so is on a nice plantation road) and at the first Rooikat Trail sign pointing into the bush turn around and follow the plantation road back to your car. If you are really up for the challenge continue with the route as we did BUT make sure you communicate with someone that you have a check-in deadline and that if they do not hear from you before the specified time they must phone the office and send help. I suggest the picnic area on the route as a waiting location.( you can't just decide I am tired now and return to your car halfway into the route)All this being said it is a beautiful route and a real challenge but I strongly recommend you take the precautions mentioned above.

Poorly signposted. Much of it in monotonous pintree plantation roads. Disappointment after Haenertsburg hike.

Natural and connects you to nature, with beautiful view, waterfalls from the river, beautiful sounds from the birds, the smell and sounds from the flowing rivers, just imaging with closed eyes

Poorly maintained and not well marked trail, one can easily get lost... was so disappointed

This hike is very secluded and lesser known in the area so if you are looking for some peace and quiet this is the place.The hike goes through the forest reserve and then into the valley for some tropical type trekking.A lot of the hike is actually on the service dirt roads but the views are quiet nice.Whilst the route is only 11km long (supposedly) the terrain is quite steep. The proposed 5 hours to complete the hike is about right as as the route on the map is not exact or entirely accurate.Water is available on the route as well as small rock pools to swim in.