Half Collared Kingfisher Trail Gate (permit required)

We spent a lovely morning hiking the Half Collared Kingfisher Trail in the Garden Route National Park. Upon arrival at the gate, you have to fill in the relevant paperwork before heading to the trail itself. Once you’ve paid your permit fees for day visitors, you head into the trail. It’s a little uneventful for the first 15 minutes but soon picks up pace when you have to pull yourself over the river on a raft (there is another alternative route available too). This was great fun but was quite difficult if there were more than a few of you on the barge.Once you’re across the river, the walk truly becomes magical, as you wind your way through the forest along the elevated boardwalks. You catch a glimpse of various colourful birds as you go, and considering the walk is fairly isolated, it is very well looked after and maintained. After around 90 minutes of walking, you arrive at the stunning waterfall, which is a lovely spot for a break or lunch. I would highly recommend making the effort to explore and hike the Half Collared Kingfisher Trail – it’s 100% worth it!

A beautiful hike, sages in parts and well maintained. Permits are purchased at the entrance via Visa/Mastercard and Cash.There is a pulley system to cross the river at one part, so some strength is required.Walk ways are panelled and fairly easy to navigate the trees have been allowed to grow naturally so roots become stairs and in some parts one must limbo under and around the trees.The waterfall is small but there are various pools and rocks which allow for a great afternoon. Take water and snacks and allow for 2-3hours for a full experience.

11 November 2022The Activity:Hiked the Half-collared Kingfisher trail. There is lichen, moss, ferns, majestic trees, plectranthus and asparagus plants everywhere. The trail has a prehistoric vibe to it and is lush and beautiful. Viewpoints at the highest parts of the trail are a bit sparse. This is a popular trail. You can expect to cross paths with plenty of foreigners/tourists. The waterfall area at the end of the trail is gorgeous.There are a few options to cross the Touw River, including stepping stones and a pontoon. The pontoon, decked pathway, lushness and little bit of climbing made for an adventure filled hike, which was tons of fun.We wanted to take the Beidel Path to Hoekwil but the path was too overgrown and treacherous

This is a beautifully maintained trail in Wilderness. We paid R50 at the gate.The trails are lovely, clean, and no rubbish to be seen.The walk to the waterfall is not strenuous, but requires to climb over a couple of dead trees that fell across the paths. I'd imagine those obstacles won't always be there.Overall, but was a very pleasant experience. We felt safe at all times.

Beautiful, moderate hike with amazing views. Take swimwear with for a dip into the water once you reach the waterfall. Or take a light a snack to enjoy the magical views at the waterfall

Magnificent trail to a beautiful waterfall. Not too challenging though it is a moderate distance. The trail is beautifully maintained and most of the trail is under forest canopy. A pull-it-yourself barge across a small river adds to the adventure

We hired a canoe at Eden Adventures, did the 40min canoeing and later the 40min hike/walk to the waterfall. It's very beautiful and easy going, you could also jogg if you'd want to. Bring along a swimsuit if you want to treat yourself with dipping in the ice cold waterfall pool. But you should be early in order to still have some sunshine over there.

One of my favourite day hiking trails and I definitely recommend it for tourists! Absolutely beautiful area and easy hike of about 6km all in all. Remember your swimsuit in summer as the waterfall at the end is a lovely spot to cool down. Great picnic spots as well! An adventure every time. I've hiked this trail approximately 20+ times, but it never gets old.

This hike is suitable for people of all ages. There are proper wooden decks to walk on along the trail. The scenery and birds in the area are spectacular. There's also a pontoon rope system for a water crossing, which was a fantastic experience! The beautiful waterfall at the end of the hike was well worth it. After the hike, it's also wonderful to cool off, so bring your swimsuit!

The trail was amazing! An experience I'd definitely do again soon... we walked up the river, then crossed the river on the 'pond' which was such a cool experience and then walked up the other side of the river until we reached the waterfall. It was gorgeous. The path was fairly clean with not much trash lying around. Everything was so green after the rain. Unfortunately the pathway was really slippery after the previous day's rain and I fell twice. We could walk as quickly as we wanted to because we had to hold on as we walked. There is grid wire on the pathway is placed and that really helps. There is a bathroom at the entrance but it wasn't very clean. Fees are decent. The route felt very safe. We were a group of 4 ladies and on our way to the waterfall there wasn't much traffic. On the way back though we walked past quite a few other groups. Everyone was really friendly.