Petrus-se-Brand MTB Trail

About Petrus-se-Brand MTB Trail

Where: Diepwalle Forest, Knysna
Level: easy to intermediate
Type of route: 22.4 km (can do a 48 km return) from Diepwalle office to Garden of Eden via incredible indigenous forest, on forest track, logging roads and some moderate to challenging single track
Best: when it rains the route becomes muddy and slippery, but the mostly forest ride is beautiful

You may ride this trail from either end – from Diepwalle or the Garden of Eden, near Harkerville. The Diepwalle start is probably the easier of the two, particularly for the not so fit, because of the downhill start. The return takes about half an hour longer, and is not clearly marked.

You need some degree of technical skill – feathered braking, bumpy surfaces and gear shifting whilst steeply descending.

Diepwalle forest station is the highest point of the ride, which is why starting at this end makes the ride possible for 'beginner' riders, for it's mostly downhill from here.

After the short downhill from the forest station take a left after 2.8 km (look out for route markers) where the track follows the old narrow-gauge forest railway line. At the Petrusbrandpad t-junction take another left downhill to the Petrusbrand River.

Across the river is a winding, but not difficult, ascent towards Petrusbrand Eiland. This part of the ride is particularly beautiful, the feast of tall yellowwoods and the canopy of the forest a shelter that lasts until suddenly you are out in the open.

Stop for the views up on Kleineiland over the Tsitsikamma mountains and Plettenberg Bay.

From here it is back into the forest with a winding descent, at the bottom of which is a low-water bridge. The next 4 km is an ascent after which the trail meets Fisantehoek in a t-junction.

A right takes you to the N2 between Knysna and Garden of Eden or you can add the single track section to your ride. Roughly 1.2 km after the t-junction take the left fork.

Get your permit from the Diepwalle Forest station.