We’ve done many hikes all over the world in the last years; Nepal, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, and finally decided to do more hikes in our own country, South Africa. The diversity of hiking trails and routes in South Africa is amazing, from the famous Otter trail to challenging hikes in Richtersveld Transfrontier Park. You can hike along the coast, on the beach, over the mountains, through the desert and indigenous forest.
We chose the Outeniqua trail in the Garden Route National park. It was our third multi-day hike in South Africa we’d done the Amatola trail near Hogsback and the Cape of Good Hope hike in Cape Town. The Outeniqua hiking trail is with no doubt one of the Garden Route gems and one of our favorite hikes. We hiked the Outeniqua two weeks before we went to walk the Fish River Canyon hike in Namibia.
The trail is situated inside the Knysna section of the Garden Route National Park. The route is well-balanced, easy to follow, it doesn’t require a good fitness level or hiking experience. In fact, anybody relatively fit can do this hike just choose your own pace and go. We were pleasantly surprised by the trail conditions and the service level. The trail has signs, distance marks, names, etc., the huts are very clean, freshly painted with good ablutions and the park rangers are great very friendly, and helpful. After this hike, we’re definitely considering doing more multi and day hikes in SANParks all around South Africa.
Table of Contents
What to expect on the Outeniqua hike?
- Easy to moderate walk, no special fitness level or experience required. Walk between 3 to 6 hours a day.
- The trail is well maintained and very well marked (white footprints), easy to follow.
- The huts are in good condition and have basic facilities. For more details on each hut check below.
- Drinking water is available during the walk and in the huts, its color (light brownish) comes from the soil.
- The area is safe the trail goes through the National park there are no random people around we saw only rangers and park workers.
- After heavy rains, it can be difficult/impossible to cross the river in some places contact duty rangers. There is a phone number of a duty ranger in every hut.
- There are two Tea Garden coffee shops at Millwood hut and Diepwalle hut where you can get cooked meals or buy basic things; pasta, tuna, cookies, etc. The one at Millwood hut was closed when we were there, to make sure whether they are opened or not inquire when booking the trail.
How to book the trail?
Booking is necessary the main reason the huts can accommodate a certain number of people. We did the hike in May and booked it just a week or so beforehand. Depending on the season (e.g. December or Easter holiday) the Outeniqua trail can be quite busy. You can make a booking over the phone (044-302-5600) or (044-302-5606) from 7:30 am to 4 pm, weekdays or e-mail sanp.reservations@sanparks.org Two days after you made a booking you have to pay the total amount for the huts. Money paid for the hike can’t be refunded. The park conservation fee can be paid online or on arrival.
You book huts for specific dates, there are 7 huts (Windmeulnek, Platbos, Millwood, Rondebossie, Diepwalle, Fiesantehoek, and Harkerville huts). There used to be 8 but the very first hut Beervlei is not available anymore. You book and pay per person per hut. Our advice don’t book Harkerville hut the last one. You can skip it you finish Day 7 early between 10 am and 12 pm so you’ll have enough time to start driving back instead of staying there.
How much does the hike cost?
- Accommodation (7 nights, bunk bed) – ZAR 630/US$48 (ZAR 90 pp per night).
- Park conservation fee (for SA residents) – ZAR 186/US$14 per person for 7 days (4 days x ZAR 30 and 3 days x ZAR 22). Holders of Wild cards don’t pay conservation fees. Note! The conservation fee for foreigners is different, ZAR 60/US$4,5 for SADC passports per day and ZAR 120/US$9 for internationals.
Total: ZAR 816/US$62
The best time to hike the Outeniqua Trail
We did the hike in May and had great weather; warm but not hot during the day, no rain, and a bit chilly at night. In the summer months (December – February) it gets very hot, in winter (June – August) cold and wet. In our opinion, spring and autumn are the best time for hiking the Outeniqua Trail.
Where to stay before and after the hike?
Knysna is the nearest big town to the trail with many accommodation options for different budgets.
- Budget | Shepherd’s Tree Backpackers | Lakeside Accommodation | Knysna Inn |
- Middle price | Panorama Lodge | At The Loerie |
- High-end | The Knysna Belle Guest House | South Villa |
Tours and activities in Knysna
If you decide to spend a couple of days in Knysna before or after the hike there are many great activities and things to do in this beautiful town.
- Knysna: 75-Minute Lagoon Boat Cruise
- Knysna: Downhill Forest Scootour Adventure
- Knysna Sunset Sun-downer Yacht Cruise
- Knysna Close Encounter Whale Watching Tour
Accommodation on the trail
As I mentioned before every night you sleep in a hut. All huts have bunk beds and basic facilities, three (Millwood, Diepwalle, and Harkerville) have electricity and hot showers. It makes the hike easy you don’t need to carry a tent or mattress only a sleeping bag.
Where to leave your car?
The route is not circular you start and finish in different places quite far from each other, a 1-hour drive. You have two options; to park your car at Beervlei hut (start of the hike) and take a shuttle back after you finish or to park it at Harkerville hut (the end of the hike) and take a shuttle to the starting point. We drove from Knysna to Harkerville where we parked our car. From there we took a shuttle (we’d booked it 2 days before) to Beervlei, the starting point.
The cheapest shuttle we could find was Benny’s shuttles, we paid ZAR 580/US$44 for two not sure if you pay more for more people or just divide it between all. We booked it over the phone without paying any deposit. Contact number 083-728-5181, Benny.
In our opinion, it’s nice to finish the hike at the place your car is parked. You don’t have to drive anywhere else to get it. The Harkerville entrance office looked pretty safe for leaving a car. The parking area is in front of the rangers’ office there are always people there. At Beervlei hut there was nobody when we arrived.
If you don’t feel like driving with your own car all the way to the Outeniqua or if it’s just too far to drive you can fly to George and rent a car at the airport.
How to get to the trail without a car?
You can book a shuttle from Knysna or Plettenberg Bay or any other nearby towns to the trail and back. You can try the same shuttle service we used (Benny’s shuttle) they have pretty decent rates.
If you decide to stop for a couple of days somewhere on the Garden Route we can highly recommend Plettenberg Bay with its amazing adventure activities.
What to pack for the Outeniqua hike?
Clothes
- Comfortable clothes for hiking, we’d recommend wearing long pants and long sleeve shirt to avoid scratches sometimes you walk through long grass and bush.
- A hat, sunglasses, sunscreen – all must have if hiking in summer.
- Comfortable clothes (e.g. fleece, pants, flip flops) to change, always nice to put on clean clothes after the shower.
- A towel, there will be a cold or hot shower every night.
- Underwear, socks, how many pairs to take is up to you.
Hiking gear
- A sleeping bag, we had thin summer bags for 11C comfort. If you hike in winter take a warmer one we were a little bit cold one or two nights.
- Hiking poles, we never use them but many people do there are up and down hills every day on the hike and they can be handy for river crossing as well.
- A water bottle, there are plenty of water sources on the hike.
- A headlamp/torch, not all huts have electricity.
- We didn’t use any water purification tablets or filter and had no problem.
- A book, you’ll have plenty of time for reading every day.
Cooking gear
- A stove, we have a small portable gas stove that we always take hiking, it’s big enough to boil water, make pasta or oats.
- Gas depending on how many people you are and how much cooking you want to do. We took 500ml it was more than enough for 7 days for two people. There are braai places, wood, and braai grids (there was no grid at Diepwalle hut) at every hut so instead of carrying a stove and gas you can make food and boil water on an open fire. Sometimes wood might be wet it’s better to bring firelighters.
- Pots, we had one medium-size pot with plastic handles. If you plan to cook on fire take a metal pot.
- A swiss knife.
- Cutlery, we had bamboo forks and spoons.
- Cups/mugs.
- Lighter/matches and blitz not at all huts there was dry material to start a fire.
Food
To be honest we were a bit hungry every day and regretted not packing more food. Here is our food list;
- Breakfast – instant flavored oat sachets (3 for two people), coffee/tea.
- Lunch – nut mix, energy bars, biltong/droewors (we always take it on hikes in South Africa).
- Afternoon tea, on this hike you finish every day quite early it’s nice to have a cup of tea with chocolate or an energy bar while waiting for dinner.
- Dinner – a can of tuna, 250g of pasta, one tomato sauce sachet (for two people). As an option you can bring ready-made dehydrated meals, they’re quite expensive but easy to make, very light, and come in different flavors.
If you like hiking and live or planning to visit Mother City there are many fantastic hikes in Cape Town with breathtaking views that everyone will enjoy.
Outeniqua Trail hiking itinerary
The main advice, always follow white footprint marks on trees and rocks. There are yellow footprints as well but they mark different trails don’t get confused.
Day 1, Beervlei hut – Windmuelnek hut, 16km, 4,5 hours
We arranged a shuttle for 8 am from Harkerville hut it took about an hour to get to Beervlei hut, the starting point. We couldn’t get a map at any of the huts luckily the trail is very well marked and easy to follow. In fact, we could finally buy a map only on the 5th day at the Millwood information office for ZAR 23.
The first two hours were an easy walk through the forest with many Knysna Turaco around. After you start a steep descend to the river. Advice! Fill your water here there won’t be any other chance till you reach the hut. Here at the river, we had lunch.
After that, you start a long and sometimes quite steep ascend all the way to the hut on the jeep track. Doing hikes up Table Mountain or Lion’s Head trail in Cape Town is a great way to prepare for the first day of the Outeniqua Trail.
Windmuelnek hut facilities
Wooden hut amazing location on the top of the hill overlooking two valleys, our favorite hut ever! We regretted not bringing meat or wors with us it would be perfect for the first night.
- Bunk beds with mattresses
- Running water
- Cold showers
- Dry toilets with toilet paper and soap
- No electricity
- Outside braai place with a braai grid
- Wood, axe
- Outside tables and chairs
- Washing lines
- Rubbish bin
Day 2, Windmuelnek hut – Platbos hut, 17km, 6 hours
We started at 9 am and the first hour was steep 500 m down all the way to the river. Here don’t forget to refill your water before you start going up. There will be one or two more streams but quite far. The up is steep and long took us about an hour. After that, the trail goes through fynbos and fern forest. A very beautiful area sometimes looks like decorations to Jurassic Park. The last hour or so to the hut you walk on the gravel road.
Platbos hut facilities
A big wooden hut with three bedrooms can accommodate about 30 people. The hut itself and the area around is well maintained; clean and neat.
- Bunk beds with mattresses
- Running water
- Cold showers
- Flushing toilets with toilet paper and soap
- No electricity
- Inside fireplace
- Outside braai place with braai grids
- Wood, axe
- Tables, chairs outside
- Basin
- Washing lines
- Rubbish bins
Day 3, Platbos hut – Millwood hut, 16km, 5 hours
We started at 8.45 the according to the official info you supposed to leave before 8 am and the walking time for the day 7-8 hours. It took us 5 hours to finish and we didn’t even walk fast.
To start you walk 500m back on the 4×4 track till you get the right turn off sign to Millwood hut. Most part of the trail goes through the forest where it’s cool and humid. There will be some moderate ups and downs during the day but the main one is right in the beginning after an hour walk; first all the way down to the river and then up. You basically repeat this exercise every day.
On the way, you can stop at a pool for lunch and swim. It’s 100m out of the way just follow the sign “Waterfall” in the surrounding area you can see many old gold mines. About 2km before the hut there are rests of an old town that was built here during the gold rush in the late nineteenth century.
Millwood hut facilities
It’s a big two-story cottage, located close to Millwood Goldmine museum and Mother Holly’s Tea Room. To our big disappointment both we closed, we had big hopes for this coffee shop to get a nice coffee and to stock a bit our food supplies. Local rangers said it will be reopened soon.
- Bunk beds with mattresses
- Running water
- Hot showers
- Flushing toilets with toilet paper and soap
- Electricity and outlets (in the toilets)
- Inside fireplace
- Many outside braai places with braai grids
- Wood, axe
- Outside tables and chairs
- Basins
- Washing lines
- Rubbish bins
Day 4, Millwood hut – Rondebossie hut, 17km, 5 hours
We left the hut at 9 am, the first hour you walk on a jeep track then the trail turns into the forest. One more hour walking down and you reach the river it’s a nice spot for snack/rest break before the coming up. The uphill with some rock and ladder climbing took us an hour, it’s probably the most difficult uphill on the trail. After that, you walk again on the jeep track first and then last 2km easy walk through the forest till you reach Rondebossie hut.
Rondebossie hut facilities
- Bunk beds with mattresses
- Running water
- Cold showers
- Flushing toilets with toilet paper and soap
- No electricity
- Inside fireplace
- Outside braai place with braai grids
- Wood, axe
- Tables, chairs inside and outside
- Basin
- Washing lines
- Rubbish bins
Day 5, Rondebossie hut – Diepwalle hut, 13km, 4 hours
Since the hiking day promised to be short we decided to start quite late, at 9.45 am. Right in the beginning, you walk down to the river to start a long steep up from there. Jonker mount is quite an up once on the top check the view over the area. The up took us about 30-40 min. After that, you go mostly down following the hill and then a nice walk through a beautiful section of the forest. Huge ferns, giant trees very green, humid, and a bit chilly. Once out of the forest the last hour to the hut almost all the way on a 4×4 track.
At Diepwalle you’ll get a nice surprise – a coffee shop where you can get some sandwiches, cakes, hamburgers, coffee and buy some snacks, pasta, tuna, etc. The shop usually opened till 3 pm. You can preorder a meal (at least 24 hours before) that will be ready when you arrive. The menu with prices you can find inside Rondebossie hut (on the wall). Phone for booking 044-382-9762/3. We had a really big lunch here and were not hungry for the first time in 5 days.
Diepwalle Camping Decks located nearby is one of our favorite camping spots on the Garden Route.
Diepwalle hut facilities
- Bunk beds with mattresses
- Running water
- Hot showers
- Flushing toilets with toilet paper and soap
- Electricity and outlets
- Outside braai place. You can even buy braai packs at the shop but we didn’t see a braai grid.
- Wood, axe
- Outside tables and chairs
- Basin
- Washing lines
- Rubbish bins
Day 6, Diepwalle hut – Fiesantehoek hut, 16km, 5 hours
Traditionally we started at 9 am the trail, in the beginning, overlaps with Elephant walk (a day hike) and goes through the forest once home to Knysna elephants. After an hour or so the trails split. For the most part of the day, you walk through the forest with some sections on a jeep track. There is one steep ascent down to the river. The rest of the day is mostly flat with small uphills
Fisantehoek hut facilities
A big brick house with many rooms and beds on the top of the hill with a beautiful view over the area.
- Bunk beds with mattresses
- Running water
- No showers only bath with cold water tap inside the hut
- Flushing toilets with toilet paper. One inside toilet
- No electricity
- Inside braai place with grid
- Wood, axe
- Tables, chairs inside
- Basins
- Washing lines
- Rubbish bins
Day 7, Fisantehoek hut – Harkerville hut, 12km, 3 hours
We started this day quite early at 7.30 am. It was the easiest and shortest walk on the hike mostly through the forest with some insignificant ups and downs. It took us less than 3 hours to get to Harkerville hut we finished just in time before the rain. We booked Harkerville hut but decided not to stay there and rather keep on driving back home. The hut is nice but not really remote right next to the information office and parking spot.
Harkerville hut facilities
- Bunk beds with mattresses
- Running water
- Hot showers
- Flushing toilets with toilet paper and soap
- Electricity and outlets
- Braai place with grid
- Wood, axe
- Tables, chairs
- Basins
- Washing lines
- Rubbish bins
After finishing the hike we started driving back to Cape Town and managed to get home the same day. Hiking the Outeniqua Trail was a great adventure that we really enjoyed.
The pretty half of Stingy Nomads, responsible for all our land adventures (hiking, climbing, walking the Camino) and following them write-ups. Alya loves walking since she was a child, she prefers to walk 1000 km with a backpack rather than to do a 10 000 km road trip (actually any road trip). Alya is a big fan of Latin America, the Spanish language, and dancing. Every time we go away she desperately misses our dog Chile.
Joan
Friday 7th of June 2024
Hi there, i saw the beautifull image "Fantastic scenery on the Outeniqua Trail" on your article and was wondering if i can use it as a reference for a painting i plan to paint?
Stingy Nomads
Sunday 9th of June 2024
Hello Joan. Yes, you can use it as a reference for your painting as long as you're not using the exact photo from the post. Cheers
shai
Saturday 21st of January 2023
hi would you say it's possible to do the full trail in fewer days? for example to do the first and second day together?
Stingy Nomads
Saturday 21st of January 2023
Hello Shai. I guess it's possible depending on your fitness level. You'll have to check it with the park as well I'm not sure if they allow to combine stages or you have to stick to the standard itinerary. For example on the Otter Trail you're not allowed to combine stages because you have to book huts on the route. Cheers
Carla Smit
Wednesday 7th of September 2022
Thank you for an informative post! Well researched and practical. We are hiking this trail in Oct 2022 and your detailed descriptions & lists make a huge difference. Also, your recommendations for accommodation in Knysna are superb! Much appreciated!
jacques
Friday 17th of February 2023
@Carla Smit, Hi there do you perhaps know where I can download the full 7days hike in GPX format , Regard Jacques
Stingy Nomads
Wednesday 7th of September 2022
Hello Carla. Thank you very much for the feedback. We're sure you'll enjoy the Outeniqua trail it is a stunning route. Cheers
Janine
Monday 21st of February 2022
Hi, I see that you can do a 2 or 3 day option as well. Not sure how this works, but if you had to choose, which days would you recommend?
Stingy Nomads
Wednesday 23rd of February 2022
Hello, Janine. Yes, it's possible to walk only a section of the Outeniqua Trail. You can contact the SANParks office for booking (there are phone numbers and an e-mail in the How to book the trail section). The entire route is beautiful but we really enjoyed the beginning of the trail. The first couple of days you walk through a lush green forest with massive ferns and stunning look-out points. The first overnight hut (Windmuelnek) has the most incredible views. If I'm not mistaken there is a 2-day circular route to this hut and back. Cheers
AMANDA LE ROUX
Friday 10th of December 2021
Can I make a booking for 1 person? is it safe
Stingy Nomads
Friday 10th of December 2021
Hello, Amanda. We were two people on the Outeniqua Trail and some nights I wasn't comfortable sleeping in a hut. Some huts don't have good locks on doors and windows which was worrying for me. Hiking there we saw some people cutting wood, etc. I wouldn't recommend doing this hike alone. Good luck