CAPE TOWN ACTIVITIES
Best Mountain Bike Trails in Cape Town
Cape Town does not have one mountain-biking scene, it has three: the network inside Table Mountain National Park, the private trail parks north and east, and a quiet band of greenbelt and wine-farm riding.
Constantia Greenbelts Cycle Trail
A relaxed point-to-point through Constantia’s public greenbelts, around 8 km of shaded path, riverside and short suburban-road connections. It is mostly gentle and non-technical, which makes it the one ride here that works on a bike you did not bring for this, whether that is a hired hardtail or a gravel bike, with a family, or on a day you simply want to be outside.
The Constantia Greenbelts offer a very different kind of ride from Cape Town’s mountain-bike trail networks. This 8 km route follows a chain of public green spaces through the Constantia valley, using gravel and grass paths beneath mature trees, alongside waterways and between residential neighbourhoods.
The riding is mostly gentle and non-technical, making it well suited to beginners, families and visitors looking for an easy recreational ride rather than a demanding mountain-bike route. Short road connections and shared paths are part of the experience, and the route finishes with a steeper climb near Southern Cross Drive.
The ABC Trail
A confirmed green route at Muratie built in three parts: A runs 3.7 km out to Gilloolys, C returns 2.7 km, and an optional B forest loop adds 1.8 km. Riding A and C gives you a short, honest first mountain-bike outing in the winelands, and the B loop is there if it turns out you wanted more.
The ABC Trail is Muratie’s beginner Green route, starting at the Dirtopia Trail Centre on Muratie Wine Estate and running through the Simonsberg trail system to Gilloolys.
The operator publishes it as three connected sections. A runs 3.7 km from the Muratie trailhead to Gilloolys, C returns 2.7 km, and B is an optional 1.8 km forest loop. Ride A + C for 6.4 km, or include B for an 8.2 km configuration.
Hoogekraal Hoogies Hammer Loop
A short mapped loop at Hoogekraal linking a direct climb to the named Hoogies Hammer descent. At 4.2 km it is the shortest ride here and all of it is about the descent: you climb once, you descend once, and you can do it again before lunch.
This compact Hoogekraal loop is built around one main objective: gain the height and ride the Hoogies Hammer descent. The mapped configuration uses a direct climbing line before returning on purpose-built singletrack, creating a short climb-and-descend ride rather than a broader circuit of the farm.
At 4.2 km, the route is brief, but the climbing is concentrated rather than incidental. It suits riders looking for a focused run through one part of the Hoogekraal network rather than a longer exploration of the trail centre.
Bloemendal Blue
Thirteen kilometres and about 267 metres of climbing, linking Home Run, Kuilvoergat, BloemeNice, Flow Terra, Lombard’s Terra and B-Spot. This is what riding a Cape Town trail park actually looks like: named, built, signposted sections joined into a circuit, with a status page to check before you drive out.
Bloemendal Blue is the current Blue route published by Tygerberg Mountain Bike Club for Bloemendal Trail Park. TMTBC lists it at 13 km with 267 m of elevation gain, describes the route as circular, and grades it Blue / Moderate.
The current TMTBC route page identifies Home Run, Kuilvoergat, BloemeNice, Flow Terra, Lombard’s Terra and B-Spot as component trails. Follow the marked route from Bloemendal Trail Park and check current trail status before riding.
Contermanskloof Supertubes & Cheeky Corners Loop
A 10.5 km mapped loop inside the Contermanskloof network, combining a long sustained climb with the Supertubes and Cheeky Corners descents. It is the ride to do when you want flow rather than distance, and it sits at the level where a rider who has outgrown green routes starts having fun.
This loop brings together two of Contermanskloof’s named descents, Supertubes and Cheeky Corners, using the farm’s climbing and linking trails to connect them into a single ride. The character is simple: gain the height first, then spend much of the return on purpose-built singletrack.
The 10.5 km configuration comes from a mapped route rather than an official Contermanskloof route sheet, so CapeCurated treats it as a useful way of linking established trails rather than as a separately named trail-centre route.
Rhodes Memorial Loop
A substantial Table Mountain loop of around 22 km built on sustained climbing, jeep track and mountain roads, taking in the Blockhouse and a long view over the city and Table Bay. It is more about the effort and the outlook than about technical riding, and it is the most straightforwardly scenic ride in this guide.
This is one of the bigger Table Mountain rides, climbing from Rhodes Memorial into the mountain network and linking the route with the Blockhouse and wide views across Cape Town. The sustained climbing makes it a substantial outing, but much of the riding is straightforward rather than highly technical.
The character of the route is jeep track and mountain road rather than singletrack. Long climbs and open traverses are the main event, with the elevation bringing changing views over the city, Table Bay and the surrounding slopes as the route gains height.
Tokai MTB – Two Loops
A demanding two-loop ride through the Tokai network, linking long forestry-road climbs to purpose-built singletrack descents. At roughly 17.5 km with the climbing stacked at the front of each loop, this is the hard day on the lower slopes and the entry that assumes you ride regularly.
Tokai is one of Cape Town’s established mountain-biking areas, with a network of forestry roads and purpose-built trails on the lower slopes of Table Mountain. This route links two loops into a substantial ride that alternates sustained climbing with faster singletrack descending.
The contrast between the climbs and descents defines the ride. Most of the elevation is gained on the forestry-road and jeep-track network before the route feeds back into purpose-built trails, making fitness at least as important as technical ability.
Contermanskloof – Coffee to Coffee
Coffee to Coffee links Contermanskloof with the neighbouring Hillcrest and Bloemendal system across about 23 km, which makes it the long one here. It also carries a permit catch: a local day permit for one network does not cover the connecting corridors, and that is the kind of detail that ends a ride early.
Contermanskloof Coffee to Coffee is a cross-network mountain-bike route associated with Contermanskloof and the neighbouring Hillcrest/Bloemendal trail system.
Local Contermanskloof day permits are available from the Dairy Shed. TMTBC membership is required for the cross-network corridors used to connect Contermanskloof with the neighbouring Hillcrest/Bloemendal trail network. A Contermanskloof day permit alone does not provide access to these connecting corridors.
Permits, passes and checking before you drive
Almost none of this riding is simply open. The trail parks run on day permits or annual passes bought per network, Table Mountain National Park has its own arrangement, and the Coffee to Coffee link crosses corridors that a single network permit does not cover. Sort the permit before the drive, not at the gate.
Where a network publishes a live trail status page, the Trail status line in each panel links straight to it. Use it. Cape Town closes trails for fire risk, for wind and for wet, and the status page is the difference between a ride and a wasted morning.