Everyone who hikes seriously started somewhere unglamorous. Mine was a flat loop with a picnic spot at the end and absolutely no bragging rights. That's the point of a beginner trail. It's not there to impress anyone. It's there to get you outside, moving, and hooked, so that one day you look up and realise you've become the kind of person who owns hiking boots on purpose.
Gauteng isn't the Drakensberg and it never pretends to be. What it does have, right on the doorstep of Johannesburg and Pretoria, is a scattering of reserves and koppies that are flat enough, short enough, and safe enough to ease you in properly. Here are six I'd start with.
- 01 Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden
- 02 Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve
- 03 Groenkloof Nature Reserve
- 04 Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, Cheetah Trail
- 05 Moreleta Kloof Nature Reserve
- 06 Oubaas Trail, Smuts Koppie
Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden
This is where I'd send anyone who says they don't like hiking, because it barely feels like one. Almost 300 hectares of landscaped and natural veld, with the trails starting at the base of the waterfall that feeds the Crocodile River on its way down to Hartbeespoort Dam. The longest route is a gentle 3.9km nature trail that climbs to the top of the Witpoortjie waterfall, and there are shorter, easier options if that still feels like a lot.
Keep an eye out for the resident pair of Verreaux's eagles overhead. There's no need to book ahead, but bring a card, since the gardens don't take cash.
up to 3.9km
landscaped paths and a nature trail
paid, no cash accepted
Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve
Ten kilometres from the centre of Johannesburg and free to enter, which makes it one of the easiest excuses in the city to get outdoors. It's the largest proclaimed nature reserve in the Johannesburg metro, and the trails are flat, well signposted, and genuinely family friendly. You'll likely spot zebra, red hartebeest, and black wildebeest along the way, alongside sites of botanical, geological, and historical interest scattered through the reserve.
from around 3km
flat, well marked
free
Groenkloof Nature Reserve
Groenkloof has the distinction of being the first game sanctuary proclaimed in Africa, back in 1895 by Paul Kruger, and it still functions as one at the southern entrance to Pretoria. The reserve's beginner trails are relatively flat with a few easy obstacles thrown in, which is exactly the right amount of challenge for a first proper outing. There's also a National Heritage Monument within the grounds if you want to turn the walk into a slightly more educational one.
600 hectares
relatively flat with light obstacles
Africa's first proclaimed game sanctuary, 1895
Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, Cheetah Trail
Suikerbosrand is a proper mountain range hiding in plain sight south of Johannesburg, and most of what's inside it is not beginner territory. The Cheetah Trail is the exception. It's an interpretive route just over four kilometres long, designed to be manageable and informative rather than punishing, and it's the natural starting point before you graduate to the reserve's longer, hillier trails. Water is scarce inside the reserve, so carry more than you think you'll need.
around 4km
about 2 hours
interpretive, well marked
Moreleta Kloof Nature Reserve
A hundred hectares of quartzite koppie and riverine forest in Pretoria's eastern suburbs, with three marked routes, the Rademeyer, Duiker, and Suikerbos trails, ranging from a gentle 1.5km to a slightly tougher 4.6km. Springbok, zebra, blesbok, and the odd ostrich wander the reserve, and there's a wheelchair friendly bird hide if you want to sit still for a while instead. Entry is free, though guided walks need booking a few weeks ahead.
1.5km to 4.6km options
kloof and forest, some rocky sections
free
Oubaas Trail, Smuts Koppie
If you're introducing a child, a partner, or your own reluctant self to hiking for the very first time, this is a good place to do it. The Oubaas Trail is only 2.3km, and it ends at the top of Smuts Koppie at an obelisk built in memory of the Smuts family, which gives even a short walk a sense of arriving somewhere. Reward yourself with breakfast afterwards. You've earned it, even if the trail was short.
2.3km
short climb to a summit
first time hikers and kids
PRO TIP
Go early, ideally before 7am. Several reserves in this list get considerably busier after 9am, and the quiet hours are when you're most likely to see game.
A beginner trail isn't a lesser hike. It's the one that decides whether you ever do a harder one.
None of these will test your fitness the way a multiday summit push will, and that's exactly the point. Do a few of them, get comfortable with pacing yourself, reading a trail marker, and packing enough water, and the intermediate trails will feel like a natural next step rather than a shock to the system.