Running the Leopard Trail | Baviaanskloof

Recently I spent a weekend in Baviaanskloof, located in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is also host to the Leopard Trail, a multi-day hiking trail that I decided to explore in part by running. I took my camera along to showcase some of the views and features.

Note: this post is a transcript from my YouTube short video/film: Trail Running the Leopard Trail | Baviaanskloof | South Africa. Feel free to watch the video below, or read on for the same content in written form.

Getting to the region was a bit of a mission, requiring us to drive the last 50km on dirt road. It was totally worth it for the views on the way though! We hired a small cottage for our stay, and I decided to use the earlier mornings to go out and explore the leopard trail.

About the Leopard Trail

The trail is roughly 56km in length and is typically taken on as a multi-day hike, although you can sign up to do it officially as a 2-day trail run.

Baviaanskloof roughly translates to Baboon Gorge, or valley of the baboons. On my stay here it certainly lived up to that name, as I watched them sitting in Acacia trees foraging for food, their barks echoing through the surrounding valley and mountains.

Leopard Trail – On the Run

On my exploration of the trail, I find myself stopping multiple times in the first few kilometers to admire it’s beauty. At the same time I can’t help but feel a sense of vulnerability here. The mountains and terrain are beautiful, but harsh. There is little to no mobile phone signal on most of the route. Twist an ankle here on your own, and you’re in trouble.

The heat forms a part of this harshness too. I’m running in February, and it beats down hard on the landscape, radiating back up off the light coloured ground and back onto me from below. As soon as the sun appears over the mountains, the sweat runs off me like an open faucet.

The rough, scarred terrain, gorges, and mountains homing various caves are just what I want on an adventure like this though. I’m excited to run in a different landscape, and the Leopard Trail is certainly delivering that.

Gabriel’s Pool

After a particularly harsh climb out of the starting valley, and a 6km run along a much easier plateau, I arrive at a stunning gorge. Clambering over the water eroded rocks, I’m in the cool shade of the gorge, with rock pools all around. Frogs leap off the rocks, diving to take cover in the depths as I approach. It feels like an oasis in the middle of a desert.

Terrain

The next style of trail I find is single track leading up and over the saddle between two smaller mountains. The trail is a hybrid of switch-backs on the steeper parts, and rolling hill connecting other sections. It appears nobody else is out on the trail today just yet, as this spider has a very prominent web across the trail, ready to ensnare any hiker or runner passing through.

The running can be easy at times in the flatter parts, but difficult on the climbs and descents, especially where the trail gets rough. There is beauty in the technical parts though, with interesting rock pinnacles, home to small ‘dassies’ who scamper around hiding, observing, and working as a team to warn eachother of your approach.

Leopard?

I don’t spot any leopard during my time on the leopard trail. I’m not surprised though, they’re timid creatures in the presence of humans, and tend to operate nocturnally.

However I still can’t shake the feeling of being watched or stalked as I run through these gorges and mountains littered with caves, the perfect dwelling for a leopard. It’s a slightly nerve wracking feeling that dissipates but is renewed on the occasions as I pass motion triggered cameras set up to capture leopard movements.

Cedar Falls, a Bonus Leopard Trail Segment

There is a bonus addition to the leopard trail at the end – an optional 10km route to add, which takes you to Cedar Falls.

The route is easy to begin with, but increases in technicality as you get to the waterfalls themselves. You add more and more rock scrambling as you approach, and if you want to reach the most beautiful part, you are forced to swim across 2 or 3 sections of water. Be sure to bring a dry bag! Your reward is an amazing set of water falls in a smoothed out rocky gorge, where voices seem to echo endlessly, and you can cool down before returning the remaining 5km back to camp.