Slack-packing Trails

Enjoy multi-day hiking trails, but with comfortable accommodation every night and without having to carry your gear on your back.

Scroll for more

Overview

Slack-packing trails in South Africa - Green Mountain TrailSlack-packing trails are South Africa's version of backpacking, made easy. These walking trails - informally described as hiking without hassle - are typically from 2 days to 7 days in length. Being short, slack-packing trails are easy to slot into a longer South African sight-seeing trip.

Many of us have enjoyed some multi-day walking trails when we were younger. When we were still happy to hike all day carrying our sleeping bag and all our food needs in a 15-20 kg pack on our back. But now many of us want a greater degree of comfort! We want a bed for the night. We want a home-cooked meal with wine. And most of all, we don't want to have to carry all our gear!

This is where slack-packing comes in...

Cederberg Ridge - walking

A slack-packing trail is a multi-day walking trail where all you have to do is carry a day pack with whatever you may need for the day... simple! Sometimes it is only offered for private groups of 4 to 6 people or more. Other times a couple can join a set departure.

However this is where the similarities between the various slack-packing trails in South Africa end. They all differ in terms of level of accommodation, difficulty, and guiding.

Suggested Slack-packing Trails

We highlight a few here in detail. Two are on the Garden Route (The Oystercatcher Trail and the Dolphin Trail) and two are in the Cederberg mountains. Guiding by local guides, learning about the landscape and history, swimming in refreshing rock pools are all part of the magic.

Pondoland Trail - this is a fantastic 4-night coastal trail in the northern section of the Wild Coast.

Green Mountain Trail - This is a popular trail in the Grabouw area of the Overberg. It's a 3 night trail that runs through the Green Mountain Eco Route which is the world's first biodiversity wine route.

Slack-packing trails - Eastern CapeWild Coast Meander - This is a 5 night coastal trail in the Eastern Cape which is tailor-made for individual parties on request. Shorter 3 night trails are also available. The walking is pretty easy and your bags are portered on foot.

The Donkey Trail - is another popular 3 night trail in the Little Karoo down into the remote but very scenic Gamkaskloof ('Die Hel'). You are accompanied by trained local guides from the community. The only disadvantage is that the minimum numbers are six but you may be able to join an existing party.

Cederberg Heritage Routes

These are 4-5 slackpacking trails in the Cederberg Mountains. See Klein Krakadouw for a brief overview of the other trails...

Contact them directly if you are interested at Cederberg Heritage Route

Slack-packing trails in South Africa - Cederberg Heritage Trails

Important Notes:
  1. Many of these trails are booked by small groups on an exclusive use basis. This means that it may not be possible for couples to simply join an existing departure. And some of them ONLY departure if you have 4 or 6 people in your group. (Others just ask a higher price.)
  2. We book a number of other trails as well. So chat to us. We usually book slack-packing trails as part of a larger itinerary.
  3. If you just want to book a slack-packing trail, then we may need to add on an admin fee to cover costs... Or we may point you to the trail supplier.

Download our Free Safari Planning Guide

20 pages of Useful Tips: Best time to Travel, Safari Costs, How to Get Around, Special Interests and more... Get our Free Guide
Find me the best in for
You delivered us a near perfect experience
"We had a wonderful trip largely thanks Cedarberg Travel. THANK YOU!! Thank you again Mari. We had a trip packed with fun, laughter, wildlife and bucket showers, all at a relaxed pace which made us all believe we had a real holiday, even if it started at 5.am every morning! I believe that you gave us 3 wonderful lodges ( arguably best we have visited in the African continent all with their speci ..." - Mr Dennis Lee
Hope to return for a third visit
"Helpful, patient, understanding. Did not meet anyone face to face but seemed friendly over the email. Although the trip was basically our design, it was good to work with Peter in deciding the actual locations and final route. He took all the “admin” hassle away – car hire, arranging accommodation etc. which meant we could just arrive and enjoy the trip. The final printed trip programme w ..." - Mr & Mrs Harrison, UK
I have been recommending you!
"Thank you so much Milandi! We had such a great time and experienced so much. I have been recommending you to some people as well. Everything is well organized and everyone was very pleasant. " - Mrs Claudia
Enjoyed the charm of the accommodation
"I want thank Mari for helping us create a vacation tour that worked for my husband son and myself. We got to see everything we would like to see that worked within our budget. " - Mrs Janouska, USA
Cedarberg always create amazing holidays
"Cedarberg do not fail to deliver they always create amazing holidays and we can not fault. We’ve used Cedarberg 5 times and keep going back for more African experiences Excellent. Amazing as always, as we always seem to test you guys with snow, weddings & having to change destination. You never fail to give us the best. " - Mrs Alexei Howell, UK
 
staff image

Dijanke Jung

AFRICAN TRAVEL SPECIALIST

Hi I'm Dijanke, I'm here to help you plan your ideal holiday experience GET IN TOUCH