Discovering the Constantia green belt – city walks with a difference

Constantia Valley

In Constantia's green belt there are no fewer than nine inter­woven trails that provide inner-city walk­ing that is easy to reach but nev­er­the­less man­ages to give one a sense of get­ting away from it all, sur­roun­ded by the green leafi­ness of Constantia.

The not very strenu­ous walks are roughly 30 to 45 minutes each, depend­ing on how many of them you attempt at a time, and provide you with a space in which to don a hat and boots, whilst tak­ing in the beauty of streams, rivers and moun­tain scenery in the midst of eleg­ance, some of the old­est wine­lands in the Cape, soar­ing oak trees, gabled Cape Dutch homesteads and a stretch of stately homes. When the sun slants through the trees, and the lush grass rises to meet one, you can be for­given for think­ing that you've stepped for a moment onto the set of a Merchant Ivory pro­duc­tion, such is the qual­ity of the light and the beauty of the sur­rounds ... des­pite the suburb's 'mink-and-manure' pretentions.

Constantia Valley

The Constantia Valley is one of the world's best wine grow­ing regions that has pro­duced award-winning vin­tages since the time of Simon van der Stel, who estab­lished the entire val­ley as a wine-growing region. Today five estates com­bine to form one of very few wine routes so close to a city centre.

Whilst the coun­cil helps clear space and weeds in the green belt, it is unable to help main­tain these green belts on a reg­u­lar basis. The Constantia Hills Residents Association 'adopts out' these open spaces to res­id­ents to help keep grass trimmed and weeds removed to pre­vent flood­ing in winter.

The Alphen Trail is pos­sibly one of the most pop­u­lar of the green belt walks. The walk can start at either end, but most people park their cars on the bend of Alphen Drive that leads off Constantia Main Road to the Alphen Hotel (a national monu­ment in its own right with beau­ti­ful gar­dens and tea to die for, if you're look­ing for some­where to do 'high tea' before or after your meander).

Constantia Valley

The trail winds along the Diep River to the Constantiaberg Mountain and in places allows one to walk on either side of the river, with a num­ber of bridge cross­ings. It's a beau­ti­ful walk filled with lush grass, trees, beau­ti­ful skies and the Le Sueur Meadow on the far end of the walk towards Hohenort. People take their dogs and fam­il­ies on Sunday after­noon rambles here — like all of the Constantia trails, it's safer on week­ends or in lar­ger groups dur­ing the week. The walk never fails to restore the soul, demand­ing little from one and yet giv­ing so much in return by way of views and fresh air.

The Diep River Trail can include the Alphen trail if you want it to, or you can join it at Le Sueur Meadow, on the bend of Brommersvlei Road, on Avenue Beauvais or on Southern Cross Drive (where it can either start or end).

Spaanschemat River Trail has park­ing space just across the road from Peddlar's on the Bend en route to Tokai, past Constantia Waldorf school, and winds it's way par­al­lel to Strawberry Lane along the Spaanschemat River. This is a 25 to 35 minute walk. The other side has a park­ing area in the bend of Strawberry Lane. You can also link up with the Grootboskloof trail from here, to provide a longer walk should you want to.

One can join the Grootboschkloof Trail either from Firgrove Way at the road bridge, although there is not park­ing here, from Strawberry Lane or from Willow Road (both of which have park­ing areas). It's a 20 to 25 minute walk that, if added to the Spaanschemat River Trail provides a good Sunday meander and brings one to Airlie Bridge on Neva Road. The map does sug­gest that there is a pro­posed addi­tion to this trail to Spaanschemat Road.

The Grootboschkloof green belt is part of a rehab­il­it­a­tion pilot pro­ject that began late in 2006. Over 2000 plants were donated and planted by Working for Wetlands and a gardener is sponsored two days a month to help clear ali­ens and weed.

The Silverhurst Trail is the one sighted on Constantia Nek Road, which slices through the trail a little way into its start. You'll find the begin­ning of this trail on the other side of Peddlar's on the Bend, from the Spaanschemat River Trail. Walk up Brounger off Spaanschemat and hit the trail where it runs par­al­lel to Pagasvlei Road. This is also a pop­u­lar trail and runs along the back of Silverhurst Estate. You can join the trail just after its start at the park­ing lot on Constantia Nek Road.

The Brommersvlei walk is almost encased by Rathfelder Avenue, where the road makes the fam­ous loop around the Bel Ombre Meadow, a favour­ite for Sunday strolls amongst Constantia's set, and dogs just love the green pas­ture. Views here are pretty spec­tac­u­lar and it's easy to under­stand why Constantia is so pop­u­lar amongst Capetonians and expats alike.

De Hel Nature Area is the set­ting for another of the Constantia green belt trails – this one bordered by Constantia Nek Road to the west — where there is an entry point and car park, Rhodes Drive to the north, and Southern Cross Drive to the south east where there is another entry point and car park. The walk meanders just above the De Hel meadow and it's a fairly sub­stan­tial walk, tak­ing 45 to 55 minutes in total.

Doordrift walk affixes itself to the Alphen Trail and can start at the same park­ing lot, but heads out south along the Diep River, cross­ing under the M3 Freeway, across Constantia Main Rd and then meanders down past Norman Henshilwood School end­ing in Doordrift Road, where there is another park­ing lot, offer­ing another start­ing point.

Klaasenbosch Trail has a num­ber of entry points along its route. The north­ern reaches of the walk are off Rhodes Drive, west of the Kirstenbosch top entrance gate, or from Cecilia Forest, where it lies on the slopes between Constantia Nek and the south­ern bound­ary of Kirstenbosch. The walk is cris­scrossed by Spilhaus Road, which becomes Hohenort, and bordered to the south west by Brommersvlei Road. In its centre is Cellars-Hohenort Hotel, and to the south you can join up with the Alphen Trail.

Two local volun­teer guides are avail­able to assist vis­it­ors or school groups with know­ledge of the riv­er­ine fauna, flora and envir­on­ment on the Green Belts. Contact info@constantiavalley.com for more information.

Useful Links:
Constantia Valley
Things to Do in Constantia Valley
Constantia Valley Accommodation