Blue Mountain Trail Review: This Luxury Slackpacking Experience Combines Hiking, Wine, & Art
If your soul is yearning for a good stretch of the legs, it’s time to dust off your day pack and head to Grabouw for the slackpacking experience of a lifetime. We all dream of booking that bucket list trip, as it turns out you don’t have to travel very far out of Cape Town to experience a world-class walking holiday. Just over Sir Lowry’s Pass, an hour’s drive from Cape Town, Wildekrans Country House serves as the base for the Blue Mountain Trail.
The 3-night guided trail experience offers a slice of heaven for hikers, where every day involves an 11 – 16 km hike on the southern side of the Elgin Valley. Your efforts are rewarded with daily lunches, wine tastings, mountain swims, intimate group dinners, and overnights at Wildekrans Country House. Over the three days you’ll walk in a different part of the Overberg region each day, covering a total of 50km. It’s an outdoor adventure that is all about breathing in fresh air, marveling at breathtaking views, learning, and exploring unspoiled nature. Oh, and there’s a generous slice of time carved out to appreciate good food and wine too!
The Blue Mountain Trail starts with check in on a Monday afternoon at 15:00 and check out on a Thursday after lunch. As this is a working farm experience, the trail takes place on week days so hikers get the full experience. With your walks starting on Tuesday you can settle into the 210-plus-year-old homestead on Monday afternoon with a stroll around the impressive gardens of Wildekrans Country House. The home and gardens boast an eclectic art collection lovingly curated by owner, Alison Green over more than two decades. Alison also offers an art walk through the home and garden for those who would like more information on each piece and how it came to Wildekrans.
Exploring the Elgin Valley on foot
Early morning wake ups start with coffee and a rusk before your guides Andreas Groenewald and Patrick Mapanje whisk you off to your hiking destination for the day. Before you head out the door, don’t forget to grab your packed breakfast, to be enjoyed on the trail with your fellow hikers. A short drive later and you’ll hit the trail.
My advice? Stay close with guide Andreas, especially if you’re hooked on flora. This way you’ll always be within earshot as soon as he shares nuggets of information on the fynbos unique to the southern side of Elgin, the Kogelberg mountains. There’s no better way to experience this up-close access to the UNESCO-declared Biosphere. Andreas has a wealth of knowledge to share about the region and his passion for nature and the Overberg is infectious.
You’ll need to be walking fit to tackle the trails and a good pair of hiking shoes is a must. A beautiful wooden walking stick, hand-carved by Patrick Mapanje, is gifted to each guest on arrival, which is another nice-to-have on some of the steeper stairs on the mountain trails.
As for food on the trail, it’s more than covered. All the trail snacks I packed went untouched thanks to the Wildekrans team’s generous breakfast boxes. You’ll find nuts, sweets, and fruit available to grab in the morning and we stopped several times on our journey for the occasional coffee, crunchie, iced cold fresh apple juice, fruit, and nuts. The snacks and drinks are all carried between the two guides, with guests left only to carry the burden of their day pack with water, sunscreen, and maybe a camera for photographs along the way.
Around 10am each morning you’ll enjoy breakfast with a view on the trail. Opening the breakfast tin that first morning was a real treat. I unpacked the freshly baked muffin, cheese, fruit salad with home-made granola, and yoghurt, as our guides passed around hot filter coffee and some boiled eggs to round off the meal. We took a seat in a shady spot for a picnic breakfast and food has never tasted so good. Each wholesome breakfast feels like it’s prepared with love, and provides you with just the fuel you need to power through a few more hours of walking before lunch.
Lunch time calls for good fine and wine
Lunch is an entirely different experience, far less rustic but just as enjoyable. You’ll descend from the mountains and catch your transport to the day’s lunch spot, everyday is a chance to sip and indulge at a different nearby wine farm. My favourite wine farm experience was the tasting at Paul Clüver combined with lunch at the Bloem Pizza Garden.
Our visit to Paul Clüver started at a shaded table under the trees. We kicked off our hiking shoes, sank our toes into the grass, and sat down to enjoy an iced cold Clüver and Jack cider. The crisp apple cider was the perfect way to wind down after a long day of hiking. The cider tasting was followed by the Exploring Varietals tasting which included the Paul Clüver Family Wines Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Village Chardonnay, and Village Pinot Noir.
From the serenity of the tasting room we were ushered down to the Bloem Pizza Garden. Nestled between the fruit trees, the pizza garden offers a more relaxed dinning option to the upmarket Bloem restaurant. Wood-fired pizza accompanied by a glass of Paul Clüver Chardonnay was the perfect duo beneath the Elgin sun. We started our meal with a few snacks from the menu including Marinated Morgenster Olives, Wild Kalahari Biltong, and Spiced Nuts. The main course was a selection of pizzas including ‘Parma Ham and Rocket’, ‘Pepperoni’, and ‘Bianco’.
After lunch, you’ll hop back into the mini bus to return to Wildekrans Country House for an afternoon at leisure. These precious few hours before dinner time afford you the time to squeeze in a nap, read a good book in the garden, or sneak in a G&T from the honesty bar in the sitting room.
If you start to get a little peckish, afternoon tea and cake is served daily around 16:00. The daily ritual offers a welcome opportunity to enjoy a cup of tea (or coffee) with freshly baked cake in the garden. You can also take some time to cool off at the pool. Tucked away at the back of the garden you’ll find the swimming pool, a welcome oasis after long, hot days on the trail. It’s a great place to relax with a drink and enjoy the peace and quiet of the garden.
Dinner at Wildekrans Country House
The combination of fresh air and hiking never fails to build an appetite. Each evening, dinner is served in the beautifully restored barn which also doubles as an art gallery displaying pieces by local artists for sale. Here, the diversity of the area is appreciated by the palate, with a menu celebrating local seasonal ingredients paired with wines from the area. Locally-produced olives, brinjals, asparagus, basil, lemons, tomatoes, gooseberries, apples, pears, plums and peaches are just a few of the ingredients that find their way onto the dinner plates of Blue Mountain Trail hikers.
The three course menu changes each night offering a gourmet feast for the eyes and tastebuds. Some of the favourites on offer include melanzane parmigiana, slow-cooked lamb shanks, fresh herbed fish poached in Sauvignon Blanc, and pavlova with fresh berries for afters.
The slow-cooked lamb shank was a true revelation. Homey and wholesome, it’s just the type of meal you crave after a day of walking. It’s also easy to see why the berry pavlova, a symphony of sweet and tangy, is another firm favourite of guests.
Before dinner on our first night we were also spoiled with a wine tasting with the owner and winemaker of PaardenKloof (Valley of the Horses) Estate. Our tasting included a history of the farm and a guided tasting of the PaardenKloof wine range.
The wines are made in small batches from grapes grown and harvested in perfect conditions. The PaardenKloof wine making process is a celebration of environmental intelligence, historical preservation, and sustainable farming and winemaking, giving birth to exceptional wines.
My favourite from this tasting was the Kiss Pinot Noir 2015. An earthy, terroir-driven Pinot Noir with forest floor, berries, cinnamon, and a bold confident finish. It’s something truly special to taste and I even made sure to take a bottle home with me to spoil a family member.
Book the Blue Mountain Trail
Walking for pleasure and solace is probably the most ancient gift that our body and health gives us. If you’ve never thought to book a walking holiday it’s time to jump on-board this travel trend. Whether you’re hunting for new adventures, seeking a sense of purpose, or just want to know what you’re capable of, the walking holiday is now on almost everyone’s bucket list.
Pilgrimage-style walking holidays have sprung up all over the world but with the Wildekrans Country House trail series right on our doorstep, South Africans can experience a world-class walking holiday without the need for a visa.
Following the success of the Green Mountain Trail (a 4-night trail experience), The Blue Mountain Trail was founded in 2015 and has grown in popularity as a punchier version of the much-loved Wildekrans Country House trail experience. The shorter experience is a lot more accessible to most people and suits those who may not have the ability or desire to complete the 4-night trail experience. If you’ve never done a multi-day trail before I would suggest starting with the Blue Mountain Trail as a way to explore this style of holiday before attempting the longer version.
The 3-night Blue Mountain Trail is priced at R15 500 per person sharing and R19 900 for single room occupancy until 31 July 2026 (including VAT). The price includes expert guides, overnight stays at Wildekrans Country House, all country-style meals, snacks while walking, personalised wine tastings, and a community walking stick.
To book contact info@greenmountaintrail.co.za or visit the website for more information and the full itinerary.
A maximum of 10 hikers (minimum of seven) is required on each hike. If you are not part of your own group, the organisers can include you in another group.
Should you like to bring non-hikers along, there are plenty of activities in the area, or they can simply relax at Wildekrans Country House while you hike in the mornings. Non-walkers have the opportunity to join most of the other activities with the group as well, including lunch at the wine farms after the walks.
Wildekrans Country House can be found just off the N2 at Houw Hoek in the Elgin Valley.
