Gordon’s Bay in the Helderberg region of the Western Cape is home to the Danie Miller trail, a family-friendly hike that is accessible to nearly everyone.
It offers spectacular views of Gordon’s Bay, False Bay and the Helderberg area and has a rich variety of indigenous plants and birdlife.
The hiking trail has no entry fee and can be accessed at any time.
Length: 2 hours
Grade: A
Difficulty: Easy
The trail begins at Aurora Drive and terminates near the end of Suikerbossie Drive. The entrance is marked by a vacant plot of land on the mountain’s side of the road.
The hike is fairly straightforward, as it is meant for the young and the old.
The 2.9-kilometre contour walk follows the natural curves above the uppermost houses just below the iconic Gordon’s Bay anchor.
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The hike is named after a former mayor of Gordon’s Bay, Danie Miller, who along with the help of his two daughters, built the trail in the late 1980’s.
At the time Miller dubbed the trail ‘the Mayor’s Walk’ and the Gordon’s Bay municipality decided to change the name years later.
Besides the spectacular views are Klipstpringer’s, Dassie’s, Chacma Baboons and White Pincushion Proteas — this white protea species is only found the mountain above Gordon’s Bay.
The trail was incorporated into the Kogelberg Biosphere and is now under the care and maintenance of the Biodiversity Management of the City of Cape Town.
Of the 131 plant species in the area, about 20 to 30 percent of them are along the hiking trail.
Fun Fact: Gordon’s Bay Travel claims that the famous emblem of an anchor and the letters ‘GB’ assembled from painted stones, emblazoned on the mountain, do not stand for Gordon’s Bay but for General Botha, the name of a training ship that used to be stationed in the town.
Picture: Instagram/thedanielacademysa
