Tucked away in a dip less than a stones throw from the
busy N3 in the Natal Midlands lies the little town
of Howick. It is all hustle bustle but unassuming,
old school and filed with farm vehicles and people.
Over the rise in the bordering Sappi forests lies
the secret network of some of the most awesome
single track that you will find in SA. Laid out in
the form of a fan from the highest point in the area
is a selection of singletrack from smooth flowing
forest lanes to gnarly rock gardens that will make
you clinch or break your teeth depending on your
skill level.
The Howick trail system has been setup and controlled
by the Howick Mountain Bike club. This mountain
bikers paradise is not well known, not because it is
hidden but rather due to its low key nature.
We stayed at a holiday house on one of the surrounding
farms, a comfortable accommodation option for
families with kids. The local bike shop in town
Adrenalin Cycles is a good spot to find all the
trail information. We spoke to Grant at the shop and
he pointed us in the right direction and was able to
give us the necessary SAPPI access permits. These
permits are vital in the control of the use of the
trails and for insurance purposes for the land
owners.. As usual mountain bikers are visitors to
this land and if this is to continue or hopefully
grow then all riders need to bide by the agreements
and rules.
We entered the trail at Home Jerome, one of the many
named trails. In fact all the trails are named so
although there is not a map and arrows to show the
way we soon worked out our bearings and made the
connection to all the trail names. Discovering new
trails and riding randomly until you pop out
somewhere is one of those special things about
mountain biking. All the trails are marked, but you
still need to keep your bearings about you to make
sure you don’t get lost in the woods.
We spent 3 consecutive days riding these trails and
everyday we rode our favourite bits of the previous
day as well as some brand new trails. The first day
was just after some serious rain so the trails were
a bit slippery but they dried out nicely in the next
few days so the riding was perfect. Most of the
trails are inside the forest and weave in-between the
trees. There is a good mix of some flatter terrain
in the early part of the trails as well as some nice
flowing tracks that will be ride able by all riders.
To get to the more serious stuff you need to tackle
the climb up to the mast. The easy route is up is
along the zig zag forestry jeep track. If you want
more of a challenge then you can pick one of the
many singletracks to ride up, they are steeper and
more direct but also more fun. Once you get to the
top there are many options to get down. Pay
attention to the warnings though because there are
some of the trails that will require several inches
of suspension and decent skills to get you down in
one piece.
Just when we thought we had ridden all the good stuff
we found even more. On the last day we hooked up
with Andre from
Rushsports. What a difference riding with
someone who new all the trails, he pieced together
an awesome mornings riding as we cris-crossed the
mountainside from one singletrack to the next.
We had so much fun on the Howick trails that we didn’t
even get a chance to get to the Karkloof trails just
up the road. So we will have to go back to sample
those Howick trails again and make a visit to the
supposedly better Karkloof trails.
Tucked away in a dip less than a stones throw from the
busy N3 in the Natal Midlands lies the little town
of Howick. It is all hustle bustle but unassuming,
old school and filed with farm vehicles and people.
Over the rise in the bordering Sappi forests lies
the secret network of some of the most awesome
single track that you will find in SA. Laid out in
the form of a fan from the highest point in the area
is a selection of singletrack from smooth flowing
forest lanes to gnarly rock gardens that will make
you clinch or break your teeth depending on your
skill level. 
We entered the trail at Home Jerome, one of the many
named trails. In fact all the trails are named so
although there is not a map and arrows to show the
way we soon worked out our bearings and made the
connection to all the trail names. Discovering new
trails and riding randomly until you pop out
somewhere is one of those special things about
mountain biking. All the trails are marked, but you
still need to keep your bearings about you to make
sure you don’t get lost in the woods. 
