Quad biking is one of the fastest growing adventure sports in the world and South Africa, with its amazing weather and spectacular scenery is one of the best places to enjoy all the thrills (and spills) that the sport affords. From the arid lands of the Northern Cape, the mountains in KwaZulu-Natal, the green Garden Route in the Eastern Cape and the adrenalin-fuelled trails in Gauteng, each of South Africa’s nine provinces offer quad biking enthusiasts something unique and entirely unforgettable.
Nature Discovery Tours is a mere 45 minute drive from Cape Town in the Western Cape and caters to quad biking enthusiasts who not only appreciate adventure but nature as well. The quad bike trails used by Nature Discovery were designed with the help of Cape Nature Conservation and offers bikers the chance to see some of the Cape’s rarer plant species. The area covered by Nature Discovery Tours includes the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve in Elgin Valley, which is famous for its award winning wines. Nature Discovery offers a range of quad bike trails suited to beginners to experienced bikers, including morning and afternoon trails, full day trails and overnight tours.
Staying in the Western Cape, Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo (Little Karoo) offers something completely different. No lush wine lands here, instead quad bikers enjoy breathtaking mountain scenery and sparse scrubland. TBI Adventures’ quad biking trail is near to the Swartberg Mountains (Black Mountains), so bikers will traverse hills that are mostly gentle, but challenging in parts. Highlights include the rough bush of the region, as well as indigenous trees and plants, and the occasional stream. Tour leaders are quick to point out that while quad biking is technically an extreme sport; their trails are not for adrenaline junkies, but rather for those who have the utmost respect for nature.
Another nature-focussed quad biking tour operator is Eco Quad Adventures, in the Emazana Game Reserve in Mpumalanga. Eco Quad Adventures offers a mix of quad biking trails for game and wildlife enthusiasts, including quad bike game drives, 4×4 trails, sunset and sundowner trails, short day rides and overnight packages. Trails are suited to beginners and experienced quad bikers, although if you want to see Game you are advised to stick to the ‘leisure trails’ which are led by an expert game guide. ‘Extreme trails’ are on offer in the nearby mountains for those who prefer the idea of a little quad bike racing to gentle game viewing.
Quad bikes are available for hire at most tour operators, although you are welcome to bring your bike if you own one. As a rule, operators also tend to provide some basic instruction on riding a quad bike, so even if you’ve only ever seen pictures of quad bikes before, you’ll soon be out quad biking with the best of them.
Quad biking in the mountains