HoutkapperTrail Run
Running through gold in the forest. Three routes through the lush afromontane forest of the Garden Route National Park, past the Dalene Matthee memorial and the 800-year-old Big Tree.
Three routes,
one forest
This trail run offers three routes of varying length and difficulty through the forests made famous by Dalene Matthee — author of Circles in the Forest, Fiela's Child, Moerbeibos and others. Runners pass through Krisjan-se-nek, where Dalene Matthee's ashes were scattered, the Dalene Matthee memorial, and the site of the 880-year-old Yellowwood tree known as the Dalene Matthee Big Tree.
The 15km and 27km routes are chosen to challenge intermediate to experienced trail runners while offering an opportunity to explore the deepest secrets at the heart of the Garden Route National Park. Single track and varied terrain will excite trail runners of every ability, including an easier route for beginners. Water can be drunk and bottles or hydration packs filled at the various water crossings — don't be put off by the colour, it's just tannin.
Distances & entry fees
All three races start from Quinta da Montanha, Bibbey's Hoek, Rheenendal, at 08h30.
- Start time
- 08h30
- Cut-off
- 5.5 hours
- Minimum age
- 18 years
- Start time
- 08h30
- Cut-off
- 3.5 hours
- Minimum age
- 15 years
- Start time
- 08h30
- Cut-off
- 2.5 hours
- Minimum age
- 14 years
Trail maps & elevation
All three trails on a single map, with elevation profiles for each distance.
Official Houtkapper kit
Commemorative merchandise for this event — separate from standard club kit.
Our sponsors
Race rules & info
Race packs, safety, cut-offs and medals — everything to know before race day.
- No refunds.
- No substitutions, upgrades or downgrades allowed.
- Race packs must be collected from Knysna High School Sports Grounds, Waterfront Drive, Knysna. Registration takes place in the Knysna Forest Marathon Expo tent.
- Positive proof of ID must be shown to collect your race pack — no third-party pick-ups allowed.
- No need to wear club clothing.
- Only the event race number, with tear-off strips, will be worn on the front of the vest.
- Immediate disqualification if a runner tampers with route markings, is caught littering, damages the trail or vegetation, or disobeys marshals.
- Minimum age for entering is 14 for the 9km, 15 for the 15km and 18 for the 27km.
- Parking at Quinta da Montanha.
- Medical, rescue, marshals' and organisers' decisions are final.
- Closing date for entries is as soon as the entry cap is reached for each race.
- The runner arriving before you at a technical section determines the pace — do not hassle or crowd a runner while an obstacle is being negotiated.
- The trail is designed with ample overtaking opportunities before and after obstacles. Do not "race" the technical sections.
- Remain in order of arrival at obstacles, as some queuing will be needed.
- Water points will have refreshments. All refreshments must be enjoyed at the table — no cups may be removed or carried onto the route. Runners are advised to carry backpacks with water.
- No on-the-day entries.
- No smoking or carrying of lighters anywhere from the start point onward.
- Spectators are requested to remain at the start/finish area.
- Your race pack will contain the final race rules and instructions.
- Start and finish venue is Quinta da Montanha, Bibbey's Hoek, Rheenendal. Parking marshals will assist with parking.
- Cut-off time for the 9km is 2h30.
- Cut-off time for the 15km is 3h30.
- Cut-off time for the 27km is 5h30.
- The first three finishers earn prize money for men and women. Winners must be present at prize-giving to receive their money.
- Gold medals to all finishers of the 27km within the cut-off time.
- Silver medals to all finishers of the 15km within the cut-off time.
- Bronze medals to all finishers of the 9km within the cut-off time.
There's gold in
the hills
Goudveld, the new home of the Houtkapper Trail Run, is an old mining town in the lush afromontane forests of the Garden Route National Park — 22km from Knysna, nestled in the lower slopes of the Outeniqua Mountains, with a magnificent variety of fynbos, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammal species.
Alluvial gold was discovered by James Hooper along the Karatara River in 1876. Further discoveries followed in the nearby Millwood Forest in 1887, and the gold mining village of Millwood grew to include hotels, a church, a shop, a surgery, a bank, a school and a post office — evidence of which is still visible today.
Goudveld is also where many woodcutters, or "Houtkappers," lived until they were relocated to the margins of the Sour Flats forest in the 1860s. Renowned author Dalene Matthee wrote extensively about their lives; early woodcutters were of all races, descendants of the First Peoples as well as the European settlers who arrived in the late 1770s. They led difficult, isolated lives in primitive huts until small woodcutter settlements — among them Bibbey's Hoek — were established in 1882.
"Adventure is in our nature."
Reference: The Woodcutter Settlements of Knysna, Philip Caveney, 2018.
5 things to do in Goudveld
Dalene Matthee Memorial & Big Tree
The memorial site and the 880-year-old Yellowwood, both on the trail route.
Homtini Mountain Biking Trail
A network of trails through the surrounding forest.
Drupkelders
"Overhanging cliffs that drip water" — a 45-minute climb down to the Homtini River, one of the secret gems of the Knysna forest.
Jubilee Creek
A picnic site with a pure, clean stream, named for Queen Victoria's Jubilee year in 1887.
Outeniqua Hiking Trail
A multi-day hiking trail through the wider forest reserve.