15 things to do near Knysna on the Garden Route

By Roxanne Reid
There’s so much to see and do in and around Knysna that you couldn’t fit it all into a single post. I’m going to focus on the Rheenendal-Buffalo Bay area to the west, which we’ve returned to again and again. Here are 15 things to do near Knysna on the Garden Route.

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1. Explore the Rheenendal Ramble. Much like the Midlands Meander in KZN, this is an informal lucky packet of stops, but along the Rheenendal Road 15km west of Knysna. Explore at your leisure, choosing from a range of activities, accommodation, shops and restaurants.

2. Treat yourself to some fresh farm cream from the Leeuwenbosch Factory & Farm Stall on the Rheenendal Road, about 200m from the N2. It’s thick and yellow, nothing like the thin white liquid you buy in Big City supermarkets. (You can also find it Pick n Pay and Spar in the Knysna/Sedgefield area.) Leeuwenbosch makes a range of yoghurts and feta too, and there’s a tea room/restaurant with restful views. [Update: Sadly, the farm stall burnt down in 2017.] 
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3. Visit Totties Farm Kitchen for tea or lunch. The food is good and in summer the garden is a blaze of roses and other colourful flowers. 

Totties lures you in with its colourful garden display

4. Visit the Big Tree and Dalene Matthee monument at the Krisjan se Nek picnic site in the Goudveld forest. Matthee is best known for her books Circles in a Forest and Fiela’s Child, both set in the Knysna forest. She died in 2005 and a monument was put up next to an 880-year-old Outeniqua yellowwood tree, where her ashes were scattered. You can do one of the ‘Circles in a Forest’ walking trails here (3km and 9km) to immerse yourself in the magic of the forest. 

Dalene Matthee monument and Big Tree, Goudveld Forest

5. Enjoy a picnic lunch in the forest. Jubilee Creek is a perennial favourite, with a short nature walk along the river. Go up the Rheenendal Road and take the turnoff to Millwood, then follow the signs. You need to pay an entrance fee unless you flash your Wild Card.

6. If you’re feeling energetic, do the 19km Homtini MTB Route that starts at the Krisjan se Nek picnic site and follows jeep tracks and logging roads through indigenous forest and plantation. It’s a circular trail that should take you about two hours if you’re fit. Get a permit at the Goudveld entrance gate, then drive another 4km to the starting point.
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7. Go hiking at Goukamma Nature Reserve, on the way to Buffalo Bay. Choose between six trails from 4-15km, from beach walks to dune walks with coastal fynbos, and forest walks that offer a good chance of seeing some of the 220 species of birds that have been recorded in the reserve. Take along your Wild Card so you won’t have to pay entry to the reserve. 

Enjoy one of the scenic walks at Goukamma Nature Reserve

8. Go whale spotting at Goukamma or Buffalo Bay. Southern right whales visit from July to October, and you may spot dolphins playing in the surf at any time of year.

9. Go fishing for alien bass on Groenvlei lake (get a permit from the Goukamma Nature Reserve office), or angling with a rod from the sea shore if you have a licence.
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10. Feel the sea breeze in your hair on an early morning beach walk from Buffalo Bay towards Brenton before sunbathers litter the sands. If you’re up for a three-hour walk, remember to turn around after half that time. If you have a friend willing to pick you up in Brenton, you can walk the whole beach – about 6km. From the Rheenendal Road, turn right on to the N2 towards Sedgefield then take the first turn to your left to get to Buffalo Bay.

Buffalo Bay beach

11. Visit Mother Holly’s Tea Garden (closed Mondays and Tuesdays) and its small goldfields museum, which has photos and stories from the swashbuckling days of the gold rush at Millwood in the late 1800s. The tea room and museum inhabit one of the old goldfields buildings.

Mother Holly's was closed last time we visited, but we've had many enjoyable teas in that garden

12. Near Mother Holly’s you can do a gold mine tour of a 19th century gold mine shaft and see some of the old mine machinery. Although lost for over a century in the forest where it was left when the goldfields were abandoned, it was recovered in the late 1980s by tractors, bulldozers and even a helicopter. 

Some of the gold mining equipment recovered from the forest is now on display

13. Drive at least part of the Seven Passes Road that starts with Phantom Pass in Knysna and ends in George, twisting and turning through forests and gorges. You don’t need to do all 75km of it, but you have to experience the wonderful views and get a sense of the ingenuity of Thomas Bain, who built it in the 19th century. It’s so special that it’s been declared a national monument, and that’s not something you can say about many roads in South Africa. 

Lots of lovely old bridges and indigenous forest along the Seven Passes road

14. ​If you’re here over a weekend, don’t miss the Wild Oats Community Farmers’ Market on the western edge of Sedgefield every Saturday. You’ll find organically grown veggies, homemade cakes, fine cheeses, honey, pickles and much more. Sit on a tree stump in the shade to enjoy a farm breakfast, pancake or delicious curried mince vetkoek.

Wild Oats market on a dull morning

15. Stay over for a night or three. We’ve stayed at a few of the host of options along the Rheenendal Road and one of my favourites is Cliffhanger cottages. Another is Forest Edge on the margins of indigenous forest along the Rheenendal Road. I’ve also enjoyed Blackwaters River Lodge opposite the turnoff to Buffalo Bay and the self-catering cottages in the Goukamma Nature Reserve along the road that turns off from the N2 to Buffalo Bay. 

Cliffhanger cottages on the Rheenendal road

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