Trails: Asidlale Adventure Park is a breath of fresh air for Johannesburg mountain bikers! The new park is located on the Leeuwkop Prison property adjacent to Kyalami Racing Track and just north of Sunninghill.

The most obvious feature of Asidlale is the gradient. There’s a prominent hillside that’s enabled the trailbuilders to offer generous elevation gain and stimulating descending.
There’s currently a 33km trail that’s pretty much all Green rated in terms of skill level required – in other words, ideal for most riders. The climb to the summit of the hill is on wide, uncomplicated road or trail, where the view at the top is quite unexpected and spectacular – in Gauteng terms.

From the top of the climb, there are different descending options. There’s a tame descent which is low risk, there’s the flowline option, which starts off with some tight, rocky singletrack, but soon opens up onto a well-made flowline that anyone can ride and that skilled riders can appreciate with a series of tabletops berms and jumps. And there’s a recently added Enduro line descent which is gnarly and ideal for skilled riders.

The trail signage is good, but know that there will be ongoing trail development so expect regular updates as the park grows it’s network. It’s ideal for riders looking for a safe, challenging ride with a reasonable amount of climbing and for riders keen on gravity fun.

People: Access to the property was initially obtained by Like2Bike’s Kirsty Searle, Smish Burge and Brad Napier with the support of Ronald Lamola, the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services. Neil Evans, the man responsible for most of the development and maintenance of the Braamfontein Spruit for many years, has been brought in to work his magic on the trails and features.

Local tip: There’s a new wooden bridge across the dam at the trailhead should you wish to head straight to the flowline and not want to pedal the distance to get there.

Safety: The entire park is fenced and offers a high level of security.

Operating hours: Open daily, but closed on Mondays. Check the opening times on the website as park isn’t open all day on weekdays.

 

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