Gravel Burn 2025 event guide | Page 30

WHERE WE’ RE GOING

START TOWN: KNYSNA

The sparkling gem of the beautiful Garden Route, Knysna pulls in local and international tourists with its picture-postcard setting – around a still lagoon, with iconic cliffs( The Heads) forming a gateway to the ocean, and deep, indigenous forests stretching up the mountains behind. There’ s plenty of small-town charm, and a sprinkling of drama too.

The treacherous waters of The Heads have caused many a shipwreck, and so impenetrable are the forests that in 2022 a cyclist went for a ride only to go missing for almost two days. Even with modern technology and tracking, the last remaining Knysna elephant can remain unseen for years.

The area’ s history is steeped in myth. Wealthy settler George Rex, widely considered the town founder, arrived in the early 1800s. A popular legend insists he was an illegitimate son of King George III, exiled to the Cape. Although historians dispute it, the story remains a part of Knysna’ s cultural DNA.

Gold was discovered in nearby Millwood Forest in 1878, bringing South Africa’ s first gold rush to the town. By 1890, it was all over, the amount too small to sustain any sort of industry.

Now this beautiful and beguiling town is a hub for nature lovers and adventure enthusiasts who head out into its cool forests and onto the blue waters of its lagoon, the latter a unique estuarine system famous for its oysters and home to rare species like the Knysna seahorse – endemic, endangered and found nowhere else on Earth.

And you can’ t mention Knysna

without talking about the Knysna turaco, or loerie as its more commonly known locally. Boasting shimmering green plumage and crimson wing flashes, the colourful bird can usually be seen flying between trees or hopping along branches in the forest. Even if you don’ t see one, you’ ll hear its cacophonous kow-kow-kow call, signalling that you have arrived at a truly special location.

STAGE 1 84km 2O5Om 12OOm

0km 10km 20km

30km

40km 50km 60km 70km 80km 84km

7 % PAVED 93 % UNPAVED PADSTAL TECHNICAL DESCENT SUMMIT

30 NEDBANK GRAVEL BURN