Banhoek · Stellenbosch
The iconic Botmaskop to Bartinney trail
Flowing single-track, spectacular valley views, and a cold drink waiting at the bottom.
Single-track descent
HIKING & TRAIL RUNNING
SKYFALL TRAIL
SAFE AND GATED
The trail
Ride from the mountain to the cellar door
Bartinney offers mountain bikers, hikers and runners the opportunity to explore the spectacular landscape of the Banhoek Conservancy right on their doorstep. The signature descent drops from Botmaskop down to the estate on fast, flowing single-track with sweeping views over the valley vineyards.
In-house cottage guests get to savour the best of winelands living with a complimentary Estate wine tasting after exploring the Bartinney and Banhoek trails.
Banhoek Conservancy Permit
R100 per person — required for every rider & hiker
All proceeds fund trail upkeep, wildlife conservation and safety patrols across the mountain. Please pay before you arrive and show proof of payment at the Tasting Shed. This permit is over and above any event ticket.
Learn more at banhoekconservancy.org.
Bartinney trail gate times
- Monday – Friday: 07:00 – 17:00
- Saturday – Sunday: 07:00 – 17:00
After your ride
The Bartinney Tasting Shed offers ice cold beers and the best wine the valley has to offer.
Trail maintenance
Send comments and reports on trail areas and signage problems to info@banhoekconservancy.org.
Caring for the valley
Sustainability
The holistic sustainability practiced at Bartinney is about more than preserving the natural environment, it includes the biosphere of Banhoek Valley as a whole. Truly great wine begins in the vineyard and a great vineyard is founded in a diverse and healthy ecological environment.
7000+
Trees planted and fynbos re-established
17 ha
Rehabilitated land from pine and gum plantations
50%
Of Bartinney’s power generated through solar
2010
Biodiversity & Wine Initiative Champion status
More than 7000 trees have been planted and fynbos endemic to the area re-established on 17 hectares of rehabilitated land from what was previously a pine and gum plantation. Rose started her own nursery growing indigenous water-wise fynbos to restore the neglected slopes, and provide habitats for a wide array of organisms. The new plantings of fynbos form an ecological corridor that runs from the lofty Botmaskop down to the Zevenrivieren River.
Biological pest control rather than pesticides are used and no herbicide has been sprayed in 8 years. This together with the planting of native fynbos corridors from mountain to river has brought back the birds in abundance and the porcupines and rooikatte (lynx). A resident cape silver fox, honey badger pair and two leopards have been captured on the mountain camera. A buffer zone of proteas between the vineyards and the mountain discourages local baboons from raiding the grapes. Birds and animals aren’t all that have come back, when the final blue gum was felled, a spring that hadn’t flowed in 40 years began to flow again.
50% of Bartinney’s power is generated through solar. The farm is proudly a long-standing Champion status in the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative since September 2010. Rose is a founding member and Trustee of the Banhoek Conservancy, whose goal is for the social upliftment of the poorer communities in Banhoek and environmental improvement of the natural areas of the greater Banhoek Valley.