Hippo Trail Hike Guide

The Hippo Trail Hike offers incredible views of Blyde River Dam, the possibility to see hippos, see the “back” of the Three Rondavels, and plenty of birdwatching. If the full 14km hike scares you, then just plan to do a couple of km and then turn back! That’s exactly what I did. After all our almost daily Blyde River Canyon hikes, I was too tired to do the full thing…

Hippo Trail Hike Basics:

8+/- hours (depending on how long you hike)
14km (or as long as you want to hike then turn back)
Difficulty: Difficult 4/4 (due to length rather than steep gradients)
Out-and-back trail
Cost per person: R20
Location: Swadini Nature Reserve

Logistics

You must start this hike by 12 to get a permit. However, you’ll want to start earlier on this 14km trail. You can also just hike as long as you want and then turn back as this is an out-and-back trail.

Google’s hiking pinpoint on Google Maps is correct and it will take you to the entrance where you can park. There is no map, but the path is easy to manage as you will follow yellow markings on trees and rocks.

When we visited, we arrived at the entrance to Swadini Nature Reserve after 12pm. We told the security guard that we only planned to hike half the trail, so he let us go through (though we didn’t get a receipt). However, we turned around after 4km on the trail.

There is also a short (2km) waterfall hike that begins at Swadini Nature Reserve. Check out this blog post for details on that!

Fun fact: this area was used for the Australian reality show “I’m a celebrity… Get me out of here!” You can see some of the filming set leftovers on the waterfall hike (according to the above blog post).

As of August 2021

Hippo Trail: the beginning

Follow the road up to the beginning of the hike. Soon enough you’ll reach a junction where it’s unclear to continue (pic below on the right) straight or turn left. Turn left here!

Hippo Trail: the middle

You’ll hike a steady incline, stop along the way at some of the viewpoints.

The views along the hike are amazing!

The trail then descends to the dam.

On this part of the trail, you should watch out for hippos. Though they may be cool to look at, keep your distance. As you hike, you may notice large patches or trails that look trodden. These are likely where the hippos have walked. If there aren’t any hippos, you can take this little detour to check out the shore.

It may take some imagination, but you can also see the “back” of the Three Rondavels on the hike. You should notice three mountain tops in the same formation as you may have seen from the Leopard Hike, but the “rondavels” don’t look the same from here.

The Three Rondavels are just above Wilhelm’s head in this picture!

Hippo Trail: the end

After 4 days of hikes and arriving later in the day than needed to do the full Hippo Trail, we decided to turn around after just 4km. I don’t feel that we missed out on the full hike considering the efforts of the past few days. My advice is to turn around whenever you feel like it!

Follow the yellow markers all the way back to the beginning. You may be lucky and see some monkeys on the way.

Check out this blog post for another perspective on the Hippo Trail hike.

Swadini Nature Reserve Lookout Point

There is a lookout point and a small museum (?) at Swadini. This is 15 minutes (drive) from the parking lot for the hike. You will have to pay another R35 for this. However, I do not recommend it. The road is absolutely terrible and there is a 50/50 chance you’ll get stuck if you’re not in a high clearance vehicle. The views are the same as you’ll see from your hike so I’d skip this (unless you desperately need to use a bathroom).

Maybe the potholes don’t look that bad to you but driving on this for 10 minutes will likely cause anxiety. Some of the potholes were a foot deep, or more…

For a non-hiking activity at Swadini, you can take a boat trip around the dam.

Want more Blyde River Canyon Hikes?

Blyde River Canyon Guide