Ama Poot Poot Hiking Trail Guide
The Ama Poot Poot Hiking Trail is a great day hike to do while you’re in Dullstroom. The trail is just 20 minutes away from Dullstroom. There are two routes on the Uitvlugt property that will take you past the Ama Poot Poot Waterfall. If you take a look at the Google Map reviews, you’ll be warned that the trail is not well marked. We thought these people must be exaggerating. They are not. Believe me, you need this Ama Poot Poot Hiking Trail Guide.
Hi from the Ama Poot Poot hiking trail!
The Basics:
R80/pp, cash only. Reservations are required via phone call to Kobus (+27 83 625 6806) or Vera (+27 83 629 9412). Just let them know your name and what date you want to hike. If they aren’t at the property, you’ll leave your hiking fee in a box by the reception area. Go through the gate to reach the house and you’ll see the box. You can pick up a map here too.
The hiking trail is open at 8 am.
There is very little shade or tree cover on the trails. Be sure to bring around 1.5L of water per person. Also, bring a hat, sunscreen, and wear long sleeves to protect yourself from the sun.
Don’t forget your trail nibs or lunch before you arrive as there are no services on site. If the reception space is closed, then you won’t find a bathroom either.
Check out the map here. I once again apologize for not taking a picture of the map before we use it to death.
Ama Poot Poot Hiking Trail Options
There are two, circular trail options at the farm to see the Ama Poot Poot waterfall. Neither are strenuous, except for the length of the Yellow Trail.
The trails are horribly marked for the first 3-4km. We took several wrong turns even with Wilhelm’s superior sense of direction. Don’t worry if this happens to you. I figured out a trick for the Yellow Trail. Red Trail peeps are on their own! Let me know if you find good hiking trail “hacks.”
You may see wildlife while you’re on the hikes. We saw some antelope at the end of our hike. We also saw a dead fox and two skeletons of antelope while on the trails.
Yellow Trail
13km, 4 hours
Difficulty: Moderate for length.
As I mentioned, we spent the initial part of our hike wondering where to go… Although there is a map provided when you pay, we found it about 50% helpful.
The beginning: entry until the river crossing
If you get lost or fed up, the trick is to keep a path somewhat along the fence on the left side of the property until you reach the river. Turn right along the river and cross at the wooden plank/rock section set up for hikers. The signage gets better from here.
Once you pay your hiking fee, exit the house area and make your way to the large gate and go through. Take a left to keep alone the left side of the trout dams.
This is the view just after you pass the gates. Keep left towards the electricity pole.
There are some places that look like a trail… We may or may not have taken wrong turns. Although I’ll share what we did, just keep that in mind. Also, if you really aren’t sure, just keep to the fence until you reach the river.
We went through a patch of forest that looked right on the map but turned out to be wrong somehow. Multiple times we thought we were on a trail and then it would abruptly end and start up 2 meters to the left or right.
Note that the property fence is to our left in all of these images.
Eventually, we went along the fence until we reached a rocky area. We descended and then noticed the river crossing path. Take this path!
The Middle: Up the mountain and Ama Poot Poot
All the signs you wish you had become available once you cross the river. (I wonder if the property owners change or something because it’s weird).
There is a clear path up the mountain. However, the incline is gradual and so most people will be able to trudge along until the top.
Keep following the trail. You’ll cross a small stream and continue until you reach Ama Poot Poot Waterfall!
View at the top of the mountain (left) and stream crossing (right).
Unfortunately for us, there was a HUGE hiking group (like 30 people) who had started the hike before us. They were super loud and so we didn’t enjoy the space at Ama Poot Poot waterfall.
If you go to the base of the waterfall pool, cross the river, and hike along the side of it, you’ll eventually come to a small swimming pool that is lovely for 2 people. We had our snack and dip here.
The path along the river once you cross the Ama Poot Poot Waterfall pool (left) and second swimming pool ft. me (right).
The End: Back to your car
Signage is a little fuzzy again on your final stretch of the Ama Poot Poot hike.
Rejoin the trail either at Ama Poot Poot or from the smaller pool. Follow the trail to a bridge that crosses over the river again. Keep left along the edge of the river.
Then, the path will veer away from the river and you’ll reach a gate that you should climb over. ( I would have missed this but Wilhelm noticed it). Keep on following the signs. It doesn’t matter if it looks like it’s a sign for another trail, it’ll all lead back to the main gate.
Time note: We usually do 13km in about 3 hours. However, we had to stop and stare at the map and backtrack a lot over the first 3-4km so it really slowed us down. We stopped for 30 minutes or so while at the waterfall for lunch and a dip.
Red trail
6km
Difficulty: Easy
The Red Trail will take you directly past several trout dams, through the fields, and to the Ama Poot Poot Waterfall. Here you can take a dip, have lunch, and then continue on to loop back. Eventually, the path will connect with the Yellow Trail at the very end.
