Southbroom: Coastal Trails and Nature

Southbroom offers several different points of interest to consider when planning your trip: trails through coastal vegetation, a coastal walking trail with various onward routes, a nature reserve and a green space in a park. If you’re looking for a hotel in Southbroom, you can start by considering which of these experiences you want to shape your stay. The options range from indigenous plants and birdlife to named route points, as well as picnics and a climbing frame in the park.

Bushbuck Trail: Coastal Vegetation and Birdlife

The Bushbuck Trail runs from the area behind the Southbroom Tennis Club through dense coastal vegetation. Its facilities include benches, permanent bridges and signage. Benches provide places to stop along the way, signage helps with orientation, and the bridges are another feature of the trail. The trail is home to indigenous plants and abundant birdlife, including a resident crowned eagle and a large flock of crowned hornbills.

Blue duikers, a shy family of bushbuck and increasingly grey duikers are often spotted in the Bushbuck Trail area. This extends nature-watching beyond birdlife to other species in the trail area. Sightings can vary; if you’re planning around wildlife encounters, don’t count on seeing any particular animal. The coastal vegetation and trail facilities also offer other things to enjoy, regardless of whether you spot a particular animal.

Eyles Park for Picnics and Family Time

Eyles Park offers families a green space for picnics and a climbing frame. It is behind the Southbroom Tennis Club on Captain Smith Road. This gives you the road as a reference point for the park, while the area behind the tennis club helps you locate the Bushbuck Trail. These different reference points can help you include the park and trail in your plans. For current conditions at the park, it’s a good idea to check locally before your visit. With its green space, picnic area and climbing frame, the park offers something different from the nature trails described here.

Coastal Walking Trail: Waypoints and Onward Routes

A coastal walking trail leads from Main Beach around the headland. From there, you can walk to Granny’s Pool or continue via The Outlook to Lewin Road. These options are clearly distinct: Granny’s Pool is one option from the headland, while the route to Lewin Road goes via The Outlook. You can distinguish between the two onward routes by their respective destinations.

From Granny’s Pool, the trail runs south past Frederika Nature Preserve and continues alongside the fourth tee of the Southbroom Golf Course. This southern section has its own landmarks: Granny’s Pool, the preserve and the fourth tee. When planning the sections of the route, you can use these points to distinguish the southern section from the loop around the headland and the onward route via The Outlook.

Frederika Nature Preserve and Golf Course

Frederika Nature Preserve covers 8 hectares of mature, untouched dune forest and is located on the Southbroom Coastal Walk. It borders fairways 16, 17 and 2 of the Southbroom Golf Course. The fairway numbers identify the parts of the golf course bordering the preserve; the fourth tee, by contrast, is a waypoint on the southern route from Granny’s Pool. You can distinguish the location of the nature reserve from the route points by their respective reference points. The Southbroom Golf Club welcomes visitors.

Discover more destinations: Pietermaritzburg, Verulam, Bergville, Umhlanga, Mooi River, Jozini, Underberg, Kloof

For the main travel overview: KwaZulu-Natal.