Barrets Wattles (Day 1)

Start your hike at Barretts Coaches. Pass the Berlin Forest Station with its plantation offices, workshops and sheds. The trail then takes you down into the first ravine, Jack's Corner, before crossing a stream. Take note of the difference in vegetation, the 'sound' of the pine trees in the plantation, and the indigenous forest. Walk through the indigenous forest to the base of a cliff, which follows a contour. Follow a short plantation path between two groups of pine trees and then descend into a valley. Hikers can fill their water bottles at the streams.

The trail now leaves the indigenous forest and continues to a valley. Notice the different the forest vegetation, which is due to the amount of moisture available and the angle and depth of the soil. Exit the valley and follow the cliff edge while enjoying the beautiful view down the valley. As you walk along the edge of the cliff, notice the difference in the density of vegetation from the base of the cliff to the lower slopes. The loose rocks at the base of the cliffs provide protection against fire and allow the vegetation to grow more densely.

Along the cliffs, the trail descends through the rocks and starts to drop down into the Starvation Creek Nature Reserve. Along the historical bridle-path, you will see the endangered Starvation Creek cycads (Encephalartos iaevifolius). You now descend to a stream leading to the Starvation Creek Falls. Vegetation in this area ranges from dense forest to open grassland and to a plantation alongside a wetland. Sections of the trail wind through the pine trees. The needles of the pine trees disguise many trenches made during the Kaapschehoop gold rush in the early 1880s.

The trail now takes you through a pine path to a small rocky ledge that leads to a stream surrounded by tree ferns. You cross a wetland before entering a patch of pine trees where the Wattles Hut is situated.