40 Free and Low-Cost Wild Green Spaces to Explore Around Cape Town
Looking to get out in nature with your kids more? The good news is in Cape Town you don’t need a big yard. Check out this extensive list of 40 free or low cost green spaces and nature rich spots to take the kids into the wild open more often.
What this list covers and how to track your nature excursions
This list covers areas in the Southern Suburbs, Atlantic Seaboard, Cape Town Inner City, Wineland’s and beyond.
If you’d like to get a free downloadable simple visual map schema featuring all these locations with checkboxes and a personal colour in star rating so your little ones can keep track of where they went and what they liked as well as a grown up Google Maps List of all the spots – sign up to our newsletter to get it Free. We create many fun parent support materials and forest school inspired tips and guides.
1. Alphen Trail, Constantia
A shady, tree-lined path threading through Constantia’s green belt. Easy underfoot and good for little legs. Free.
This is one of our favourites because it offers low bubbling brooks, small rivers, tree swings and playful bridges among the occasional wide open meadow.
2. Ruyteplaats Forest, Hout Bay
Tall trees, dappled light and the kind of woodland floor that begs for stick-building and leaf-collecting. Free.
3. Silvermine Dam, Ou Kaapse Weg
A mountain reservoir ringed by fynbos, with a picnic spot right on the water. About R44 per adult, R22 per child (SA residents with ID).
4. Newlands Forest
Cool, shaded paths, streams and big old trees on the slopes of Table Mountain. Free.
5. Tokai Forest and Picnic Area
Towering pines, soft needle-carpeted ground and plenty room to roam. Go look for the Secret Forest Café while there for an excellent and much tucked away coffee while the kids continue to play on their bikes. Entrance Free.
6. Cecilia Forest, Constantia Nek
Fern-lined paths and indigenous forest just above the suburbs. Free.
7. Rhodes Memorial and Mowbray Ridge
Open lawns, forest edges and mountain paths, with views across the Cape Flats. Free.
8. Pipe Track, Table Mountain
A wide, gently contouring path between Kloof Nek and Camps Bay, with fynbos, sunbirds and sea views the whole way. Free.
9. Signal Hill
Short, easy walks with big skies, windswept fynbos and a panorama over the city and bay. Free.
10. Lion’s Head
Wildflowers in spring and a spiral path to a view worth the effort, best for older kids and adults. Free.
11. Deer Park, Vredehoek
Green and quiet on the lower slopes of Table Mountain, a good starting point for mountain walks. Free.
We love this space and host many of our town side sessions and parties here for parents seeking regular nature based learning through play activities for their kids.
12. Company Gardens, City Centre
Old oaks, squirrels and shady lawns right in the heart of town. Free.
We love this spot because it can easily break up any inner city excursion with some much needed nature time plus there are old historical sculptures to explore and learn about and you’re within walking distance to the planetarium, the natural history museum and the national art gallery.
13. Green Point Urban Park
A biodiversity garden, meandering paths and wide open lawns in the city bowl. Free.
14. Liesbeek River Trail, Observatory to Mowbray
A winding riverside path with birdlife and plenty of green on the way. Free.
15. Rondebosch Common
One of the last remnants of Cape Flats sand fynbos, wild, spring-bright and surprisingly peaceful. Free.
16. Arderne Gardens, Claremont
Beautiful Garden with many European specimen trees with trunks wide enough to hide behind, and plenty of climbable branches to look up into. Free.
17. Wynberg Park
Shaded paths, big trees and a small-forest feel in the middle of the suburbs. Free.
18. Maynardville Park, Wynberg
Huge lawns and old trees, with room for picnics and games. Free.
19. Zandvlei Nature Reserve, Muizenberg
Wetland trails, birds and open water, with the mountain as a backdrop. Free.
20. Princess Vlei, Retreat
A restored wetland alive with birdsong, with lawns and paths to stroll along. Free.
21. Kirstenhof Wetland Reserve, Tokai
A tucked-away wetland with boardwalks, frogs, reeds and a lot of quiet. Free.
22. Rietvlei Wetland Reserve, Table View
Birdwatching, reed beds and flat easy walking beside the water. Free.
23. Wolfgat Nature Reserve, Mitchells Plain
Coastal dunes and spring wildflowers on a wild stretch of the False Bay coast. Free.
24. Noordhoek Common and Wetlands
Open common, wetland edges and horse-trail tracks with big mountain views. Free.
25. Boyes Drive and Muizenberg Peak
Mountain walking with sweeping views over False Bay. Free.
26. Elsie’s Peak, Fish Hoek
A short climb through fynbos to a lookout over the bay. Free.
27. Oudekraal, Twelve Apostles Coast
Rocky shores, rock pools and fynbos along a wild stretch of the Atlantic coast. About R44 per adult, R22 per child.
28. Durbanville Nature Reserve
Renosterveld, spring wildflowers and gentle rolling walks. Free.
29. Tygerberg Nature Reserve, Bellville
Rare renosterveld, wildflowers and lookout points over the Cape Winelands. Small entry fee.
30. Rondevlei Nature Reserve, Zeekoevlei
Wetland walks and hide-and-watch time for hippos, birds and more. Small entry fee.
31. Platteklip Gorge, Table Mountain
A steep, direct route up the front of the mountain. Best for teens and adults, and not one for little legs. Free.
32. Slangkop Lighthouse Boardwalk, Kommetjie
A wooden boardwalk past fynbos and rock pools, with the lighthouse and plenty of sea air. Free.
33. Bracken Nature Reserve, Brackenfell
A small reserve protecting fynbos, strandveld and renosterveld, with a short loop walk and shaded picnic spots. Free.
34. Intaka Island, Century City
A wetland reserve with over 120 bird species, and bird-spotting lists for kids. Intake entry fee from R23 per child and R37 per adult.
35. Strandfontein Birding Area
Pans and waterbirds in a big open landscape. It suits keen birders more than picnickers. Free.
36. Cape Flats Nature Reserve, Bellville
A small fynbos reserve on the University of the Western Cape campus, with walking paths and Table Mountain views. Free, subject to change.
37. Edith Stephens Nature Reserve, Philippi
A wetland reserve doing conservation work. Google lists weekday opening only for Edith Stephens Nature Reserve, and one visitor reported road works and dust. Entrance Free, subject to change.
38. Constantia Neck Walk to Kirstenbosch
A moderate contour-path walk of about 2–3 hours. It’s free on the path, but going into the Kirstenbosch gardens costs usual Kirstenbosch rates, to be paid at the gate.
39. De Hel Forest, Constantia
A quiet, green forest alcove nestled alongside winelands, offering a short exposed loop trail with offshoots into the belly of the forest area. Perfect for fort building a boat races along the small river. Older guides advise walking there in a group. Free.
40. East Fort, Chapman’s Peak
Open mountain side hikes overlooking Hout Bay Waters with intermittent views of windswept cloudy mountain tops and sometimes even whales or dolphins in the bay.
To make sure your kid gets enough nature time outdoors in the sun and wind and rain isn’t a hard thing to do. And as you can see we’re not short of places to do it in Cape Town.
But if you run a busy household or are short on time, Nature Plays Forest School is here to help. We offer weekly sessions for a range of ages from 2-4, 3-5, 5-10 in town and in he southern suburbs. Get in touch to book the group and frequency that is right for you and your kiddo. We would love to support your family in learning through play in nature.
