Map of Reserve area
What to Do
Assegaaibosch is a popular picnicking area, so we suggest you get there early to avoid disappointment! Visitors are allowed on a first-come-first-served basis, and numbers are limited to 60 people per day.
Please note that under no circumstances is alcohol permitted on this premises.
Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve hiking trails will be closed until further notice to allow necessary trail maintenance to be conducted. Visitors are only allowed within the picnic area.
The Jonkershoek valley was occupied by white settlers when Simon van der Stel granted a number of freeholds in 1692. The Assegaaibosch homestead was built around 1792. Over the years, the farm changed hands a number of times. The huge old oak trees were planted by Wouter Eduard Wium, who was granted the land by Lord Charles Somerset in 1817, with the special proviso that he plant oaks in the area. In 1893, the land next to Assegaaibosch was used to establish a trout hatchery.
By the early twentieth century, Assegaaibosch had become quite rundown. In 1960, the Cape Provincial Administration purchased Assegaaibosch, and the house was renovated.
The sturdy stone trout-hatching house also still stands today, although trout is no longer bred here, as it is an exotic species. CapeNature uses the property as a conservation station. The original hatching house is a national monument.
To find out more, download the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve (incorporating Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve) brochure and map below.
How to get there
From Cape Town: Take the N2 highway out of Cape Town towards Stellenbosch. Take exit 33 for Baden Powell Drive towards the R310/Stellenbosch/Macassar. Turn right onto Polkadraai Road/R310 and follow the road. It becomes Adam Tas Street. Turn right onto Langstraat-Suid Road and continue onto Helshoogte Road. Turn right onto Simonsberg Road and at the roundabout take the first exit onto Martinson Road. Continue onto Jonkershoek Road and follow the signs until your reach the reserve entrance.
GPS: 33 96 76.62S 18 92 76.89E
Office hours: 08h00–16h30
Gate times: 08h00 - 16h30
Office number: 087 087 4118
Permit bookings Tel: 087 087 8250
Please note that under no circumstances is alcohol permitted on this premises.
Enjoy a day of picnicking at a cost of R40 and hiking for R60 per day per adult. Please note that only 60 people are allowed for picnicking per day.
Adults
R50
Children
R30
Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve Filming
Adjacent to Jonkershoek, the 204 hectare Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve is a stone’s throw from Cape Town.
Filming is permitted at the 10kilometre circular gravel road to the Jonkershoek valley, the Assegaaibosch river and the picnic area.