Nuwefonteinskop Wildflower Trail

The trail is based at the Nuwefonteinskop Lodge in Kotzesrus, between Bitterfontein and Garies, and the daily veld walks traverse sandveld, strandveld and hardeveld.

Daily activities entail a drive in a game viewer and wild walking between 10km and 12km across veld to photograph the floral display.

Voted as one of the Top 5 best flower viewing areas in 2025, the landscape surrounding Kotzesrus is ideal for hiking through the veld and choosing how to compose that perfect picture, all while looking for endemic species and cryptic geophytes.

Our Wildflower Trails are conducted in the peak of the flowering period between the 1st August and mid September.

The Namaqualand is a spectacular landscape of wide open spaces, incredible geological landscapes and stark silence.

Considered a semi-desert, the Namaqualand is renowned for its dramatic display on wild flowers in August and September, and is an ideal location to take a break from urban pressures, to relax and revitalise your entire being and marvel at this spectacular floral display.

Millennia of evolution has produced a remarkable ecosystem through a geological time frame of 400 million years.

Hiking through this vast landscape invokes a sense of place within and allows an unimpeded interaction with the remarkable fauna and flora of the region.

The trail is a fully guided, all-inclusive, 4-night, 3-day slackpacking trail in Namaqualand centered around Kotzesrus on the West Coast of South Africa.

Guests hike through the wild flowers of the Sandveld, Heuwelveld and Strandveld, overnighting in the Nuwefonteinskop Lodge.

A popular way to do any multi day hike is opting for the slackpacking option. Slackpacking, eases your load of hiking, whereby hikers hike with a daypack containing only their essentials for the day.

Tapping into a combination of Namaqualand hospitality and in depth local knowledge, the trail is fully guided and catered, providing a uniquely West Coast wildflower experience that unlocks a remarkable landscape and creates memories that will endure a lifetime.

Arrival : Guests arrive at Nuwefonteinskop Lodge in Kotzesrus and check in.

Once settled in, guests can simply relax on the stoep, or take a stroll to the rock outcrop overlooking the lodge.

After unwinding to the rhythm and pace of the Namaqualand sunset, guests are treated to a wholesome dinner.

Daily Hiking : The route and hike for the day will be chosen according to weather conditions and wildflower cover and will include hikes along the coast, across the sandveld and along an ephemeral river cutting through hardeveld and broken veld.

The focus is to immerse ourselves in this natural wonder that attracts nature lovers from around the world.

While we will be preoccupied with flowers, we will take everything else in from the incredible insects to the birds and mammals that are a vital component as pollination agents for the entire ecosystem.