Emmarentia Dam

If Northern Farms is too far to drive, there is always Emmarentia Dam. It is off Beyers Naude, near Meliville Koppies, in the suburb of… you guessed it… Emmarentia.

The original farm was established by Lourens Geldenhuys in 1886, the same year Johannesburg was officially ‘born’. Louw Geldenhuys, one of Lourens sons married a lady named Emmarentia (hence the name). During the Boer War, the lake was dug to provide work for landless farmers. The park was later given to the City Council for recreation purposes. The Johannesburg Botanical Gardens were established in 1964 and form part of the park.

There are 3 dams, a rose garden, herb garden, dog walking park and quite a few mountain biking trails. It forms part of the Braamfontein Spruit trail. You can leave the park, and access the Spruit near the fire station on either side of Beyers Naude.

There are some easy routes that you can spice up with a few single tracks through trees and down hills and through the streams connecting the dams.  

 

Since dogs are walked there, the one thing you do need to watch out for when cycling is fresh dog poop. It’s never pleasant to cycle through it by mistake (I’d rather go through cow poop if I had to choose!). You also need to watch out for the actual dogs. They’re all so happy to be out and sniffing each other that they don’t pay attention to anyone around them.

 

If you park in the parking lot off Olifants Road, the car guard is a super friendly guy who knows all about cars, how much the accessories (like mags) cost and how fast they go. It’s not often you meet a guy who’s friendly just because.