The Real Reason
Why We Ride For Paarl Trails
Paarl Trails... where do we start. Darren and his team are special people, and genuinely close to our hearts. They're salt of the earth, out there to gain nothing for themselves and make all the difference in the world for everyone else, not just the riders who frequent their trails, but the community they uplift and the kids they change the lives of along the way.
Their story is heart-warming and inspirational, and that's why we love partnering with them. Paarl Mountain is also one of the most complete riding destinations we cover, XCO, enduro, marathon and pump track lines all inside one connected network, which makes it a genuinely rare place to film. But it's the people behind it that make the partnership mean something.
Watching what's been built there, from almost nothing in 2017 to hosting stages of the Absa Cape Epic and a free weekly programme for local kids, is the kind of local trail-building story we want our channel associated with. It's the same reason we keep coming back to feature Paarl hubs on this site.
Their Story
From An Old Downhill Track To A Cape Epic Stage
When trail builder Darren Herbst arrived in Paarl from Johannesburg in 2017, the mountain had little more than an old downhill track and a modest stretch of underused trail at Rhebokskloof. He saw the potential for a full trails network and adventure destination, and set about building it, initially working alongside landowners, the Drakenstein Municipality and the Hero Legacy Project.
Close to a decade later, Paarl Trails has grown into close to 200km of marked, graded singletrack spanning XCO courses, enduro lines, pump tracks and two championship-level downhill tracks, connecting estates like Rhebokskloof, Fairview, Laborie and Spice Route into one network. In 2025 the network hosted two full stages of the Absa Cape Epic, putting Paarl Mountain in front of a global mountain biking audience.
Herbst's trail-building and maintenance team is now led day-to-day by Duan Stander, and the organisation runs the Hero Legacy Project, a weekly, free riding programme that gives local kids under 13 access to trails and skills coaching, alongside the trail network itself.