Modjadji Cycad Reserve Trail

The Modjadji Cycad Reserve protects the world’s largest concentration of Modjadji cycads — an ancient forest of Encephalartos transvenosus cycads that have been growing in these Limpopo hills for millennia, tended by the Modjadji Rain Queens whose dynasty has governed the Lobedu people for generations. The cycads — often called ‘living fossils’ as their lineage predates the dinosaurs — create an otherworldly forest landscape unlike anything else in southern Africa.

What to Expect

Gravel reserve tracks and forest paths through the cycad forest on moderately rolling terrain. The cycad forest is the experience — riding through groves of these ancient, palm-like plants with their massive crowns creates a genuinely extraordinary natural encounter. Stay on designated tracks. The views from the upper reserve over the Tzaneen valley and Limpopo Lowveld are exceptional.

Getting There

Modjadji Nature Reserve near Duiwelskloof (Modjadjiskloof). GPS: -23.6523, 30.2934.

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