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Waves washing over dark rocks at Storms River Mouth at sunrise, with a headland behind
Gregory Fullard / Unsplash

Otter Trail Run course map and checkpoints

The whole Otter Trail in a day, 42 km along the Tsitsikamma coast with a single food stop.

2027 dates not announced yet, usually in September Garden Route, South Africa

The Otter, long known as the Otter African Trail Run and now the Otter TERREX Trail presented by EasyEquities, runs the full length of the Otter Trail on the Tsitsikamma coast in the Garden Route National Park. The rest of the year the trail belongs to hikers, who usually take five days over it, so race week is your one chance to run it.

There are two events on the same 42 km course: the Challenge, with an 11 hour cut-off, and the Race, with 9 hours and most of the prize money. Each one starts with a short prologue the day before that sets your start batch.

The direction swaps every year. The checkpoints, distances and map pins on this page are from 2026, a Retto year, run west to east from Nature's Valley to Storms River. If the swap holds, 2027 is a Classic year, Storms River to Nature's Valley, but the organizer hadn't confirmed 2027's direction when this page was checked.

SA-Venues' guide to the trail says there's no phone reception along it, only at the top of the escape routes. Fishing paths also branch off the coast, and in 2024 the defending champion lost the lead down one of them. Download the map before you go: GPS shows where you are without a signal.

This is an unofficial guide: Goat Maps isn't affiliated with Otter TERREX Trail presented by EasyEquities. Check the official site before you enter or race.

Otter course map

Every course's checkpoints on the Goat Maps topo map. Each course has a map of its own further down.

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Save it in Goat Maps for a recce or race day. GPS shows where you are even without a signal.

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Otter courses

CourseDistanceClimbingStartTime limit
Race42 km (26.1 mi)2,600 m (8,530 ft)Sat, Sep 26, 6:30 AM9 h
Challenge42 km (26.1 mi)2,600 m (8,530 ft)Thu, Sep 24, 6:00 AM11 h

Start times are the 2026 edition's.

Otter Race

The 42 km Otter Trail with a 9 hour cut-off and R100,000 for each winner.

Distance
42 km (26.1 mi)
Climbing
2,600 m (8,530 ft)
Start
Sat, Sep 26, 6:30 AM
Time limit
9 h

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The checkpoints and distances are from the organizer's 2026 Retto pace chart, Nature's Valley to Storms River. In 2026 the Race started on Saturday the 26th at 6:30 AM. The course gains about 2,600 m over eleven climbs of more than 50 m, three of them over 100 m, with close to 7,000 steps up.

Run this way, the harder climbs come early and the technical boulders come at the end, when your legs are tired. Of the four river crossings, the Bloukrans, 12.4 km in, is the one that can mean a swim, and the safety team has life jackets there. Munchie Point near Oakhurst Hut, about halfway, is the only food stop, and the 9.3 km from the Bloukrans to Munchie Point is the longest gap between checkpoints. The organizer says there are three cut-off points on the way but doesn't publish their times.

The first batch, the Abangeni, is the 24 fastest men and 16 fastest women in the prologue. You don't have to start in it to win prize money, but places go by finish time, so if you start two minutes back, you have two minutes to make up.

A suspension bridge across the Storms River mouth, under steep forested hills
Matthias Wesselmann / Unsplash

Otter Challenge

The same 42 km trail with 11 hours to finish, run two days before the Race.

Distance
42 km (26.1 mi)
Climbing
2,600 m (8,530 ft)
Start
Thu, Sep 24, 6:00 AM
Time limit
11 h

Take this course offline

Download its map in Goat Maps and you can find the next checkpoint without a signal.

Open in web map

The Challenge runs the same trail as the Race, with the same logistics and two more hours. In 2026 it started at 6:00 AM on Thursday the 24th from Nature's Valley, and the finish closed at 5:30 PM at Storms River. The organizer pitches it at committed trail runners, and leaves the elite field to the Race.

There are two medals on time: sub 8 hours and Otter in a Day. In 2026, 253 runners finished inside the 11 hours, and the crossing of the Bloukrans was calm.

Two small red boats on a dark river between the forested cliffs of a Tsitsikamma gorge
Thomas Peham / Unsplash

Getting an entry

Each event takes 300 runners. For 2026, entries opened on 24 October 2025 to 2025 runners and to premium and corporate buyers, then on 31 October to everyone, first come, first served. A standard entry was R7,650 and a premium entry R11,500. The organizer said after the 2025 race that, going by history, entries would sell out within 24 hours.

If you miss out, join the free waiting list: returned entries are offered to it, since you can't hand a standard entry to a friend. Refunds are 90% until 31 July, and entries can't be deferred. Elite runners can ask the race director for an entry.

The entry covers your SANParks permit and conservation fees, the prologue, the bus to the start, Munchie Point, lunch at the finish, the awards dinner and the medal. The 2027 dates weren't out when this page was checked.

Getting to the start

Green-roofed log cabins above a rocky shore in Tsitsikamma National Park, with a high headland behind
Mateus Maia / Unsplash

The Race Village sits at whichever end the course finishes. In 2026 that was the camp site at Storms River Mouth, and the start was at Nature's Valley, about 40 km away. On race morning, buses take runners from the village to the start, the first leaving at 4:30 AM for the Challenge and 5:00 AM for the Race. They're for participants only.

You can drive yourself to Nature's Valley, but parking at the start is limited and there's no shuttle back for your car. If you can't find a bed near the village, the organizer suggests Nature's Valley or Plettenberg Bay, about 20 minutes' drive from Nature's Valley. George and Gqeberha airports are 1 to 2.5 hours' drive from Plettenberg Bay.

Supporters and food on the trail

Supporters can't go onto the course: the trail crosses protected and private land, and only accredited crew are allowed on it. Friends can see you off at the start, with a printed SANParks gate permit, and meet you at the finish.

You're on your own between the two. Munchie Point is the only official water point, with snacks, fruit, nuts and eggs, and the organizer warns it won't carry you through the whole race. The huts have rainwater tanks, and many streams are safe to drink from, but not the Coldstream, Witels or Lottering rivers.

Weather and kit

Two small red boats on a dark river between the forested cliffs of a Tsitsikamma gorge
Thomas Peham / Unsplash

September in nearby Plettenberg Bay averages highs around 18 °C and lows around 13 °C, with about 54 mm of rain, by the climate table on Wikipedia. The 2026 Race ran in cool mist and light rain on muddy trails.

The organizers set a weather level, posted at registration and announced at the briefing the night before, and it decides your compulsory kit. Level 1 means a buff or cap, a pack, an emergency blanket, a windbreaker, at least 750 ml of water, a whistle, strapping, emergency food and a charged phone in a waterproof bag. Level 2 adds a thermal base layer and a fleece, and Level 3 a hooded waterproof jacket and dry bags. Above that the course is rerouted, and Level 5 cancels the race.

Otter checkpoints and GPS coordinates

For crews and spectators: each place on the map in decimal degrees, latitude first. Paste them into any map app or add them as waypoints in Goat Maps.

  • Nature's Valley (2026 start)

    -33.98422, 23.55846

  • Andre Hut

    -33.97891, 23.61794

  • Bloukrans River crossing

    -33.97879, 23.64729

  • Oakhurst Hut (Munchie Point)

    -33.99524, 23.73407

  • Scott Hut

    -34.00630, 23.78614

  • Ngubu Hut

    -34.01749, 23.84198

  • Storms River Mouth Rest Camp (2026 finish)

    -34.02212, 23.88591

Otter FAQ

When is the Otter 2027?

The 2027 dates hadn't been announced when this page was checked. The 2026 edition ran from 23 to 26 September, with the Challenge on Thursday the 24th and the Race on Saturday the 26th. In 2025 the Race was on 4 October.

Which direction does the Otter run in 2027?

It alternates each year. 2026 was a Retto year, Nature's Valley to Storms River, so 2027 should be the Classic, Storms River to Nature's Valley, the way hikers walk it. The organizer hadn't confirmed 2027's direction when this page was checked, and this page's checkpoints are the 2026 Retto ones.

What is the Otter prologue?

A short seeding run the day before your event: 4.4 km on the Storms River side in 2026, net downhill with a technical descent. You run it any time in the day window and it's timed mat to mat, and you can run it again if you don't like your time. Your time sets your start batch. Skip it and you start in the last batch.

Can supporters watch the Otter on the course?

No. Supporters can be at the start, with a SANParks gate permit, and at the finish, but not on the trail.

Is there cell service on the Otter Trail?

SA-Venues' guide to the trail says there's no reception along it, only at the top of the escape routes. You still have to carry a charged phone in a waterproof bag with the race emergency number saved. Download the map in Goat Maps before you go: your phone's GPS shows where you are without a signal.

What are the Otter course records?

On the Retto, Nature's Valley to Storms River, Bartlomiej Przedwojewski holds the men's record in 3:40:48 and Toni McCann the women's in 4:33:26. On the Classic, Marc Lauenstein ran 3:59:29, and Bianca Tarboton set the women's record of 4:30:55 in 2025.

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Updated . An unofficial guide, from the organizer's published information. Coordinates from the organizer's course and OpenStreetMap contributors. Photos from Unsplash. Organize a race? We help with course files.