Merrell Urban Hike

Constitutional Hill & Braamfontein

A Story Told on Foot

You gather at the threshold of justice, where old prison walls still carry whispers and the Flame of Democracy burns steadily. Here, Johannesburg begins her story – not as a polished city, but as a place of struggle, memory, and transformation.

From the court, the walk drifts into the streets of Braamfontein, where artist Hannelie Coetzee has carved new stories into stone and mosaic. Her Hawk Here artwork perches at a busy corner, while her studio in Liberty Indwe Park tells of rivers reclaimed, rubbish reborn as art. Along the Jukskei, she and her community pull waste from the water, turning it into structures that protect biodiversity, reduce floods, and spark grassroots climate action. Trash becomes treasure, and resilience becomes beauty.

Not far away, the eland of Clive van den Berg rises in steel and bronze – an ancient figure from San cosmology, sacred in trance and transformation. It holds space in the city, reminding passersby that beneath the concrete, older stories endure.

Further down, the streets shout with colour. Falko’s elephants lumber across walls with quiet dignity, while Malik’s “Giggling Hyena” grins mischievously from De Korte Street. Painted during the City of Gold Festival, it has stayed on as a permanent guardian of Joburg’s humour and grit. Around them, the 26 metal trees of Juta Street sway in the air – public art designed with local youth, transforming steel into a forest of creativity.

The walk slows at Milner Park Hotel. Built in 1888, it still houses Kitchener’s, Joburg’s second-oldest bar. What was once a colonial landmark has been remade into a cultural hub – now home to young creatives, the Great Dane nightclub, and a new wave of urban energy.

At last, you climb towards the basketball court that overlooks the Nelson Mandela Bridge and the old Johannesburg Station. Here the city opens wide – steel, traffic, skyline, the bones of history and the pulse of today. It is the perfect place to pause, snack, and reflect before looping back towards the Court, carrying the city’s stories with you.

This is not a race. It is not a tour. It is a hike through history, art, and imagination – an invitation to walk slowly, to listen, and to belong.