Table Mountain

Table Mountain

Table Mountain
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Table Mountain
Table Mountain Official New 7 Wonder of Nature

The Capelands, ranged by the indigenous Khoe-speaking clans, the Khoisan,
foragers and fishermen gave the original name to the mountain chain ‘Hoerikwaggo’ meaning ‘Mountain in the Sea’.

Table Mountain from Lower Cable Station
Table Mountain from Lower Cable Station
Table Mountain View from Platteklip Gorge to the Cape Manifold Mountains that run parallel
Table Mountain View from Platteklip Gorge to the Cape Manifold Mountains that run parallel

When the Europeans first sailed into Table Bay, the first recorded hike up the gigantic mountain took place in 1503 by Portuguese explorer António de Saldanha who renamed it ‘Tabao de Cabo’, in his native Portuguese which translates to ‘Table of the Cape’.  Platteklip Gorge route proved to be the easiest and most direct way to reach the main plateau. 
The great cross that the Portuguese navigator carved into the rock of Lion’s Head is still traceable.

Table Mountain Fynbos and Rock Formation
Table Mountain Fynbos and Rock Formation
Table Mountain View over Devils Peak and Beyond
Table Mountain View over Devils Peak and Beyond

The name changed again in 1652, when Dutch settlers started referring to the mountain as Tafelberg,
as spoken in our Afrikaans language.

Table Mountain View City of Cape Town and Table Bay Harbour
Table Mountain View City of Cape Town and Table Bay Harbour
Table Mountain View of Mother City
Table Mountain View of Mother City

Lady Anne Barnard, a Scottish socialite and travel writer was the first European woman
recorded to have climbed Table Mountain, in 1790.

Table Mountain is the Mother City’s most iconic attraction, in all its magnificence against the blue backdrop of clear Cape skies forms a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town. 

It is one of the few mountains in the world to be surrounded by a city, this makes Cape Town one of the few cities in the world to have a mountain and a nature reserve in the middle of it!

From anywhere on this vast and famous landmark,
this marvel is said to be one of the most epic breathe-taking views in Africa. 

Table Mountain View from Signal Hill, mountain chain surrounding the city centre
Table Mountain View from Signal Hill, mountain chain surrounding the city centre

In November 2011, this flat-topped undeniable beautiful mountain that stands high above the City of Cape Town, a grand landmark and national park in South Africa, was integrated into the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

Table Mountain New 7 Wonders of Nature
Table Mountain Official New 7 Wonder of Nature

It has always been a significant tourist attraction and is one of the most popular visitor destinations in the world where approximately 800,000 people visit it each year.

Table Mountain Tourist Destination in Cape Town
Table Mountain Tourist Destination in Cape Town

Table Mountain proudly features on Cape Town’s flag and on the City’s logo. 

Table Mountain Incredible Place of Interest
Table Mountain Incredible Place of Interest

Table Mountain proudly features on Cape Town’s flag and on the City’s logo. 

Table Mountain Look-Out Point Behind Upper Cable Station, Cape Doctor bringing in the cloud cover
Table Mountain Look-Out Point Behind Upper Cable Station, Cape Doctor bringing in the cloud cover
Table Mountain View Over Atlantic Ocean, cold front coming in
Table Mountain View Over Atlantic Ocean, cold front coming in

Table Mountain is the northernmost end of a 50km long (30 mi) and roughly 6-10km wide (4-6 mi)
Cape Fold Mountain range that forms the back bone of the Cape Peninsula,
stretching from the Cape of Good Hope in the south to Table Mountain.

Cape Point have two lighthouses, built in 1860 and 1919, that adorn the most south-western point of Africa, where the exceptional marine biodiversity is the result of the mixing of the warm Agulhas and the cold Benguela currents.

Table Mountain View over Cape Mountain Range
Table Mountain View over Cape Mountain Range
Table Mountain Lower Cable Station and Trails
Table Mountain Lower Cable Station and Trails

Boulders Penguin Colony in Simon’s Town is home to a unique and endangered land-based colony of African Penguins. This colony is one of only a few in the world and has become a famous and popular international tourist destination.

The north face of the mountain, with Table Mountain flanked by Devil’s Peak to the east and
Lion’s Head to Signal Hill to the west, the “Twelve Apostles” on the Atlantic side.

Table Mountain view of cloud cover over Lions Head and Signal Hill, a common occurrence on a windy summers day
Table Mountain view of cloud cover over Lions Head and Signal Hill, a common occurrence on a windy summers day

Signal Hill is the northernmost tip of the terrestrial area and offers excellent views of the City and harbour.
It is from here that the noon day gun marks midday in Cape Town.

Table Mountain Look out point to Robben Island and over the beautiful City
Table Mountain Look out point to Robben Island and over the beautiful City

From the Atlantic side, view the dramatic range of the craggy Twelve Apostles where the most popular ascent is Kasteelspoort, a gorge overlooking Camps Bay, although there are a few others, but not as many as on the east side of the mountain.

Table Mountain View of Robben Island
Table Mountain View of Robben Island

The conservation areas and forests are on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain and the Back Table:
Cecilia Park, Kirstenbosch, Newlands Forest and Groote Schuur Estate.

Table Mountain Cableway
Table Mountain Cableway
Table Mountain Cable Car
Table Mountain Cable Car

Sir Thomas Maclear, an Irish-South African stargazer (astronomer) and medical doctor, built a stone cairn for this particular trigonometric survey at the site in 1865.  It commemorates Maclear’s recalculation of the curvature of the earth in the Southern Hemisphere. The plaque at Maclear’s Beacon is at the highest point on Table Mountain as well as the Cape Peninsula at 1 086 m, 3 563 feet above sea level.

In 1750, Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille had measured the curvature of a meridian arc northwards from Cape Town, to determine the figure of the earth and found that the curvature of the earth was less in southern latitudes than at corresponding northern ones (i.e. that the earth was slightly pear-shaped, with the wider bulge south of the equator).

Table Mountain View of Lions Head and Signal Hill
Table Mountain View of Lions Head and Signal Hill

However, when Sir George Everest visited the Cape in 1820 and inspected the site of La Caille’s measurements in Cape Town, he suggested to Maclear that the gravitational effect of Table Mountain could have caused a miscalculation of the curvature of the meridian. This was based on Everest’s experience in the Himalayas. Taking this factor into account Maclear established the curvature of the Southern Hemisphere was in fact the same as that of the Northern Hemisphere.

Table Mountain National Monument
Table Mountain National Monument

Table Mountain forms the highest point of this range although it only appears flat from one side. The range runs parallel to the other Cape Fold Mountain ranges on the mainland to the east.  The Graafwater rocks can best be seen just above the contour path on the front of Table Mountain and around Devils Peak as well as in the cutting along Chapman’s Peak Drive.  Significant outcrops of the Cape Granite are visible on the western side of Lion’s Head and on the Peninsula especially below Chapman’s Peak Drive and The Boulders near Simon’s Town.

Table Mountain Epic View
Table Mountain Epic View
Table Mountain Towering View over Lions Head
Table Mountain Towering View over Lions Head

The basement rocks are shale and are not nearly as resistant to weathering as the Peninsula Formation Sandstone, made up predominantly of quartz sandstone which forms most of the highest and most conspicuous peaks and steepest cliffs in the Western Cape and of the Cape Manifold Mountains.  

Most of the world’s caves occur in limestone but Table Mountain is unusual in having several large cave systems that have developed in this sandstone.  Table Mountain has many sandstone caves. The largest is Wynberg Caves, located on the Back Table, not far from the Jeep Track, in ridges overlooking Orange Kloof and Hout Bay.

Table Mountain Close Up View from the Lower Cable Station
Table Mountain Close Up View from the Lower Cable Station

In 1796, during the British occupation of the Cape, Major-General Sir James Craig ordered three blockhouses to be built on Table Mountain: the King’s blockhouse, Duke of York blockhouse (later renamed Queen’s blockhouse) and the Prince of Wales blockhouse. Two of these are in ruins today, but the King’s blockhouse is still in good condition and easily accessible from the Rhodes Memorial.

Table Mountain Tourist Destination
Table Mountain Tourist Destination

Rhodes Memorial, a famous National Monument was designed by Sir Herbert Baker as a tribute to Cecil John Rhodes.
Built in 1912, stands on the slopes of Devil’s Peak within Table Mountain National Park.

Table Mountain The Jewel of the Cape
Table Mountain The Jewel of the Cape

If it were not for the fresh water supply from Table Mountain’s Platteklip stream, Cape Town would have been located to a safer natural harbour such as where Langebaan, on the West Coast.  Instead, between 1896 and 1907, five dams:
the Woodhead, Hely-Hutchinson, De Villiers, Alexandria and Victoria reservoirs 
were opened on the Back Table to supply Cape Town’s water needs.

Table Mountain Cape Fynbos
Table Mountain Cape Fynbos
Table Mountain Trails
Table Mountain Trails
Table Mountains Endemic Proteas
Table Mountains Endemic Proteas

A ropeway ascending from Camps Bay via Kasteelspoort Ravine was used to ferry materials and manpower (the anchor points at the old top station can still be seen). There is a well-preserved steam locomotive from this period housed in the Waterworks Museum at the top of the mountain near the Hely-Hutchinson dam. It had been used to haul materials for the dam across the flat top of the mountain.   Cape Town’s water requirements have since far outpaced the capacity of the dams and they are no longer an important part of the water supply.  The dams are useful to put out fires around the Cape.

The original construction of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway was awarded in 1926 to the former world-renowned cable way company Adolf Bleichert & Co. of Leipzig, Germany.  Its official opening was on October 4, 1929. Construction of this site was dangerous due to infrastructural works, materials and workers were carted to the top of the Mountain in little more than an open box pulled on a temporary ropeway. Miraculously, no accidents occurred over the two year building period.

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway takes passengers from the lower cable station on Tafelberg Road, about 302 metres (991 ft) above sea level to the plateau at the top of the mountain, at 1,067 metres (3,501 ft).
The upper cable station offers views overlooking Cape Town, Table Bay,
Lion’s Head and Robben Island to the north and the Atlantic seaboard to the west and south.

Table Mountain View of Back Table to Cape Point
Table Mountain View of Back Table to Cape Point

The Cableway had four founding fathers: The brainchild of the esteemed Norwegian engineer Trygve Stromsoe and his partners, Sir Alfred Hennessy, Sir David Graaff and Sir Ernest Oppenheimer and managed by their descendants until it was sold in 1993.  A war veteran having survived two interruptions to its planned construction by the First Anglo-Boer War in 1880 and World War I, which lasted from 1914 to 1918.

Table Mountain Walking Trail with View of Hout Bay and Kommetjie
Table Mountain Walking Trail with View of Hout Bay and Kommetjie

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway has been refurbished three times since its first inauguration in 1929.
The first refurbishment occurred in 1958, the second in 1974, whereas the third, latest and most important reconstruction started in 1996, in operation in 1997 and included a “Rotair” panorama gondola manufactured by the Swiss company Doppelmayr Garaventa Group.  Today we witness the evolution of a super cable car.  The earliest cable car was made of wood and steel and could barely hold 19 passengers while the 2013 model boasts a state of the art, bigger gondolas, that increased capacity to 65 passengers, revolving floor and doors that gives a faster journey to the summit, rotating 360 degrees, which gives sight seekers a phenomenal panoramic view of the city, mountains, ocean and Robben Island.

Table Mountain Hiking Trails
Table Mountain Hiking Trails

Both the valley and mountain station buildings are original, even they have been extensively upgraded with viewpoints, curio shops, a restaurant and walking trails of various lengths.

Table Mountain Endemic Fynbos
Table Mountain Endemic Fynbos

 Following a big fire in 1986, the Cape Times started a ‘Save the Mountain’ campaign, in 1989 the
Cape Peninsula Protected Natural Environment area was established.
Environmental management was still affected by the fragmented nature of land ownership on the Peninsula. 
Following another big fire in 1991, Attorney General Frank Kahn was appointed to reach consensus on a plan for rationalizing management of the CPPNE.

Table Mountain View of Lions Head
Table Mountain View of Lions Head

In 1995, Prof. Brian J. Huntley, a conservationist scientist of field research and management, experienced at inter-disciplinary co-operative research and conservation activities in Africa, recommended that SANParks be appointed to manage the CPPNE.  In April 1998, an agreement was signed to transfer around 39,500 acres to SANParks.  
On 29 May 1998 President Nelson Mandela proclaimed the Cape Peninsula National Park and decreed Table Mountain ‘a gift to the Earth’.  The park was later renamed Table Mountain National Park.  
Approximately 25 000 hectares in size and is just one of 20 National Parks run by South African National Parks.

Table Mountain Flat Top
Table Mountain Flat Top

In the early 1900’s commercial pine plantations were planted, most of it was along the eastern slopes of Devil’s Peak, Table Mountain and the Back Table where names such as Rondebosch, Kirstenbosch, Klassenbosch and Witteboomen survive (in Dutch “bosch” means forest; and “boomen” means trees).  Hout Bay (in Dutch “hout” means wood) was another source of timber and fuel as the name suggests. 

Table Mountain Trails to Devils Peak
Table Mountain Trails to Devils Peak

Table Mountain’s vegetation types form part of the Cape Floral Region protected areas. 
Considerable efforts are made to control the rapid spread of other invasive alien trees.
  All are Australian members of the acacia family such as Black Wattle, Blackwood, Port Jackson and Rooikrans and several Hakea species and bramble. Remnant patches of indigenous forest persist in the wetter ravines.

Table Mountain View of Camps Bay
Table Mountain View of Camps Bay

This park is home to an estimated 8 200 species of plants of which a great proportion, including many species of proteas, are endemic to these mountains and valleys and can be found nowhere else on earth
and is part of the Cape Floral Kingdom World Heritage Site.

Table Mountain 12 Apostles
Table Mountain 12 Apostles

Table Mountain and the Back Table have an unusually rich biodiversity. Its vegetation consists predominantly of several different types of the unique and rich Cape Fynbos – the Afrikaans name given for Fine Bush.

Table Mountain Cable Station
Table Mountain Cable Station

There are 1 406 threatened plant species, 300 of which are critically endangered,
the Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos and Peninsula Granite Fynbos. 29 Plant species have already become extinct. 
Peninsula Shale Renosterveld and Afromontane forest occur in smaller portions on the mountain.

Table Mountain African Sunset
Table Mountain African Sunset

The Disa uniflora, despite its restricted range within the Western Cape, is relatively common in the perennially wet areas (waterfalls, streamlets and seeps) on Table Mountain and the Back Table, but hardly anywhere else on the Cape Peninsula. It is a very showy orchid that blooms from January to March on the Table Mountain Sandstone regions of the mountain. Although they are quite widespread on the Back Table, the best place to view these beautiful blooms is in
the “Aqueduct” off the Smuts Track, halfway between Skeleton Gorge and Maclear’s Beacon.

Table Mountain Arise and Shine Cape Town
Table Mountain Arise and Shine Cape Town

Fynbos is a fire-adapted vegetation, providing fires are important drivers of fynbos diversity around every 15 years to stimulate new growth and ensure that plant and animal communities remain healthy, largely as a result of human activity. The plants that make up fynbos today are those that have been subjected to a variety of fire regimes over a very long period of time and their preservation now requires regular burning.
The frequency of the fires obviously determines precisely which mix of plants will dominate any particular region. However, because of the proximity of houses to the TMNP, fires that would be beneficial to the vegetation are often extinguished.

Table Mountain Cape Town Tablecloth & Sunset
Table Mountain Cape Town Tablecloth & Sunset

In 1495 Vasco da Gama named the South African coastline Terra de Fume
because of the smoke he saw from numerous fires.  Originally to maintain a productive stock of edible bulbs (especially Watsonians) and to facilitate hunting and later, after the arrival of pastoralists, to provide fresh grazing after the rains.

Table Mountain, Lions Head, Cape Town expecting rain
Table Mountain, Lions Head, Cape Town expecting rain

Intervals of 10–15 years between fires are considered to promote the proliferation of the larger Protea species, a rare local colony of which, the Aulax Umbellata (Family: Proteaceae), was wiped out on the Peninsula by more frequent fires, as have been the silky-haired pincushion, Leucospermum Yestitum, the Protea grandiceps (Red sugarbush) and Protea burchellii (Burchell’s sugarbush), although a stand of a dozen or so plants has recently been “rediscovered” in the saddle between Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak.  

Table Mountain, Oudekraal, Victoria Road, the 12 Apostles and Lions Head
Table Mountain, Oudekraal, Victoria Road, the 12 Apostles and Lions Head

Orographic cloud formation appears frequently at the top of the mountain during summer. It is the result of Cape Town’s south-easterly wind that forces moist air against the mountain, to rise up, cooling down as it climbs, causing relative humidity to increase. Legend has it that the mist results from a smoking contest between the Devil & Pirate Jan van Hunks.  Known as the ‘Tablecloth’, draping over, cascading downwards, are responsible for the beautiful lush vegetation. 
The process reverses; the clouds meet warmer air below, moisture evaporates causing them to disappear. 

Table Mountain Upper Cableway Cloud Cover
Table Mountain Upper Cableway Cloud Cover

The Cape Point part is the only section that is fenced. Rich in natural heritage due to the variety of wildlife, Eland, Red Hartebeest, Bontebok and Zebra. The Chacma Baboons forage for shellfish and berries.  There is a lake in the Cape of Good Hope Section that has no rivers that lead into it, it is kept full only by underground water.

Table Mountain Clouds over the Mountain Chain
Table Mountain Clouds over the Mountain Chain

Table Mountain is home to a rare endemic species of amphibian, the Table Mountain ghost frog. The last lion in the area was shot circa 1802. Leopards persisted on the mountains until perhaps the 1920’s but are now extinct locally.
 Two smaller secretive nocturnal carnivores, the rooikat (caracal) and the vaalboskat or Southern African wildcat were once common in the mountains slopes.
The rooikat continues to be seen on rare occasions  but the status of the vaalboskat is uncertain.

Table Mountain Cold Front Over the Mother City
Table Mountain Cold Front Over the Mother City

Porcupines, mongooses, lizards, tortoises, a handful of venomous snakes: the Cape cobra, puff adder, boomslang, rinkhals and berg adder can be found.  The most common is a mammal that resembles a guinea pig called the rock hyrax or the ‘dassie’, its Afrikaans name.  Its closest relatives are the sirenian (sea cow) and elephant!  They cluster in groups and can be seen in Bakoven, on the Atlantic coast, below the Twelve Apostles Mountains and in the Silvermine region of the Table Mountain National Park as well as around the restaurant at the upper cable station where tourists discard food.  Yet not as abundant as they were, was in all probability responsible for the decline in the Verreaux’s eagle population on the Peninsula.  Formal monitoring in 2004 reported to have consisted of 3 breeding pairs with only 2 pairs, maximally, ever having been reported to fledge a chick each in any given year; one below the upper cable station at the western end of Table Mountain, in Blinkwater Ravine, the other on the cliffs below Noordhoek Peak. Best observed during the months of January-February.  Dassies are an important part of the Verreaux’s eagle’s prey on the Peninsula.

Table Mountain Epic View of Table Bay
Table Mountain Epic View of Table Bay

The mountain cliffs are home to several raptors species, apart from the Verreaux’s eagle.
They include the Jackal buzzard, Booted eagle, African harrier-hawk, the Rock kestrel and the world’s highest concentration of Peregrine falcons, a cliff roosting aerial predator that kills birds in mid-flight, who, in the mid-20th century,
were on their way to extinction.  The African fish eagle nest in trees as far away from human habitation and activity as is possible on the Peninsula.  The cheeky black bird with red tipped wings, the Redwinged starling, is one of the more common birds to be seen at the restaurant waiting for the crumbs from grazing tourists.

Table Mountain Fire Damage
Table Mountain Fire Damage

Himalayan tahrs, an exotic species escaped from Groote Schuur Zoo in 1936, were eradicated through a culling programme initiated by the South African National Parks to make way for the reintroduction of indigenous klipspringers.  
There were also fallow deer of European origin and sambar deer from Southeastern Asia. These were mainly in the Rhodes Memorial area but during the 1960’s they could be found as far afield as Signal Hill.  
On the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak, above Groote Schuur Hospital an animal camp bequeathed to the City of Cape Town by Cecil John Rhodes has been used as part of the Quagga Project. (See more about  this on the Rhodes Memorial Blog)

Table Mountain view from Back Table of Lions Head
Table Mountain view from Back Table of Lions Head

According to the British tourism site, Bunac.org, Table Mountain has
the world’s highest commercial abseil location, standing at 112m.
For the adventurous, it is possible to abseil a thrilling 112 metres down the mountain.
  Commercial groups offer abseiling from the upper cable station.

Table Mountain from Blouberg Beach
Table Mountain from Blouberg Beach

Rock climbing on Table Mountain is a very popular pastime. There are well-documented climbing routes of varying degrees of difficulty up the many faces of the mountain. The main climbs are located on cliffs below the upper cable station.
No bolting can be done here and only traditional climbing is allowed.

Table Mountain from Signal Hill
Table Mountain from Signal Hill

Besides Constantia Nek Jeep Track near Wynberg and Titanic Caves, the slopes of Table Mountain have many jeep tracks that allow mountain biking. The route to the Block House is a popular route for bike riding. Plum Pudding Hill is the name of a very steep jeep track. Bike riders should follow the directional signs on display for mountain bike riders. TMNP contains approximately 160km of cycling track. Access is gained via day permits or annual activity permits.

Table Mountain from the V&A Waterfront Cape Town
Table Mountain from the V&A Waterfront Cape Town

The Cape of Good Hope section of the TMNP is a haven for outdoor enthusiasts and offers hiking, surfing, angling, picnicking, beaching and cycling opportunities against the spectacular backdrop of the mountains and coastline of the Cape.

Table Mountain from Tygerberg Hills As Seen When Driving on the N1 into Cape Town
Table Mountain from Tygerberg Hills As Seen When Driving on the N1 into Cape Town

There are more than 350 trails to the top of Table Mountain, with varying difficulty. Hiking is popular among locals and tourists. Because of the steep cliffs around the summit, direct ascents from the city side are limited. 

Table Mountain View Point behind the Cable Station
Table Mountain View Point behind the Cable Station

Platteklip Gorge, a prominent gorge up the centre of the main table,
is a popular straightforward direct ascent to the summit.  It is done between 1–3 hours depending on one’s fitness level.
This route is very hot in summer, as it is located on the north facing slope of the mountain, with almost no shade along the 600 m climb from Tafelberg Road to the Table Mountain plateau.

Table Mountain Restaurant
Table Mountain Restaurant

Longer routes to the summit go via the Back Table, a lower area of Table Mountain to the south of the main
northern plateau, which constitutes “Table Mountain” as seen from the Cape Town City Centre and Table Bay.

Table Mountain Rock Climbing
Table Mountain Rock Climbing

From the Southern Suburbs side, the Nursery Ravine and Skeleton Gorge routes
start at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden.

Table Mountain Rock Formation and Trails
Table Mountain Rock Formation and Trails

The route via Skeleton Gorge to Maclear’s Beacon is known as Smuts Track
in memory of Jan Smuts who was a keen hiker.

Table Mountain Sunrise from Signal Hill
Table Mountain Sunrise from Signal Hill

The Bridle Path or Jeep Track makes a more gradual ascent from Constantia Nek
along the road used to service the dams on the Back Table

Table Mountain Spectacular Sunsets on Top
Table Mountain Spectacular Sunsets on Top

There are many other paths in popular walking areas on the lower slopes of the mountain accessed from Constantia Nek, Cecilia Park, Kirstenbosch, Newlands Forest and Rhodes Memorial.

Table Mountain view of Atlantic Ocean
Table Mountain view of Atlantic Ocean

There is a popular “Contour Path” that runs from Constantia Nek, and then, in succession, above Cecilia Park, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Newlands Forest, and from there, above Groote Schuur Estate, past the King’s Blockhouse, at the north-east corner of Devil’s Peak, immediately below the Mowbray Ridge cliffs, to the front of Devil’s Peak and the north face of Table Mountain, ending at the bottom of Kloof Corner Ridge at the western end of the Table Mountain cliffs.

Table Mountains Blooming Fynbos view over Devils Peak
Table Mountains Blooming Fynbos view over Devils Peak

It starts at Constantia Nek at 250 m, but immediately gradually climbs to around 320 m at Angela’s Memorial and the look-out point above Cecilia Park. It then undulates down and up again at about this elevation as far as the north-western corner of Kirstenbosch, when the path suddenly climbs steeply to 470 m to the scree (or Dassieklip) below the cliffs of Fernwood Buttress. It then descends again to 350 m, only to ascend again to 400 m, 1 km later. It remains at this level, as a true ‘contour path’, to the King’s Blockhouse, from there eventually to Tafelberg Road at 400 m.

Table Mountain view of Cable Station
Table Mountain view of Cable Station

From the King’s Blockhouse it is possible to choose a footpath that will lead to the “upper contour path” which crosses the front (north face) of Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain at 500 m, to just beyond the Lower Cable Station.

Table Mountain View of Cablecar
Table Mountain View of Cablecar

From there it is possible, from either contour path, to join up with the “Pipe Track” which starts from Kloof Nek,
then runs at an elevation of about 300 m, below the cliffs of the Twelve Apostles,
on the Atlantic side of the mountain range as far as the Oudekraal Ravine,
where the path goes up the ravine to join the “Apostles Path” on top of the Back Table at an elevation of 685 m.

Table Mountain beautiful view of Cape Town from Milnerton Beach
Table Mountain beautiful view of Cape Town from Milnerton Beach

There are many paths that join the contour path from below, five from Kirstenbosch alone and fewer that join it from above.

Table Mountain View of Signal Hill
Table Mountain View of Signal Hill

On top of the mountain, particularly on the Back Table, there is an extensive network of well-marked footpaths offering hiking opportunities over a wide variety of terrains and distances which can be covered in 30 minutes to several hours.

Table Mountain View of the Atlantic Seaboard
Table Mountain View of the Atlantic Seaboard

The Hoerikwaggo Trails, on the Cape Peninsula Mountain Chain consists of four hiking trails: the People’s Trail, Table Mountain Trail, Orangekloof Hiking Trail and the Top-to-Tip Trail, ranging from two to six days, operated by SANPARKS

Table Mountains Dassies soaking up the sun on a ledge.
Table Mountains Dassies soaking up the sun on a ledge

Table Mountain is the only mountain in the world to have a constellation of stars named after it. It is one of 12 constellations drawn up in the 18th century.  In 1754, French astronomer, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille named a constellation in honour of Table Mountain, ‘Mons Mensae’.  Latin for ‘Table Mountain’.  He recalled how Table Mountain was often covered in clouds when a south-easterly stormy wind blew, which is why he made a ‘table’ in the sky under the clouds.
 Around midnight in mid-July it is possible to see Mensa from the southern hemisphere, located below Orion.  

Table Mountains Southern Rock Agama male. Heads turn bright blue in mating season
Table Mountains Southern Rock Agama male. Heads turn bright blue in mating season

Although Table Mountain is a world renowned tourist attraction, rich in natural beauty,
it should be a safe and peaceful environment.
Tourists and locals are urged to take necessary precautions when planning an excursion of meet and greet. 

Table Mountains Tablecloth
Table Mountains Tablecloth

Wear a hat and hiking boots for those loose rocks.   Take warm and waterproof clothing in a backpack. 
Pack in water and food, a flask of hot coffee or tea and water purification tablets and a cup.
Ensure you have a torch with spare batteries, a map, sunscreen, toiletries and towel. 
On cloudless days the mountain’s legendary white tablecloth appears suddenly, the weather conditions can change quickly.
Contact the weather hotline on (021) 424 8181

Table Mountain View from Camps Bay Beach
Table Mountain View from Camps Bay Beach

It is recommended to hire a registered guide, contact The Mountain Club of South Africa.  Hike in a group, it serves as a deterrent. Everyone in the group must have emergency numbers on your person, not only on your cellphones.

Table Mountain from Contermanskloof
Table Mountain from Contermanskloof

Very few areas can be considered completely safe and one is advised to be aware of secluded areas that have seen a recent escalation in crime. Criminal incidents should be reported to the nearest police station as soon as able.

Those venturing into the Table Mountain National Park should plan the route according to fitness and experience.
Know the expected time required to complete the trail.  Inform someone and stick to the plan.

Table Mountain Windy City
Table Mountain Windy City

Good maps of all the routes are available at bookshops and outdoor recreation stores, which hikers are advised to use, as dense mist and cold weather (or extreme heat) can descend without warning at any time of the year.

Table Mountain view on Back Table of the Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir in the Nature Reserve
Table Mountain view on Back Table of the Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir in the Nature Reserve

Have the following emergency numbers on hand:
Public Emergency Centre: for reporting crime anywhere: 086 110 6417/ 107 or 021 480 7700

Table Mountain from Cableway
Table Mountain from Cableway

We recommend @safetymountain as a useful resource for hikers. This free safety tracking service allows you to notify local trackers of your contact details, intended route and travel time via whatsapp.
You are then able to provide hourly updates on your progress notify trackers when you are safely off the mountain.

Table Mountain, Cape Town Under Cloud Cover
Table Mountain, Cape Town Under Cloud Cover

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