Table Mountain

A city's backdrop

Table Mountain's long, flat summit towers over Cape Town and Table Bay. Its highest point, Maclear's Beacon, is about 1,085 metres. Made of sandstone layers resting on older granite and shale, it has eroded into steep cliffs that make the mountain instantly recognisable.

The tablecloth

When southeasterly winds blow, moist air rises over the mountain, cools and forms a sheet of cloud that pours over the edge like a tablecloth. Locals watch it as a sign of strong wind, and it is one of the most photographed weather events in Africa.

Fynbos

The mountain is part of the Cape Floral Region, one of the richest plant areas on Earth, recognised by UNESCO in 2004. Its shrubland, called fynbos, includes proteas, ericas and restios, many found nowhere else. Small animals such as rock hyraxes, called dassies, live on the summit.

Getting up

The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway opened in 1929, and since 1997 its cars rotate 360 degrees on the way up, giving every passenger the view. Hikers use routes such as Platteklip Gorge, a steep but direct path. Weather changes fast, so check the cableway status, carry water and a jacket, and hike with others.

Around the mountain

Table Mountain is the centrepiece of a wider national park that stretches south along the Cape Peninsula to Cape Point, with beaches, cliffs and coastal walks. Nearby Lion's Head and Signal Hill offer shorter hikes with great views, popular at sunrise and sunset. The Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden on the mountain's eastern slopes showcases fynbos and other South African plants and hosts summer concerts. On clear days, views from the top stretch over Robben Island, the city bowl and the Atlantic coast.

Did you know?

A constellation, Mensa, was named after Table Mountain by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, who mapped the southern sky from Cape Town in the 1750s.

← The Serengeti and the Great MigrationMount Kilimanjaro →