Table Mountain National Park

Table Mountain National Park is not a single mountain but the whole spine of the Cape Peninsula, about 221 square kilometres in three separate sections with Cape Town’s suburbs wrapped around them. It was proclaimed in 1998 (briefly as the Cape Peninsula National Park) and forms part of the Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site. The fynbos here holds more plant species than the whole of Britain.

Getting there

You are already there if you are in Cape Town. The lower cableway station is on Tafelberg Road about 6 km from the city centre; the hop-on hop-off bus stops there. Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town is roughly 50 minutes south by car, and the Cape of Good Hope section another hour beyond that. Trains run to Simon’s Town but no further, so for Cape Point you need a car or a tour.

When to go

October to April is hiking season: long dry days, though December to February is hot and busy. The famous tablecloth cloud comes with the south-easter, the summer wind locals call the Cape Doctor, and when it blows hard the cableway stops running. Check the cableway is open before you set off, and have a plan for walking down. Winter is wetter and the paths get slippery.

What to do

Most of the park is free to walk. You pay only at Cape of Good Hope, Boulders, Silvermine, Oudekraal and the Tokai picnic site.

The cableway, running since 1929, lifts you to just over 1,060 m in rotating cabins that take 65 people. Walkers use Platteklip Gorge: 2.5 km and about 650 m of climbing from Tafelberg Road, starting 1.5 km past the lower station, one to two and a half hours up depending on fitness. Skeleton Gorge from Kirstenbosch is longer and prettier, and Kasteelspoort climbs from the Camps Bay side.

At Boulders, a colony of around 2,200 African penguins lives on a sheltered beach. The boardwalk at Foxy Beach is the viewing spot; Willis Walk links it to Boulders Beach itself, where you can swim with them. Go early, before the coaches. At Cape Point the Flying Dutchman funicular takes three minutes to the 1859 lighthouse, and a track leads along the cliffs to the Cape of Good Hope sign.

Good to know

Table Mountain has killed more than 250 people and rescue teams are called out several times a week. Weather changes fast, mist arrives in minutes, and muggings do happen on quieter paths. Hike in a group, carry at least 1.5 litres of water each, take a warm layer even on a hot morning, and turn back if the cloud comes in. Baboons at Cape Point go for food and bags; keep car windows up, back away slowly if one approaches on foot, and do not feed them, which is fined. Swimming at Cape of Good Hope is dangerous because of the currents.

Last updated 6 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Stingy Nomads, Atlas and Boots, Phil and Garth.