Table Mountain Hiking Guide

There are tons of trails on Table Mountain. If you zoom in on Table Mountain on Google Maps, you’ll see what I mean! That being said, there are 4 popular hikes to climb up and I’ve included them all in this Table Mountain Hiking Guide.

I recommend the Skeleton Gorge trail for your ascent and Platteklip Gorge for the descent. We hiked this route and really enjoyed it! You can always combo your hike with a ride on the cable car (up or down).

Hiking Routes for Table Mountain

• Skeleton Gorge Trail
  • Difficulty: 4/4
  • 5km / 3.5 hours, one-way
  • Highlights: Start at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and have incredible views while hiking along the plateau to the upper cable car station.
• Platteklip Trail
  • Difficulty: 3/4
  • 2km / 2 hours, one-way
  • Highlight: Quickest route up to the Table Mountain upper cable cars.
• India Venster Trail
  • Difficulty: 4/4
  • 2.5km / 2 hours one-way
  • Highlights: Amazing views with an adventurous climb and scramble along the cliff edge.
• Pipe/Diagonal Route/ Kasteelspoort Loop
  • Difficulty: 3/4
  • 7km loop/ 2 hours
  • Highlights: Popular trail with great views.

Table Mountain Hiking Guide Map

India Venster route is not shown as it wasn’t on Google Maps.

Tips for Hiking Table Mountain

Before the Table Mountain Hiking Guide begins, here are some tips to help plan your adventure!

The weather can change rapidly on Table Mountain. One minute it’s sunny and warm, the next you’re in cloud cover with no views (and possibly rain). Bring a warm layer with you just in case. We were lucky when we hiked and didn’t have any cold fronts, plus it was sunny.

Wear shoes with good tread as you’ll likely be doing some climbing over rocks in a slippery stream area.

Bring enough water! I’d recommend at least 1.5L per person. We didn’t bring enough water and it definitely slowed my pace near the end.

If you want facilities at the end/middle of your hike, then put the upper cable car station on your itinerary for the day. Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Cafe has water, drinks, food, and snacks for sale. Buying a bottle of wine for sunset sundowners is a popular choice. The cafe closes 30 minutes before the last cable car down.

Summer (December- February) is best for hiking Table Mountain to avoid any chance of rainfall. Spring (September- November) weather can be iffy with clouds and some rain but just check the weather beforehand and plan a warm outfit and raincoat just in case.

If you hike Table Mountain on day 1 or 2 of your Cape Town stay, you’ll spend the rest of the trip looking up at Table Mountain in awe and saying, “I hiked that!” (100% recommend).

Skeleton Gorge Trail Guide

Hiking Table Mountain from Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I say “once in a lifetime” that because I need a MINUTE to recover from the hike. The Blyde River Canyon Belvedere Hike was more difficult but for some reason, my body wasn’t cooperating with me on the hike; I kept getting super tired (I think my shoes were too heavy?…)

Please don’t let this ramble deter you from hiking the Skelton Gorge Trail. There is basically only an hour of uphills in the forest (with a waterfall to keep you encouraged for views). The rest of the hike is a moderate incline until you reach Maclear’s Beacon, the highest point on Table Mountain. From there, you have a beautiful hour left to bird watch while you putter to the cable car. It’s totally worth it!

We decided to hike down via Platteklip Gorge rather than wait for the cable car to go down (though that was our original plan) because the line for the cable car was so long. In all, with breaks and my slow pace, it took 5 hours to hike up Skeleton Gorge, see the cable car line (and buy water), and then hike down Platteklip.

The Basics

It is around 5km to hike from Skelton Gorge to the upper cable cars on Table Mountain.

The Skeleton Gorge hiking trail starts inside the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Entry cost is R80/pp for SA residents or nationals of African countries with valid ID. Tourist entry is R200/pp.

If you hike all the way to the upper cable cars, take an Uber to the gardens so you can hike down or take the cable cars for your descent. Alternatively, if you hike early enough in the morning you could do this as a tough out-and-back trail. 

Starting the hike!

The Beginning

The Skeleton Gorge trail starts near the entrance of the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Once you enter, take a left and you’ll soon see the sign. There are entry points to Skeleton Gorge throughout the garden; you can easily walk 5km just around the gardens so decide if you want to get here early and do that as well or plan the gardens for another day. We started the trail at 12pm so we didn’t have time to explore the garden and I went back a couple of days later.

Start hiking up the trail. The first 40 minutes is a steep incline if you start around the cafe.

The next 20 minutes is a crawl up ladders and a Billy goat scramble up a stream in a make-your-own-path adventure. There can be some foot traffic around this area as only one person should go up/down a ladder at a time. The stream isn’t really a gushing river… It’s more like wet rocks you must climb over and around, so you don’t need waterproof shoes. However, shoes with a very good tread (to keep you from slipping on the wet rocks) are totally necessary.

This part was fun!

After 20 minutes of climbing, you’ll make it out of the forest. But you’re not done! You still need another 20 minutes until you’re at the “plateau”. I say plateau with quotes because there is still an incline for a bit until you reach the top: MacClear’s Beacon.

This is not the top. This is fake news. Another 20 minutes to go!

If you want to see the Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir dam up close, take a small detour to Breakfast Rock and follow the path. Double back to rejoin the Skeleton Gorge trail.

p.s. There are five dams on top of Table Mountain! They were constructed to help Cape Town’s water supply issues in the 1890s, though nowadays they only contribute about 5% of the city’s water. Learn more here.

The Middle

Once you’re out of tree cover, you’ve still got an incline to climb until Maclear’s Beacon. If there is land that looks like it’s above you, you’re gonna climb it. On the plateau, you’ll get incredible views of Cape Town and the Atlantic Ocean.

At some point, look back and see the Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir dam. You can also take another detour here to the Aqueduct Trail to check it out. This looked like a long detour for me so we didn’t do it.

Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir dam in the distance. From here it looks like it’s the ocean but it’s not!

It should take you an hour and 40 minutes (more or less) to reach Maclear’s Beacon. This is the highest point on Table Mountain.

You’ll find maps on rock pillars throughout Table Mountain National Park. They are super helpful with time and distance markings to major points in the park.

The End

From Maclear’s Beacon, you can choose to go along the edge of the cliffside or inland to reach the cable cars. Either way will take about 40 minutes to get to the upper cable car station, the restrooms, and the cafe.

We attempted to take the inland trail but somehow managed to end up on the edge of the mountain… so we did something wrong. It was a happy mistake though because there are tons of birds along this section of the trail so keep your eyes open!

Once you reach the upper cable car area, you can wander around the trails for views of Cape Town’s coast along the pathways. Be sure to look out for Lion’s Head too! This area can get crowded.

Heading down

You can purchase a one-way ticket on the cable car for R200 You may need to wait a while in line before boarding the cable car. The last car down is 4:30 pm in the winter and 8:30 pm in the summer. Plan accordingly!

Or, you can hike down Platteklip Gorge (more on that below) to get back to the road. You can easily get an Uber to pick you up from there. Just be patient as the driver will likely come from town.

Platteklip Gorge Trail Guide

This steep (SUPER STEEP) hike is more of a staircase + scramble up rocks to reach the Table Mountain upper cable car area. You’ll drive about halfway up the mountain to park and start your hike at the base of Platteklip Gorge. The starting point is just 1.5km up from the lower cable car station.

The hike is all uphill. If you’ve got a moderate fitness level, you’ll likely reach the top of the gorge in 2 hours. The top will have you at the end of the upper cable car viewing points.

We did not hike up, we hiked down. It was encouraging to see so many people of all fitness levels hike up on Heritage Day. Some people were trail running, others catching their breath and asking how far till the top.

5 pm sunset hitting Lion’s Head as we ended the hike.

It took us an hour and 20 minutes to hike down from Table Mountain to the start of the trail. More agile peeps will do it faster. I have horrible balance and so I went down with caution, leaving Wilhelm to wait for me below every 10 min.

It is easy to request an Uber to/from the Platteklip Gorge starting point.

India Venster Trail Guide

The India Venster trail is one of the most (if not the most) difficult trails on Table Mountain. Although the trail is just 4-ish km, it is a tough, steep trek and dangerous in some places. Read more about it on AllTrails. You should have moderate fitness and be comfortable scrambling up and down rocks. Hikers have reported it taking around 2 hours to reach the top.

We did not hike this trail. This trail starts on the right of the Table Mountain lower cable cars area, by the car park. The route will take you to the upper cable car station.

Apparently, the route is even more dangerous going downhill. Wilhelm, his brother, and my brother did this trail down Table Mountain. Although they had to scramble a bit, they didn’t run into any difficulties while hiking.

Check out another blogger’s review here.

Pipe/Diagonal Route/ Kasteelspoort Loop Trail Guide

If visiting the upper cable car station isn’t necessary for your hiking views, then park/uber to the Pipe Track starting point, take the Diagonal Trail, and then loop back to Pipe Track on the Kasteelspoort Trail. This 7km loop will likely take around 2 hours, according to Google Maps. You can add on different trails on the hike so it can be longer.

On this trail, you’ll pass rock jutting out from the cliffside, called the “Diving Board.” This is a popular photo location.

We haven’t hiked this trail yet but it’s on my to-hike list! Check out another blogger’s guide for this hike here.

Safety

As with most trails in South Africa, it is not advised to hike alone or after sunset. We felt safe on the trail and didn’t encounter anyone other than serious hikers. However, there are stories of people being robbed on the Skeleton Gorge trail. We only brought one cell phone with us, one ID, and one credit card. We left our cash at home.

Hiked: September 2021

What did you think of the Table Mountain Hiking Guide? Have you been on any of these trails recently? Do you need more info or encouragement? Let me know in the comments!