Table Mountain via Kasteelspoort

There are quite a few fairly accessible hiking routes to the top of Table Mountain, starting from Kloof Nek and Tafelberg Rd intersection. This is where the road from the city intersects with the road leading to the Lower Cable Station. We usually start from here and follow a path known as the Pipe Track and up Kasteelspoort, as this is a circular route and if we come down in the cable car, no vehicle transfer or logistical arrangements are required. It is also possible to start further down the track in Camps Bay on Twelve Apostles side of the Mountain, in which case some logistics are required.

What you can expect:

The Pipe Track follows the contour, above Camps Bay and below the Twelve Apostles, as series of imposing buttresses that dominate this side of the coast. The path is clear and reasonably wide, although uneven and stony in places. It takes about an hour to reach the Kasteelspoort path, with the views back to Lions Head, over Camps Bay and forward down the Atlantic Coast being superb. Once you turn off, it narrows and winds slowly up in the beginning becoming steeper the higher you go. There are a few minor scrambles before reaching a flat rock, lookout point about half-way up. From here you can see the top of the ‘poort’ and the Back Table at about 750 metres.

On the Back Table there are many options, with the most common one being the route that takes us through a series of valleys and ridges, before climbing steeply up towards the Central and Western Table. There are a series of short, fixed steel ladders in place on this route, as the short pitches are slippery and would be difficult to negotiate without climbing equipment. The route connects with the path leading to the top of Platteklip Gorge, before a short climb up to the flat, Western Table and the Upper Cable station.

Timing: The walk from Kloof Nek along the Pipe Track to the start of Kasteelspoort takes about an hour, with a further hour to the top of this ravine and about 2 to 2½ hours to the cable station from there. If you are using the cableway to descend, allow a fifteen minute wait from the gate to the gondola. In peak times there can be a waiting queue of up to 45 minutes to the gate. In the event of the cableway not running, the walk down is approximately 1½ hours.