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Platteklip Gorge - Table Mountain Hiking Guide

Location: A direct route up from Tafelberg Road, ascending the large gorge splitting Table Mountain's North face in two. OSM Map

Overview: The most popular hike on Table Mountain and the quickest & easiest way to reach the Table, of course also making it a useful descent route. The route is North facing and so gets very hot in summer, there is no water en-route beyond the first 15 minutes.

The name "Platteklip" translates from Afrikaans/Dutch, to "Flat Rock". This name is derived from the large granite slab that lies in the stream bed below Tafelberg Road (A large section at ~300m asl can be seen from the car park).

See Also:

Route Description:

The route is well marked and largely quite obvious. It consists almost entirely of rocky switchbacks, this can be strenuous but does not requite any ability other than some determination! Do take care if using this as a descent route, as the rocks have become very polished and slippery due to over 500 years of foot traffic.

From the parking spot, the trail begins just left of the SANParks guard hut. after ± 100m ascent you will enter a small forested area with a stream running on the right, this is the only spot with water on route so best carry plenty. Just above this the route will merge with the contour path, join this left and follow it for ± 80 metres, at the bend take a sharp right off the contour path to continue up Platteklip Gorge; both turns are marked with large directional signs. Thereafter continue on the same path all the way to the top, several vague paths will split off from the main paths - but these are approaches for more difficult routes - so be careful to keep going straight.