See the best of Table Mountain on a guided

 hike with Ridgway Ramblers

Orange Kloof is an area on the Hout Bay side of Table Mountain. It is the only area on Table Mountain where access is restricted and a permit is required.

Although there are obviously other paths into Orange Kloof, from Hout Bay or Table Mountain itself, the main entry point is at the top of Constantia Nek. Instead of following the road up the Constantia side you go straight into the deep Kloof on the Hout Bay side. Almost immediately, regular walkers will sense a difference. It is nothing tangeable. The entire Table Mountain chain is pristine, with clean running water and once you are away from the carparks, very uncrowded. However Orange Kloof really does feel special. A clear jeep track leads the way intially but several paths lead into the sensitive afromotane forest which covers the mountain here. Huge old and knarled trunks tower and twist over your head. Only indigenous trees here, yellowwoods, rooi els, assegaaibos to name a few.

The forest of Orange Kloof

Follow the path up the Disa River past several small waterfalls lined with moss. In the winter they are gushing and sometimes not passable. Even at the end of summer they still trickle. Deep. dark pools of clean water, and a few scrambles up the steep sides, soon lead to ”Hells Gate”, a remnant from the early 1900′s, when the 5 dams on Table Mountain provided Cape Town residents with most of their water. Here a tunnel goes right through the mountain emerging at Slangolie ravine, above Camps Bay. 

The Disa River

The Woodhead Tunnel

Finally, the path emerges at De Villiers dam on the top of Table Mountain herself. Truly this is one of the most beautiful hikes on Table Mountain, when the clouds set in. For once the views just don’t seem important. The river, forest and waterfalls provide all the beauty.