Cape of Good Hope Trail (overnight hiking trail)

Cape Point

For a week­end with a dif­fer­ence why not do an overnight trail?  If you are a Capetonian you needn’t even drive far from home, the trails are lit­er­ally on your doorstep!

The Cape of Good Hope Trail is a 34km cir­cu­lar route that starts and ends at the entrance gate to the Cape of Good Hope.  Secure overnight park­ing is avail­able here so your car will be safe while you enjoy a two day hike with an overnight stay at one of the Rooikrans cot­tages. The two day hike starts at the Main Gate at the Good Hope entrance to Table Mountain National Park and then meanders down to Smitswinkel Bay and on up to Kanonkop, then down towards the Buffelsfontein Visitor Centre ...

Stop off at the Visitor Centre as there is to recharge and refill your water bottles etc. Then con­tinue on to Rooikranse. The first day of hik­ing is about 13 km and there are spec­tac­u­lar views -  the con­trast between the awe-inspiring scenery and the mighty ocean and cliffs is dra­matic — and time spent pho­to­graph­ing the scenery will keep the memor­ies alive for years to come.

Cape Point

After overnight­ing in one of the overnight huts, you set off again the fol­low­ing day on about a 20 km hike that fol­lows the Atlantic coast­line to Pegram’s point, Platboom, Hoek van Bobejaan and then turns inland to Sirkelsvlei and ends again at the Main Gate. The hike passes through Fynbos trails, over scenic, deser­ted beaches.

Comfortable accom­mod­a­tion is offered in three cot­tages, each of which sleep six.  The cot­tages are equipped with cut­lery and crock­ery, but you will need to bring your own bed­ding.  The cot­tages have showers and are also solar powered so please use elec­tri­city wisely.  All cot­tages also have braai areas and wood pur­chased at the gate will be delivered to your accom­mod­a­tion by park staff.

Please be aware that baboons are found in the area so cau­tion should be taken.  (you need to close cot­tages securely and do not leave food and belong­ings lying around).

Cape Point

The rates for the Cape of Good Hope Trail are R150 per per­son dur­ing the sum­mer months (1 September to 30 April), and R120 dur­ing winter (20 May to 31 August).  These rates cover both the daily con­ser­va­tion fee and accom­mod­a­tion and should be paid on arrival at the main gate.

The gates to the park open at 6am dur­ing sum­mer and 7am dur­ing winter and entry will not be per­mit­ted before this time.  In order to fin­ish the trail dur­ing day­light hours, you are reques­ted to start the hike before 9am and depart from your overnight accom­mod­a­tion at 9am on day two of your hike.

Bookings:
Bookings can be made through the Buffelsfontein Visitor Centre on 021 780 9204 from Monday to Thursday (9am to 4pm) and on Fridays between 9am and 3pm. Website link to this hik­ing trail is Cape Of Good Hope Trail.

If you don't have enough time to spend two days hik­ing, there are plenty of shorter trails — see our pro­vi­ous art­icle on Table Mountain Hiking Trails for a few ideas.

Useful Links:
Cape Town Attractions
Western Cape hik­ing trails
Western Cape accommodation