Summertime is a great opportunity to experience the Cape Town surrounds by getting out onto one of the many hiking trails on offer. If you like walking but are not up for a big hike, the Table Mountain Pipe Track is a nice flat walk perfect for afternoon and early evening excursions.
The walk faces the Atlantic Ocean and gives a panoramic view of the surrounding mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, taking you high above Cape Town city.
The Table Mountain Pipe Track walk is easy and is suitable for all ages as well as for your furry canine friends.
The gravel track starts on Tafelberg road just off Kloof Nek. The track is named after the pipeline that runs next to the track and was built in 1887. The pipeline conducts water from two of the dams on Table Mountain and to filtration plant that you pass along the way.
Like many of the walks in and around Cape Town the pipe track offers a bit of a lesson for those interested in the history of the city. Early on in the walk you pass the Blockhouse aqueduct, named after the abode of a garrison of French soldiers working for the Dutch East India Company, which was built in about 1780 to protect the route over Kloof Nek.
Another set of attractions are all the ravines and gullies that you pass, starting with a gully called Diepsloot that takes you through a forested area and to the Kloof Buttress which forms part of this side of Table Mountain.
Fountain Ravine is another gully that you’ll pass. As you progress pass this gully you might be able to see a cave which was the hideout of a deserter from the HMS Sceptre which made its way into Table Bay in 1799. He had been forced into joining the Royal Navy in Jamaica and hid out in this cave for 14 months living on dassies and shrubs before escaping on a Scandinavian ship.
Blinkwater is another ravine you’ll pass. Blinkwater means ‘water that sparkles’ presumably because of the beautiful view of the sea that you’ll get from here. Luckily once you get back to your car it’s only a short drive down to the pristine beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay, so keep that in mind as you brave the summer sun to get to the end of this walk.
Slangolie Ravine marks the ends of this walk. This is a back-and-out route so you’ll have to retrace your steps along the route you came but with so much scenery to appreciate this shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Destination Information:
- Cape Town Hiking Trails & walks
- Western Cape Hiking Trails
- Cape Town Attractions
- Things to Do in Cape Town
- Accommodation in South Africa
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