Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the cableway to take a ride to the top. The mountain forms part of the Table Mountain National Park. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 339 pixelsFull resolution (5000 × 2120 pixel, file size: 3. ... Lions Head from Cape Town. ... A topographical summit is a point on a surface which is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. ... ‹ The template below (Unit of length) is being considered for deletion. ... A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′ – a prime) is a unit of length, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... Capital Cape Town Largest city Cape Town Premier Ebrahim Rasool Area - Total Ranked 4th 129,370 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 5th 4,524,335 35/km² Elevation Highest point: Seweweekspoort Peak at 2325 meters (7628 feet) Lowest point: sea level Languages Afrikaans (55. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... Mountains can be characterized in several ways. ... Red sandstone interior of Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona, worn smooth due to erosion by flash flooding over millions of years Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains. ... // For other uses, see time scale. ... The Silurian is a major division of the geologic timescale that extends from the end of the Ordovician period, about 443. ... Artist impression of the Ordovician Sea. ... In climbing, a first ascent (FA) is the first climb to reach the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route. ... Southern and northern Mount Everest climbing routes as seen from the International Space Station. ... Besides being a famous mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, a number of other mountains have been called Table Mountain: Table Mountain (Washington) is a minor peak with sheer cliff face on the Columbia River Gorge in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. ... For other uses, see Mountain (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Motto: Spes Bona (Latin for Good Hope) Location of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape Province Coordinates: , Country Province Municipality City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality Founded 1652 Government [1]  - Type City council  - Mayor Helen Zille  - City manager Achmat Ebrahim Area  - City 2,499 km²  (964. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Table Mountain Aerial Cablecar Cape Town, Signal Hill, Table Bay and Robben Island as seen from the upper cable station of the Table Mountain Cableway. ... Table Mountain National Park, previously known as the Cape Peninsula National Park, is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, proclaimed on May 29, 1998 for the purpose of protecting natural environment of the Table Mountain Chain, and in particular the rare fynbos vegetation. ...

Features

View from Signal Hill with Devil's Peak to the left

The main feature of Table Mountain is a level plateau approximately 3 kilometres (2 mi) from side to side, surrounded by steep cliffs. The plateau, flanked by Devil's Peak to the east and by Lion's Head to the west, forms a dramatic backdrop to Cape Town and its Table Bay harbour, and together with Signal Hill form the natural amphitheatre of the City Bowl. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 508 pixelsFull resolution (3640 × 2310 pixel, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 508 pixelsFull resolution (3640 × 2310 pixel, file size: 2. ... ‹ The template below (Unit of length) is being considered for deletion. ... “Miles” redirects here. ... Devils Peak and Table Mountain from roughly the north. ... Lions Head from Cape Town. ... Cape Town, False Bay (top) and Table Bay (right) from space, February 1995. ... Signal Hill is a famous hill located in Cape Town, next to Lions Head and Table Mountain. ... The Colosseum in Rome, Italy. ... The Cape Town city bowl as seen from Table Mountain. ...

The highest point on Table Mountain is towards the eastern end of the plateau and is marked by Maclear's Beacon, a stone cairn built in 1865 by Sir Thomas Maclear for trigonometrical survey. It is 1,086 metres (3,563 ft) above sea level, about 19 metres (62 ft) higher than the cable station at the western end of the plateau. Thomas Maclear (January 17, 1794–July 14, 1879) was an Irish-born South African astronomer. ...

The cliffs of the main plateau are split by Platteklip Gorge ("Flat Stone Gorge"), which provides an easy and direct ascent to the summit and was the route taken by Antonio de Saldanha on the first recorded ascent of the mountain in 1503.^[1]

The flat top of the mountain is often covered by cloud spilling over the top to form the "table cloth".

Table Mountain is at the northern end of a sandstone mountain range that forms the spine of the Cape Peninsula. To the south of the main plateau is a lower part of the range called the Back Table. On the Atlantic coast of the peninsula, the range is known as the Twelve Apostles. The range continues southwards to Cape Point. Landsat Image over SRTM Elevation, showing the Cape Peninsula in the foreground. ... “Atlantic” redirects here. ... Cape Point. ...

Geology

Cape Peninsula and Table Mountain - Landsat Image over SRTM Elevation. North is on the left of the image, and Table Mountain is in the foreground at the northern end of the peninsula.^[2]

The upper part of the mountain mesa consists of Ordovician quartzitic sandstone, commonly referred to as Table Mountain Sandstone (TMS), which is highly resistant to erosion and forms characteristic steep grey crags. Below the sandstone is a layer of micaceous basal shale, which weathers quite readily and is therefore not readily visible. The basement consists of heavily folded and altered late precambrian Malmesbury shale, which has been intruded by Cape Granite. The basement rocks are not nearly as resistant to weathering as the TMS but significant outcrops of the Cape Granite are visible on the western side of Lion's Head.^[3][4] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2184x1377, 1499 KB) NASA satellite image of South Africa taken by Landsat in February 2000. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2184x1377, 1499 KB) NASA satellite image of South Africa taken by Landsat in February 2000. ... The Landsat program is the longest running enterprise for acqusition of imagery of Earth from space. ... The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is a research effort that obtained elevation data on a near-global scale to generate the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of Earth to date. ... Mathematics Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) is a current program that is building in schools around the United States. ... Quartz (from German Quarz[1]) is the second most common mineral in the Earths continental crust. ... Red sandstone interior of Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona, worn smooth due to erosion by flash flooding over millions of years Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains. ... Table Mountain Sandstone is a group of rock formations within the Cape Supergroup sequence of rocks. ... Shale Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. ... The Precambrian or Cryptozoic is the period of the geologic timescale from the formation of Earth around 4500 million years before the present (BP) to the evolution of abundant macroscopic hard-shelled fossils, which marked the beginning of the Cambrian, some 542 million years BP. Remarkably little is known about...

Flora

The main vegetation of the mountain is the unique and rich Cape fynbos. An estimated 1,470 species of plants are found on the mountain and amongst them are many kinds of proteas. Remnant patches of indigenous forest persist in a few of the wetter ravines but not on the more exposed face above the city, where conditions there are too dry and harsh for forests. The mountain has also suffered serious invasions of alien plants for well over a century, with perhaps the worst invader being the cluster pine. Considerable efforts have been made to eliminate these alien plants. Fynbos is the natural shrubland vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate. ... Species See text Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes. ... Binomial name Pinus pinaster Aiton The Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster) is a pine native to the western Mediterranean region. ...

Fauna

The most common animal on the mountain is the dassie, or rock hyrax. They especially cluster around the upper cable station, near areas where tourists may discard or (illegally) supply food. There are also porcupines, mongooses, snakes and tortoises. The last lion in the area was shot circa 1802. Leopards persisted on the mountain until perhaps the 1920s but are now extinct locally. Two smaller, secretive, nocturnal carnivores, the rooikat (caracal) and the vaalboskat (also called the vaalkat or African Wild Cat) were once common on the mountain. The rooikat continues to be seen on rare occasions by mountaineers but the status of the vaalboskat is uncertain. Genera  Procavia  Heterohyrax  Dendrohyrax A hyrax is any of about 11 species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. ... The Cape Porcupine is a species of Old World porcupine. ... For other uses, see Mongoose (disambiguation). ... Infraorders and Families Alethinophidia - Nopcsa, 1923 Acrochordidae- Bonaparte, 1831 Aniliidae - Stejneger, 1907 Anomochilidae - Cundall, Wallach & Rossman, 1993 Atractaspididae - Günther, 1858 Boidae - Gray, 1825 Bolyeriidae - Hoffstetter, 1946 Colubridae - Oppel, 1811 Cylindrophiidae - Fitzinger, 1843 Elapidae - F. Boie, 1827 Loxocemidae - Cope, 1861 Pythonidae - Fitzinger, 1826 Tropidophiidae - Brongersma, 1951 Uropeltidae - Müller, 1832... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 Synonyms Felis pardus Linnaeus, 1758 The Leopard (Panthera pardus) is an Old World mammal of the Felidae family and one of the four big cats of the genus Panthera, along with the tiger (), the lion () and the jaguar (). Once distributed across southern Eurasia and Africa from... Binomial name Caracal caracal (Schreber, 1776) Type species Caracal melanotis Gray, 1843 (= Felis caracal Schreber, 1776) by monotypy Caracal range map Synonyms Felis caracal The Caracal (Caracal caracal), also called Persian Lynx or African Lynx, is a fiercely territorial medium-sized cat. ... For other meanings of Wild Cat and wildcat, see wildcat. ...

Himalayan tahrs, fugitive descendants of tahrs that escaped from Groote Schuur zoo in 1936, used to be common on the less accessible upper parts of the mountain. As an exotic species, they were almost eradicated through a culling programme initiated by the South African National Parks to make way for the reintroduction of indigenous klipspringers. Until recently there were also small numbers of fallow deer of European origin and sambar deer from southeast Asia. These were mainly in the Rhodes Memorial area but during the 1960s they could be found as far afield as Signal Hill. The animals may by now have been eliminated or relocated. Binomial name Hemitragus jemlahicus (H. Smith, 1826) Himalayan Tahr Young Himalayan Tahr The Himalayan Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) is a large ungulate and a close relative to the wild goat, with its habitat in the rugged wooded hills and mountain slopes of the Himalaya from northern India to Tibet, They spend... View of the rear of Groote Schuur, c1905. ... Binomial name Oreotragus oreotragus (Zimmerman, 1783) The Klipspringer (literally rock jumper in Afrikaans), Oreotragus oreotragus, also known colloquially as a mvundla (from Xhosa umvundla, meaning rabbit), is a small African antelope that lives from the Cape of Good Hope all the way up East Africa and into Ethiopia. ... Binomial name Dama dama (Linnaeus, 1758) The Fallow Deer (Dama dama) is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. ... Binomial name Cervus unicolor (Kerr, 1792) Sambar Sambar in forest Sambar (also sambur, sambhur), is the common name for several large dark brown and maned Asian deer, particularly for the Indian species, which attains a height of 102 to 160 cm (40 to 63 in) at the shoulder and may... Rhodes Memorial just after a summers dawn. ...

History

Cape Town, Signal Hill, Table Bay and Robben Island as seen from the upper cable station of the Table Mountain Cableway.

De Villers reservoir, just to the left as the Bridle Path reaches the top of the Back Table

Antonio de Saldanha was the first European to land in Table Bay. He climbed the mighty mountain in 1503 and named it 'Table Mountain'. The great cross that the Portuguese navigator carved in the rock of Lion's Head is still traceable. Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 2136 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 2136 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Nickname: Motto: Spes Bona (Latin for Good Hope) Location of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape Province Coordinates: , Country Province Municipality City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality Founded 1652 Government [1]  - Type City council  - Mayor Helen Zille  - City manager Achmat Ebrahim Area  - City 2,499 km²  (964. ... Signal Hill is a famous hill located in Cape Town, next to Lions Head and Table Mountain. ... Cape Town, False Bay (top) and Table Bay (right) from space, February 1995. ... Robben Island (Afrikaans Robben Eiland) is an island in Table Bay, 12 km off the coast from Cape Town, South Africa and is located at . ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 97 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Picture of De Villiers reservoir, just to the left of the Bridle Path once it reaches the top of the back of Table Mountain. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 97 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Picture of De Villiers reservoir, just to the left of the Bridle Path once it reaches the top of the back of Table Mountain. ...

Between 1896 and 1907, five dams, the Woodhead, Hely-Hutchinson, De Villiers, Alexandria and Victoria reservoirs, were opened on the Back Table to supply Cape Town's water needs. A ropeway ascending from Camps Bay via Kasteelspoort ravine was used to ferry materials and manpower (the anchor points at the old top station can still be seen). There is a well-preserved steam locomotive from this period housed in the Waterworks Museum at the top of the mountain near the Hely-Hutchinson dam. It had been used to haul materials for the dam across the flat top of the mountain. Cape Town's water requirements have since far outpaced the capacity of the dams and they are no longer an important part of the water supply. Camps Bay in early spring Camps Bay is a popular and affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. ... The Waterworks Museum is located on the northern side of Table Mountain, between the Woodhead and Hely Hutchinson Reservoirs, in Cape Town, South Africa. ...

The mountain became part of the new Cape Peninsula National Park in the 1990s. The park was renamed to the Table Mountain National Park in 1998. Table Mountain National Park, previously known as the Cape Peninsula National Park, is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, proclaimed on May 29, 1998 for the purpose of protecting natural environment of the Table Mountain Chain, and in particular the rare fynbos vegetation. ...

Fires are common on the mountain. The most recent major fire came in January 2006, destroying large amounts of vegetation and resulting in the death of a tourist. A charge of arson and culpable homicide was laid against a British man who was suspected of starting the blaze. Burning close to Vredehoek, 27 January The Table Mountain fire was a large fire in and around the Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town, South Africa. ...

Cableway

Upper Cable Station

Table Mountain Aerial Cablecar

The Table Mountain Cableway^[5] takes passengers from the lower cable station on Tafelberg Road, about 302 m above sea level, to the plateau at the top of the mountain. The upper cable station offers views overlooking Cape Town, Table Bay and Robben Island to the north, and the Atlantic seaboard to the west and south. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 423 pixelsFull resolution (2118 × 1119 pixel, file size: 411 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo by Hilton Teper File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 423 pixelsFull resolution (2118 × 1119 pixel, file size: 411 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo by Hilton Teper File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Cape Town, Signal Hill, Table Bay and Robben Island as seen from the upper cable station of the Table Mountain Cableway. ... Cape Town, False Bay (top) and Table Bay (right) from space, February 1995. ... Robben Island (Afrikaans Robben Eiland) is an island in Table Bay, 12 km off the coast from Cape Town, South Africa and is located at . ... “Atlantic” redirects here. ...

Construction of the cableway was first started in 1926, and the cableway was officially opened in 1929. In 1997, the cableway was extensively upgraded, and new cars were introduced carrying 65 instead of 25 passengers. The new cars give a faster journey to the summit, and rotate through 360 degrees during the ascent or descent, giving a panoramic view over the city.

The top cable station offers viewpoints, curio shops, a restaurant and walking trails of various lengths.

Activities

Winter ascent of Table Mountain. Hikers set out on one of the many popular trails

Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_2026. ... Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_2026. ...

Hiking

Hiking on Table Mountain is popular amongst locals and tourists, and a number of trails of varying difficulty are available. Because of the steep cliffs around the summit, direct ascents from the city side are limited. Platteklip Gorge, a prominent gorge up the centre of the main table, is a popular and straightforward direct ascent to the summit.

The concrete part of the Bridle Path - the most gradually-inclined route to the Back Table

Longer routes to the summit go via the Back Table, a lower area of Table Mountain to the South of the main plateau. From the Southern Suburbs side, the Nursery Ravine and Skeleton Gorge routes start at Kirstenbosch. The route via Skeleton Gorge to Maclears Beacon is known as Smuts Track in memory of Jan Smuts, who was a keen hiker. The Bridle Path, or Jeep Track, makes a more gradual ascent from Constantia Nek along the road used to service the dams on Back Table. There are many other paths in popular walking ares on the lower slopes of the mountain accessed from Constantia Nek, Cecilia Forest, Kirstenbosch, Newlands Forest and Rhodes Memorial. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 93 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Picture taken by myself of the famous Bridle Path, leading up the back of Table Mountain from Constantia Nek. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1024 × 768 pixel, file size: 93 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Picture taken by myself of the famous Bridle Path, leading up the back of Table Mountain from Constantia Nek. ... View roughly to the north from Kirstenbosch. ... Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS (May 24, 1870 – September 11, 1950) was a prominent South African and Commonwealth statesman, military leader, and philosopher. ...

On the Atlantic side, the most popular ascent is Kasteelspoort, a gorge overlooking Camps Bay, while the Pipe Track is a level route popular with walkers. Camps Bay in early spring Camps Bay is a popular and affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. ...

The Hoerikwaggo Trails^[6] are four hiking trails on Table Mountain ranging from two to six days, operated by South African National Parks. The original inhabitants of Cape Town, the Khoekhoen and San tribes called Table Mountain Hoerikwaggo – "sea mountain". The four Table Mountain hiking trails are called the People's Trail, Table Mountain Trail, Orangekloof Hiking Trail and Top to Tip Trail.^[7]

Rock climbing

Rock climbing on Table Mountain is a very popular pastime. There are well-documented climbing routes of varying degrees of difficulty up the many faces of the mountain. Only traditional climbing is allowed on Table Mountain; no bolting can be done. Commercial groups offer abseiling from the upper cable station.

Caving

Most of the world's important caves occur in limestone but Table Mountain is unusual amongst speleologists for having several large sandstone cave systems. The biggest systems are the Wynberg Caves, located on the Back Table, not far from the Jeep Track in ridges overlooking Orange Kloof and Hout Bay. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Grotte des Faux-Monnayeurs, Switzerland Speleology is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, their make-up, structure, physical properties, history, life forms, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorphology). ... Hout Bay as seen from Chapmans Peak Drive at sunset. ...

"Mensa" constellation

Table Mountain is the only terrestrial feature to give its name to a constellation — Mensa, meaning The Table. The constellation is seen in the Southern Hemisphere, below Orion, around midnight in mid-July. It was named by the French astronomer Nicolas de Lacaille during his stay at the Cape in the mid eighteenth century. This article is about Earth as a planet. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Mensa (Latin for Table) is a southern constellation which was first introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille under the name Mons Mensae (Latin for table mountain). ... southern hemisphere highlighted in yellow (Antarctica not depicted). ... Orion (IPA: ), a constellation often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation, one of the largest and perhaps the best-known and most conspicuous in the sky[1]. Its brilliant stars are found on the celestial equator and are visible throughout the world, making this constellation globally recognized. ... For other uses, see Astronomy (disambiguation). ... Abbé Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille (March 15, 1713 – March 21, 1762) was a French astronomer. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

See also

• Table Mountain National Park
• Table Mountain travel guide from Wikitravel

Table Mountain National Park, previously known as the Cape Peninsula National Park, is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, proclaimed on May 29, 1998 for the purpose of protecting natural environment of the Table Mountain Chain, and in particular the rare fynbos vegetation. ... Wikitravel is a project to create an open content, complete, up-to-date, and reliable world-wide travel guide. ...

References

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Cape Town, abbreviated as UCT, is a public university located on the Rhodes Estate on the slopes of Devils Peak, in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 78th day of the year (79th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Table Mountain

• Table Mountain National Park official site
• Nature South Africa Includes links to maps and hikes
• Panoramic virtual tour