Table Mountain
테이블 마운틴
Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain that rises right behind the city of Cape Town in South Africa. Its top is a level plateau about 3 kilometres across, edged by steep cliffs, with Devil's Peak on one side and Lion's Head on the other. The highest point, marked by a stone cairn called Maclear's Beacon, is about 1,085 metres above sea level. Its summit rises about 1,000 metres above the city streets below.
See it on the 3D globe →At a glance
- Country
- South Africa
- Location
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Height
- 1,085 m
- Type
- Mountain
Quick answers
Where is Table Mountain?
Table Mountain is in Cape Town, South Africa.
A flat-topped mountain above Cape Town, often draped in a "tablecloth" of cloud.
The mountain is the centrepiece of Table Mountain National Park, the most visited national park in South Africa, and part of the Cape Floral Region, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2011 it was named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Its Khoekhoe name, Huriǂoaxa, means "sea-emerging", and people have climbed it for centuries.
The tablecloth cloud
On many days a smooth white cloud spreads over the flat summit and spills down the cliffs, and Cape Town calls it the "tablecloth". It forms when a south-easterly wind pushes damp air up the mountain's slopes. As the air rises it cools, and the moisture in it turns into cloud right on top of the mountain. A local legend says the cloud is smoke from a pipe-smoking contest between the Devil and a pirate named Van Hunks.
Rocks and plants
The upper part of the mountain is made of very hard sandstone laid down roughly 450 to 510 million years ago, which is why it has worn away so slowly and kept its flat top. The slopes are covered in fynbos, an Afrikaans word for "fine bush": a special mix of small shrubs and flowering plants such as proteas, many of them found nowhere else. The Cape Peninsula has about 2,285 kinds of plants, and around 1,500 of them grow on Table Mountain and the plateau behind it. A tiny frog, the Table Mountain ghost frog, lives only here.
Getting to the top
People can hike up many paths, such as Platteklip Gorge, the route taken by the Portuguese sailor António de Saldanha in 1503 on the first recorded climb. Most visitors ride the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, which opened in 1929. Since the late 1990s its cars carry up to 65 passengers, and each car slowly turns all the way around during the ride, so everyone gets a view of the city, the ocean and Robben Island.
Fun facts
- It is one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
- Table Mountain is the only feature on land that has a star constellation named after it: Mensa, "the table".
- Each cable car spins a full circle on the way up, giving every rider a view.
- The Table Mountain ghost frog lives nowhere else in the world.
- The cableway has been carrying visitors to the top since 1929.
On the globe
The model shows the flat-topped mountain above Cape Town, often draped in its "tablecloth" of cloud. Zoom in to see how level the summit is compared with the cliffs below.
Nearby on the globe
Sources
Updated: 2026-10-13