Table Mountain

Table Mountain, Afrikaans Tafelberg, flat-topped mountain in southwestern South Africa, overlooking Cape Town and Table Bay and dominating the northern end of the high, rocky Cape Peninsula. Its tabular shape results from nearly horizontal layers of sandstone exposed by vigorous wind and water erosion. The distinctive-looking mountain is one of Cape Town’s most recognized landmarks and is a popular tourist attraction that offers hiking, camping, and other activities.

This natural world heritage site, and Natural New 7 Wonder of the World, is a haven of magnificent mountains plunging into crystal seas fringed with bleached white sands of the Cape Peninsula.
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Table Mountain, Afrikaans Tafelberg, flat-topped mountain in southwestern South Africa, overlooking Cape Town and Table Bay and dominating the northern end of the high, rocky Cape Peninsula. Its tabular shape results from nearly horizontal layers of sandstone exposed by vigorous wind and water erosion. The distinctive-looking mountain is one of Cape Town’s most recognized landmarks and is a popular tourist attraction that offers hiking, camping, and other activities.

Table Mountain has its own cloud cover (the Tablecloth), forming rapidly when the wind is in the southeast and mainly responsible for the lush plateau vegetation. Five mountain reservoirs catch the rainfall brought by northwesterly winds in winter (ranging annually from 60 inches [1,525 mm] at the summit to 22 inches at the base). Abundant vegetation includes disa orchids, 250 species of daisies, and silver trees; animal life includes tahrs (Himalayan goats) that are descended from escapees of a local zoo. There are a cableway (built 1929) and more than 350 classified routes to the top. The highest point is Maclear’s Beacon (3,563 feet), which is named for a stone-cairn trigonometrical beacon placed on the northeastern face by Sir Thomas Maclear in the 19th century.