Skeleton Gorge Hike

Medium-length Adventurous Hike to the Cable Car

The hike up the magnificent, forested Skeleton Gorge, through the lesser known, but quite striking Backwater Ravine and Echo Valley has been called by some the most beautiful hike on Table Mountain.

Starting from Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, we follow the shaded, but steep, rocky footpath adjacent to the Skeleton Gorge stream with its little waterfalls and mossy rocks.  Climbing further up via timber ladders, we cross the stream and continue climbing up the gorge along the stream-bed itself. The age-old indigenous forest with its large old trees, ferns, boulders and the call of wild forest birds, gives it a real wild jungle feeling. Leaving the stream-bed the path zig-zags out of the forest and into the fynbos at the top of the Back Table.

From here, we hike through Backwater Ravine crossing Disa Stream, and into the magnificent fynbos mountain paradise that is Echo Valley before continuing on to the top of the Western Table where we are greeted with spectacular views across the city, harbour and distant mountains.

  • DURATION - 5 to 6 hours

  • DIFFICULTY LEVEL - Strenuous hike on a rocky footpath with some mild scrambling on rocks and ladders, height exposure

  • DISTANCE- 9 km

  • ELEVATION GAIN - 975 m up

  • LOCATION - Cape Town, South Africa

This hike can be booked as a PRIVATE GUIDED HIKE on a date and time that suits your itinerary.