General Information
The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve is located at the southwestern tip of the Cape Peninsula, about 60 kilometres south of Cape Town, South Africa. It features rugged cliffs, rolling hills, and diverse landscapes where fynbos vegetation thrives alongside dramatic ocean views.
The reserve is home to a variety of wildlife, including Cape Mountain Zebras, buck, birds, and mischievous Chacma baboons, which often entertain visitors at the scenic restaurant overlooking False Bay.
The park stretches along the mountain spine of the Cape Peninsula, from Signal Hill in the north to Cape Point in the south. It offers hiking trails, wildlife viewing, and opportunities to experience the natural beauty and rich biodiversity unique to this part of the Cape.
Geology
The park runs approximately north-south along the range of mountains that form the Cape Peninsula spine from Signal Hill in the north, through Lion’s Head, Table Mountain, Constantiaberg, Silvermine, and the southern Peninsula mountains, ending at Cape Point.
Flora
Part of the Cape Floristic Region, the reserve supports an incredible diversity of plants, many rare and endemic. Protea, erica, restio, Asteraceae species, and geophytes thrive here. The dominant vegetation types are Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos and Cape Granite Fynbos — both endangered and unique to Cape Town.
Fauna
Historically, predators such as the Cape lion, leopard (seen as late as the 1920s), spotted hyena, and black-backed jackal roamed here. Large herbivores like elephant, black rhino, kudu, eland, mountain zebra, and bontebok also lived in the area. Some eland, mountain zebra, and bontebok have been reintroduced to the Cape Point section of the park.
Chacma baboons are a common sight, fascinating but potentially dangerous when they become too familiar with humans. Visitors are strongly advised not to feed them. A rare endemic amphibian, the Table Mountain ghost frog, is found only here.