Devil’s Peak, at 1000.5m above sea level, overlooking Table Mountain, Cape Town harbour, Robben Island and the City Bowl, captures the imagination…  Legend has it that Van Hunks, a retired Dutch pirate that settled in Cape Town in the early 1600’s, loved smoking his pipe up the mountain, and once got into an argument with a stranger about who could smoke the most… they entered a dual and sat up the mountain, smoking so much that after a few days, a huge cloud enveloped them AND the mountain. When the smoke cleared, both men were gone and it was realised that the second man was the devil and in losing the smoking competition, Van Hunks lost his soul to the devil. 

A lesser known legend has it that rock pigeons ('duiwe' in Afrikaans) used to fly amongst the high crags up the mountain (they still do :-)), and the early French Huguenot Christians used to call it Duiwinds Piek, for the pigeons, and the infamous South Easter wind blowing around it. To them, it symbolized the presence of the holy spirit. 

Whichever legend you choose to believe, a hike to the summit of Devil's Peak will leave you with a great sense of achievement. There are various routes to the top, our favourite being the 7.5 km loop via Oppelskop, passing through wonderful fynbos, and giving one a good little work-out whilst doing so! The initial ascent is gradual, but expect quite a steep final ascent and decent, with overall elevation gain of about 600m. The path has been rebuilt and the views across to neighbouring Table Mountain and Lion’s Head are the BEST! 

• DISTANCE - 7.5 km

• ELEVATION GAIN - 600 m

• DIFFICULTY LEVEL - 2A - Strenuous half-day on-trail hike, minor use of hands

• DURATION - Up to 6 hours is the standard duration for this hike

• LOCATION - Cape Town, South Africa

This hike can be booked as a PRIVATE GUIDED HIKE, find the price list HERE