Chapman's Peak is a mountain on the western side of the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Ca ...

, between

Hout Bay Hout Bay ( af, Houtbaai, meaning "Wood Bay") is a harbour town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometres south of Cape Town. The name "Hout Bay" ...

and Noordhoek in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. The western flank of the mountain falls sharply for hundreds of metres into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, and a road, known as

Chapman's Peak Drive Chapman's Peak is a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, between Hout Bay and Noordhoek in Cape Town, South Africa. The western flank of the mountain falls sharply for hundreds of metres into the Atlantic Ocean, and a road, know ...

, hugs the near-vertical face of the mountain, linking Hout Bay to Noordhoek. Tourists and locals often stop at viewpoints along this road, which offer views of Hout Bay, The Sentinel Peak and surrounds, as well as over Noordhoek Beach. Chapman's Peak Drive is part of the route of two of South Africa's biggest mass-participation races, the

Cape Argus Cycle Race The Cape Town Cycle Tour is an annual cycle race hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, usually long. It is the first event outside Europe to be included in the Union Cycliste Internationale's Golden Bike Series. South Africa hosts some of the l ...

and the

Two Oceans Marathon The Two Oceans Marathon is a 56 km / 35-mile ultramarathon and 21 km half-marathon held annually in Cape Town, South Africa on the Saturday of the Easter weekend. Known globally as "the world's most beautiful marathon",Hamlett, Alison ( ...

History

Chapman's Peak is named after John Chapman, the pilot of an English ship becalmed in today's

in 1607. The skipper sent his pilot ashore to find provisions, and the name was recorded as Chapman's Chaunce. Chapman's_Peak_2022_13

Chapman's Peak Drive was hacked out of the face of the mountain between 1915 and 1922, and at the time was regarded as a major feat of

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

. The road was closed in the 1990s, after a rockfall caused a death and a subsequent lawsuit, and subsequently reopened after being re-engineered to protect motorists from falling rocks. It was reopened in 2005 as a

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implement ...

. The road was again closed for a number of months beginning on 19 June 2008 "as a result of risk areas identified on the mountain above the road".

Geology

The top of Chapman's Peak consists of flat, sedimentary rocks related to those that form

Table Mountain Table Mountain ( naq, Huriǂoaxa, lit= sea-emerging; af, Tafelberg) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the ...

. The base of the mountain, however, consists of Cape Granite and the two formations meet at a geological

unconformity An unconformity is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval ...

that is world-famous amongst earth scientists.
Two different endangered vegetation types can be found along this road, and correspond to the two main geological formations. They are Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos and Cape Granite Fynbos and they are both endemic to the city of Cape Town, occurring nowhere else. There is an old, abandoned

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...

mine on the northwestern slopes of the peak. The remains of a

jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

from which the ore used to be shipped are directly below the workings.

Gallery

File:Chapmans Peak Drive descent to Hout Bay.jpg, Chapman's Peak Drive leading down to Hout Bay File:Hout Bay from Chapman's Peak Drive (01).jpg, Sunset at Hout Bay viewed from Chapman's Peak Drive File:Hout Bay from Chapman's Peak Drive (02).jpg, Before sunset at Hout Bay viewed from Chapman's Peak Drive File:Chapman's Peak Drive sign (01).jpg, Chapman's Peak Drive sign File:Chapman's Peak Drive, Sudáfrica, 2018-07-23, DD 134.jpg, Rockfall shelters on Chapman's Peak Drive File:Chapman's Peak.JPG, Chapman's Peak, seen from Noordhoek File:Chapman's Peak Drive, Cape Peninsula, South Africa.webm, Video of Chapman's Peak Drive File:Chapman's Peak Drive, Sudáfrica, 2018-07-23, DD 136.jpg, Chapman's Peak Drive heading south from Hout Bay File:Chapman's Peak 2022 04.jpg, alt=, Chapman’s Peak Hiking Trail File:Chapman's Peak 2022 05.jpg, alt=, Hout Bay Harbour seen from The Hiking Trail File:Chapman's Peak 2022 09.jpg, alt=

References

External links

Chapman's Peak Drive WebsiteProbe into Chappie's deal
{{Cape Town, natural Roads in Cape Town Geography of Cape Town Mountain passes of the Western Cape