The Kogelberg is a range of mountains along the
False Bay coast in the
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. They form part of the
Cape Fold Belt, starting south of the
Elgin valley
Elgin may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Elgin County, Ontario
* Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Chatham-Kent, Ontario
* Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontari ...
and forming a steep coastal range as far as
Kleinmond
Kleinmond is a small coastal town in the Overberg region of the Western Cape province, South Africa. It is situated inside a UNESCO-declared biosphere about 90 km east of Cape Town between Betty's Bay and Hermanus. The town's name, meaning " ...
.
The Kogelberg area has the steepest and highest drop directly into the ocean of any
southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
n coastal stretch.
Ecology
{{main, Kogelberg Nature Reserve
The mountains are made predominantly of
Table Mountain Sandstone
The Table Mountain Sandstone (TMS) is a group of rock formations within the Cape Supergroup sequence of rocks. Although the term "Table Mountain Sandstone" is still widely used in common parlance, the term TMS is no longer formally recogni ...
and form some very rugged terrain, which is extremely rich in
fynbos, the native Cape flora. The Elgin Valley's surrounding mountain ranges are considered the hub of the
Cape floral kingdom. They contain more plant species than anywhere else in the floral region, and a large section of the mountain range is now protected in the massive
Kogelberg Nature Reserve
Kogelberg Nature Reserve is a nature reserve of comprising the Kogelberg Mountain Range, to the east of Cape Town, South Africa.
With about 1600 plant species, it contains a floral diversity per unit area that is greater than anywhere else i ...
. The unique local vegetation type is classified as
Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos
Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos is a critically endangered vegetation type occurring in the far south of the Western Cape, South Africa.
This type of mountain fynbos contains an extremely high number of threatened species and a great number of the ...
.
The climate is
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
, however much milder than average, due to constant maritime winds blowing off the South
Atlantic
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 an ...
Ocean. Winters are wet to very wet and cool, with summers being dry, warm and windy. Snow occasionally occurs on the highest peaks. The area is protected within the
Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve and comprises a core area of 103 629ha of protected land. The highest mountain is Koeëlberg ( af, Bullet Mountain) rising to 1289m above Koeël Bay.
Infrastructure
The
R44 route is a scenic ocean drive that follows this section of coastline.
Towns and villages in this region include:
*
Rooiels
*
Pringle Bay
Pringle Bay ( af, Pringlebaai) is a small, affluent coastal village in the Overberg region of the Western Cape, in South Africa. It is situated at the foot of Hangklip, on the opposite side of False Bay from Cape Point. The town and surrounds are ...
*
Betty's Bay
Betty's Bay is a small holiday town situated on the Overberg coast of South Africa's Western Cape province. It is located 100 km from Cape Town beneath the Kogelberg Mountains on the scenic R44 ocean drive between Pringle Bay and Kleinmond. Th ...
*
Kleinmond
Kleinmond is a small coastal town in the Overberg region of the Western Cape province, South Africa. It is situated inside a UNESCO-declared biosphere about 90 km east of Cape Town between Betty's Bay and Hermanus. The town's name, meaning " ...
*
Grabouw
Grabouw is a town located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Grabouw is located some 65 km south-east of Cape Town, over Sir Lowry's Pass from Somerset West, along the N2 highway.The town is the commercial centre for the vast Elg ...
See also
*
Kogelberg Nature Reserve
Kogelberg Nature Reserve is a nature reserve of comprising the Kogelberg Mountain Range, to the east of Cape Town, South Africa.
With about 1600 plant species, it contains a floral diversity per unit area that is greater than anywhere else i ...
*
Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos
Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos is a critically endangered vegetation type occurring in the far south of the Western Cape, South Africa.
This type of mountain fynbos contains an extremely high number of threatened species and a great number of the ...
*
R44 (Western Cape)
The R44 is a provincial route in Western Cape, South Africa that connects Piketberg with Kleinmond via Wellington, Stellenbosch and Somerset West. The coastal section between Kleinmond and Gordon's Bay is a very scenic ocean drive. The sectio ...
External links
UNESCO - Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve
Mountain ranges of the Western Cape