The Cederberg mountains are located near
Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of
Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered
Clanwilliam cedar (''Widdringtonia wallichii''), which is a tree
endemic to the area. The mountains are noted for dramatic
rock formation
A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sediment ...
s and
San rock art
In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...
. The Cederberg Wilderness Area is administered by
CapeNature.
''Cederberg'' is now the generally accepted spelling for the area, which combines the English (Cedarberg) and
Afrikaans (Sederberg) variants.
Geography and climate

The Cederberg mountains extend about 50 km north–south by 20 km east–west. They are bordered on the west by the
Sandveld, the north by the
Pakhuis Mountains, the east by the
Springbok Flats and the south by the
Kouebokkeveld Mountains and the
Skurweberge. The main access road, the
N7, runs to the west of the range. The nearest towns are
Citrusdal to the southwest and
Clanwilliam to the north. The area is sparsely populated.
There are several notable mountains in the range, including Sneeuberg (2026 m) and Tafelberg (1969 m). Tafelberg (
Afrikaans for "Table Mountain") should not be confused with the
Table Mountain in
Cape Town. Notable landmarks include the Maltese Cross, Wolfberg Arch and Wolfberg Cracks.
The dominating characteristic of the area is sharply defined
sandstone rock formations (
Table Mountain Group
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 ...
), often reddish in colour. This group of rocks contains bands of
shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
and in recent years a few important
fossils have been discovered in these argillaceous layers. The fossils are of primitive fish and date back 450 million years to the
Ordovician Period.
The summers are very hot and dry, while the winters are wetter and cold with typical annual rainfall in the low-lying areas of less than 700 mm. The higher peaks receive a dusting of snow in winter. Summer days are typically clear and cloudless. Due to the clear skies most of the year, it makes an excellent site for
skywatching and has its own amateur
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
.
Flora and fauna
The predominant vegetation is Mediterranean
fynbos
Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...
in the wetter south and west, changing to semi desert scrub in the north and east. The
endangered Clanwilliam cedar (''Widdringtonia wallichii'') of the
family Cupressaceae
Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdio ...
and the
snow protea
''Protea cryophila'', the snowball sugarbush, snow protea, or snowball protea, is a flowering shrub of the genus ''Protea''. The plant is endemic to the Cederberg.
The shrub is dense, wooded and grows in diameter and blooms from January to Apr ...
(''Protea cryophila'') of the
Proteaceae
The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...
are
endemic to the area, found only in more remote areas high up in the mountains.
The area's
apex predators are the
felids
leopard
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
(''Panthera pardus'') and
caracal (''Caracal caracal''). Other mammals include the
rock hyrax (''Procavia capensis'') or "dassie",
meerkat
MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilom ...
s (''Suricata suricatta'') and other
mongooses (
Herpestidae), larger
antelope
The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia.
Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...
s (e.g.
bontebok ''Damaliscus pygargus dorcas'' and
gemsbok
The gemsbok or South African oryx (''Oryx gazella'') is a large antelope in the genus ''Oryx''. It is native to the extremely dry, arid regions of Southern Africa; notably, the Kalahari Desert. Some authorities formerly classified the East Afric ...
''Oryx gazella''), the
vulnerable
Vulnerable may refer to:
General
* Vulnerability
* Vulnerability (computing)
* Vulnerable adult
* Vulnerable species
Music
Albums
* ''Vulnerable'' (Marvin Gaye album), 1997
* ''Vulnerable'' (Tricky album), 2003
* ''Vulnerable'' (The Used album) ...
Cape mountain zebra (''Equus zebra zebra''), and
chacma baboons (''Papio ursinus''). There are also many birds, small mammals,
reptile
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...
s and insects.
Other
threatened species found in the Cederberg Wilderness Area include the
cyprinids
Clanwilliam yellowfish (''Labeobarbus capensis'', vulnerable),
Clanwilliam redfin
The Clanwilliam redfin (''Pseudobarbus calidus''), is a ray-finned fish species in the family (biology), family Cyprinidae. It is placed with the South African redfins in ''Pseudobarbus''. It is tetraploid. Its closest living relative is probably ...
(''Barbus calidus'', vulnerable) and
sawfin (''Barbus serra'', endangered).
Human activity
Historical
In caves and overhangs throughout the area,
San rock art
In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...
can be found, evidence of the earliest human inhabitants. European settlement brought forestry and some agriculture, and led to massive destruction of the local cedar trees, with thousands felled for
telephone poles, furniture and housing. The European arrival also led to the elimination of the San population. In the north, the old
Moravian mission station of
Wupperthal still remains, the heart of a small subsistence farming community, and home to a local industry producing ''veldskoene'', traditional soft leather shoes.
The Cederberg was possibly the southernmost battleground of the
Second Boer War. A small band of
Boer guerrillas penetrated into this area from the
Boer republics, hundreds of kilometres to the north, hoping to stir up popular support amongst the local farmers of
Dutch descent. In this they failed; the farmers may have had little sympathy for the
British but they had a fair notion of who was going to win the war. It is said that the Boer commandos were confronted in the Cederberg by a lone Englishman, who ordered them to surrender. They laughed at him, because he was one and they were many and tried to reason with him, pointing out the hopelessness of his position. He refused to back down and was in the end shot dead. The place where he fell is today called ''Engelsmanskloof'' ("Englishman's ravine").
Agriculture
Arable land is limited by the altitude, the dry climate, and the rocky terrain, and few farms exist.
Rooibos tea is the area's most famous export, though fruit and tobacco are also harvested on some farms. The Cederberg area includes one
winery, the highest in South Africa. Around the Wupperthal area are a number of
subsistence farms. Some commercial
pine plantations remain around the Algeria forest station.
Proteas and other
fynbos
Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...
plants are also grown. A number of farms have become predominantly guest farms catering for the local and international tourist market.
Tourism

As a wilderness area, the primary activity is
eco-tourism, including
camping,
rock climbing
Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...
and hiking. The main campsite, Algeria, is operated by
CapeNature, while others such as Sanddrif, Driehoek, Jamaka and Kromrivier are privately operated.
The Cederberg is renowned for its quality of rock climbing routes particularly around the Krakadouw and Tafelberg peaks. The Table Mountain Sandstone creates ideal conditions for spectacular routes. There are numerous day and overnight hikes including the popular and spectacular Wolfberg Arch, Wolfberg Cracks and the Maltese Cross.
The area is also home to an amateur astronomical observatory, which regularly hosts open evenings for the public.
There are various 4x4 routes.
A large tract of the northern Cederberg is owned by the
Moravian Church. The quaint village of
Wupperthal forms part of a mission station route that provides visitors with an interesting view of rural life. The village is also a well known centre for hand-made leather shoes and boots. One of the "buite stasies" (directly translated as outer stations) is Heuningvlei, a small picturesque hamlet that is in the process of developing a donkey cart trail from the summit of
Pakhuis Pass
Pakhuis Pass is a mountain pass on the R364 in the northern Cederberg in South Africa. The pass connects Clanwilliam to Calvinia. A turnoff from the pass heads southeast to the Biedouw Valley and Wupperthal. The pass is 25 km long, reaches ...
to the hamlet. The project, a poverty alleviation project funded by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, includes the creation of backpacking accommodation, herb garden and various other tourism offerings.
Scouting
The Cederberg is also the site of the
Senior Scout Adventure
The Senior Scout Adventure Cederberg is a biennial event for Scouting, Scouts from South Africa and other countries, organised by Scouts South Africa. The adventure takes the form of a hike of about 10 days, usually in the Cederberg mountains. Du ...
, a 12-day event for
Scouts run every second year by
Scouts South Africa.
References
External links
*{{Commons category-inline
Cape Nature Conservation Cederberg page* Th
and its conservation status.
Guided hikes in the Cederberg
Mountain ranges of the Western Cape
Climbing areas of South Africa
Provincial nature reserves of the Western Cape
Protected areas established in 1973