The Kleinrivier Mountains are a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in the

Cape Fold Belt The Cape Fold Belt (CFB) is a long fold-and-thrust mountain belt along the western and southern coastlines of Western Cape, South Africa. The Cape Fold Belt formed during the Permian period (300 to 250million years ago) in the late Paleozoic ...

of the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

province of South Africa. Kleinrivier means "Small River" in

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

and is named after the

Klein River Klein River is a river in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The river mouth is located at Hermanus. Its tributaries include the Karringmelk River. It falls within the Drainage system G. See also * List of rivers of South Africa * L ...

in the area that mouths out near

Hermanus Hermanus (; originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

where the range begins in the west, then continues eastward to north-east of

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and terminates at Akkedisberg Pass. The highest mountain in the range is Maanskynkop (964m) () and dominates the entire

Walker Bay Walker Bay is a large bay located in the south-western Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the next major bay between False Bay near Cape Town and Cape Agulhas to the south-east. The bay is famous for having some of the best land based w ...

coastline. The mountains experience a very mild

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, moderated by cool, moist winds blowing off the South

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

Ocean. Although no peaks exceed 1000m, the range is still quite imposing, as it rises very steeply from sea level. The Kleinrivier Mountains are classified as Critical Biodiversity Area 1. North of the main range, is the higher range of the Babilonstoring Mountains (), which are geologically part of the range, and even though shorter, are higher, with its highest point reaching 1167m. They are more clearly visible south of Caledon and are traversed by Shaw's Mountain Pass of the R320.

References

Mountain ranges of the Western Cape {{SouthAfrica-geo-stub