Orange Kloof is a magical forest in the heart of the Table Mountain National Park.

The Orange Kloof area is a secluded paradise surrounded by the Hout Bay region and is found nestled amongst the houses of Hout Bay. The Orange Kloof National forest includes the Hoerikwaggo Orange Kloof tented camps – which is the first stop on the Hoerikwaggo trail. This large and protected area is often described as a magical forest with valleys, hills, cliffs and rivers… This area still contains a lot of alien vegetation that SANParks is working at replacing with indigenous plant life.

The Disa River runs through Orange Kloof and originates from the Table Mountain slopes (at about 720m high) and flows through most of the Table Mountain National Park. The Disa River is typical of a river in the fynbos biome; rivers in this biome are typically short, steep and fast flowing with a naturally brown tea coloured water which comes from the acidity level.

The Table Mountain National Park is busy clearing away the alien vegetation that is in this area. A lot of the alien vegetation was planted here in the early 19th centaury and has since taken over a lot of the Orange Kloof National Forest area. The Orange Kloof area is about 285ha of the Table Mountain National Park and access to this area is strictly controlled and monitored. Even though this area has alien vegetation it also boasts indigenous fynbos vegetation plus the most magnificent Afromontane forest in the world… and this is why the Orange Kloof Forest is highly protected. Public access is prohibited.

This forest used to be 500ha’s but after the exploitations in the 1950’s and the fires, the area has decreased substantially. This forest also contains exotic plant life as well as indigenous and alien vegetation. Some of the ‘exotics’ found in this area are; populus canescerns, quercus robur, eucalypts belts etc.

Fewer fires have occurred in Orange Kloof National Forest compared to other parts of the Table Mountain National Park making some of the trees and vegetation in this area the oldest in Cape Town. This area has remained un-burnt for over 30 years – another reason that this forest is highly protected! Walking through the Orange Kloof National Forest gives one a feeling of been in a rainforest under the magnificent canopies of trees…