WESTERN CAPE SCOUTING
TABLE MOUNTAIN SCOUT HUT

The Scout Hut on Table Mountain is the best hiking venue available to Scouts in the Western Cape. It is situated near the dams on the Back Table, with easy hiking access from Kirstenbosch, Constantia Nek, Kloof Nek or Camps Bay. Hiking routes to the hut include Skeleton Gorge or Nursery Ravine, the Bridle Path (or Jeep Track), Woody Ravine and Kasteelspoort. These routes take between 2 and 4 hours. Longer routes from Llandudno Corner or the main Table are also possible.

Overnighting on Table Mountain is only allowed in three mountain club huts. The Scout Association maintains one of these huts for use by Scouts. The hut is heavily used and is usually fully booked at weekends and during school holidays.

The hut has bunks for 18 people (12 in the main area and 6 in a separate room). Ablutions consist of a toilet, basin and shower (cold water) and a sink for washing.

There are some sturdy wooden tables and benches and a steel fireplace with grids for cooking and an oven for baking (the picture shows an older fireplace). You should carry your own firewood to the hut as you are not allowed to collect wood in the Table Mountain National Park.

The stone building is more than 100 years old, and was built to house overseers during the construction of the Woodhead Reservoir in the 1880s and 1890s. It has been in use by Scouts for the last 35 years; prior to that, Scouts had use of the Dommisse Hut elsewhere on the Back Table. The area around the hut is rich in history, and the nearby Waterworks Museum tells of the building of the dams, the old Camps Bay ropeway and the railway from the top of the ropeway to the old stone quarries.

This rare snowstorm in July 1995 left a few inches of snow around the Scout Hut and a thick blanket higher up the mountain. Don't hold your breath - the next snowfall came in August 2003, eight years later.

The area around the hut is known as the Back Table, and in the evening the Hut has amazing sunset views. The Back Table is rich in fynbos including gladiolis, proteas, and restios (reeds).

From the hut you can do a morning's hike to Maclears Beacon or the top cable station via the Valley of Isolation, or Southwards to Grootkop, the largest of the Twelve Apostles.

Weather on Table Mountain is difficult to predict and can become extreme at any time of year, so hikers should be well prepared, familiar with the route, and willing to change to Plan B, or to turn back ("Plan C") if conditions are too extreme for the party. Heavy wind, thick mist and rain are possible at all times of year.

• The Jeep Track (Bridle Path) from Constantia Nek: follow the track all the way to the Woodhead Reservoir and cross the dam wall towards Kasteelspoort. At the tap near the Woodhead overseer's house, carry on past a modern building (now derelict) to the Scout Hut under two or three large pine trees.
• Skeleton or Nursery Ravine from Kirstenbosch: both ascents reach the Back Table at Hely Hutchison Reservoir. Take the concrete road past this dam to Woodhead, cross the dam wall and find the hut under the nearby pine trees.
• Kasteelspoort from Camps Bay or Kloof Nek Corner: from Kloof Nek, follow the Pipe Track along the contour until the Kasteelspoort turnoff. At the top of Kasteelspoort follow the raised path taken by an old railway track and you will see the hut off to your left.