How to get to Lion's Head and where to park

Everything starts with Kloof Nek. Cape Town Tourism's directions are simple: from the Cape Town CBD you drive up Kloof Nek towards Table Mountain.⁵ At the top you see Camps Bay ahead, Table Mountain on your left and Signal Hill on your right.⁶ Then you turn right toward Signal Hill and park your car where indicated, and you are able to access the trail up Lion's Head from there.¹ If you are asking how to get to Lion's Head for the first time, that is the whole answer.

The map on this page shows the same approach. The Kloof Nek pin sits at the junction, the car park pin is further along toward Signal Hill, and the summit pin shows how close the two are on the ground. Cape Town Tourism lists the location of the Lion's Head hike as Signal Hill Rd, and the price as free.² Another article says the hike starts just off Signal Hill Road.⁷ If you are unsure where to start the Lion's Head hike, use the road name in a navigation app, and let the app finish the last kilometre for you.

Allow for the traffic and for the road itself. The walk starts past a security boom and then up a pebbled jeep track.⁸ Slow down when you see it and follow the signs. In South Africa people drive on the left-hand side of the road, and rental cars are generally right-hand drive, so take extra care if you are not used to it.⁹ Hire cars with automatic gearboxes make the first hill start easier, and a passenger who reads the map helps a lot on the narrow bends.

Public transport can get you near, though not all the way. The MyCiTi bus is a convenient way to travel around many parts of the city, particularly between the city centre and popular surrounding areas.¹⁷ Its Table Mountain route page tells riders to take the bus to the Kloof Nek stop and transfer to the Table Mountain 110 service for the Lower Cableway.³ Kloof Nek is also where the drive in turns toward Signal Hill, and on the map its pin sits at the junction.

Check the live MyCiTi timetable or the MyCiTi app before you rely on a transfer, and plan a fallback in case the connection does not run when you need it. From the Kloof Nek stop to the trailhead, the road turns toward Signal Hill, and you should use the map pins to judge the distance. Walkers should be comfortable on a road with traffic, and it is not a place for headphones or small children without close supervision.

Rideshare is the simplest choice for people without a car. Uber and other e-hailing services are widely used and offer a convenient alternative if you prefer not to drive or use public transport.⁴ Put the pin for the car park or the Signal Hill Rd address into the app, agree a pick-up point for the return and note that a mountain road may have patchy phone signal. A pre-booked return is better than counting on a driver being nearby at the end of a long evening.

Open the trail panel first. It puts the car park, Kloof Nek and the summit on one screen, and the closed Wally's Cave is marked as a warning: it is closed to the public and not a path sanctioned by SANParks.¹⁹ The city panel adds Signal Hill, Camps Bay and the Table Mountain stations so you can see the area your drive passes through. Zoom in on the junction before you leave your hotel.

Another use for the map is to pick a plan B. If the Lion's Head car park is full or the weather is poor, the Pipe Track starts at the corner of Tafelberg Road and Kloof Nek, and hikers park at Kloof Nek.¹⁶ Platteklip Gorge and Kasteelspoort have their own pins on the city panel for days when you would rather do a different walk. Having a spare option in your pocket stops a failed parking attempt from ending the day.

Last, use the map to plan the return. After a sunset hike you walk down in the twilight and then drive or ride away, and the trek down after sunset can get chilly.¹⁰ Have your lift or your car keys ready, keep a layer in the car, and agree where the group will meet if anyone gets separated. The car park is a better meeting point than the summit, and a message to a friend when you reach it closes the loop.