The route
Next edition21-22 November 2026
98.8 km looping through Table Mountain National Park, above Cape Town, climbing 4,756 m.
Drawn with a pen, line by line
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Indicative figures computed by Plotrek on its illustrative route, with altitudes from a terrain model. They may differ from the organiser's.
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Ultra-Trail Cape Town is the only African race in the catalogue: a loop inside Table Mountain National Park, above the city. The start, at Gardens Rugby Club, is at 4 am.
The trail climbs straight up Table Mountain from the start, to Maclear's Beacon, at 1,073 m, the highest point of the route.
It then drops via the Twelve Apostles, crosses Karbonkelberg, before reaching the village of Hout Bay.
The trail climbs back up via Constantianek, follows the Contour Path through the urban green corridor, passes the University of Cape Town and King's Blockhouse, before closing the loop. Runners get twenty-six hours to finish.
Paths and places: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Altitudes measured on the route.
03 · Your poster
The relief of the course, a 98.8 km loop from Gardens Rugby Club, takes shape as contour lines: our pen plotter draws it with a pen, line by line. Your finisher name and time go in the title block, in A4, A3 or A2.
Shipped from our workshop in Le Bouscat
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Updated Route and text: Plotrek workshop (Fabrice Jolivet)
Plotrek's illustrative route, redrawn on OpenStreetMap paths, measures 98.8 km and 4,756 m of elevation gain. Start: Départ; finish: Arrivée; on the way, KARBONKELBERG at km 50. The elevation loss measured on this route is 4,735 m. These figures are indicative; the organiser's rules prevail.
Table Mountain (Maclear's beacon), at 1,073 m, at km 26.8 of Plotrek's route. The high point lies between two landmarks of the course: Départ (143 m, km 0) and Douze Apôtres (718 m, km 32.9). The start is at 143 m, the finish at 165 m.
894 m of elevation gain in one go, from km 19.4 to km 26.8 of Plotrek's route. Landmark on the way: Table Mountain (Maclear's beacon) (1,073 m, km 26.8). No other climb on the 98.8 km course is as long. Average gradient of this section: 12.1%.
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Other races in the same spirit