Hellfire

Climbing has been limited!

Access
Permits are required to climb at Hellfire. These can be obtained from CapeNature at a fee (free for Wild Card holders). To book, phone 021 483 0190 or email reservation.alert@capenature.co.za. Alternatively you can get a permit at the shop in the Du Toits Kloof Lodge, which opens at 9am.
Note: Wild Card holders still need to book permits, they just don’t have to pay an entry fee.

Bolting
Hellfire is a trad and sport area, with plenty of virgin rock waiting to be explored. Please take note that although bolting is permitted here it is strictly by application only. Do not sneak in and bolt illegally, as this will seriously jeopardise the future of bolting and climbing in this area. For more information on bolting applications, contact the MCSA (mcsacapetown@iafrica.com).
Also, have the courtesy to check that your bolting project is not an existing trad line.

How to get there
From Cape Town, take the N1 north. Either drive through the Huguenot Tunnel or over the Du Toit’s Kloof pass. On the other side of the tunnel, carry on through the pass, past the Du Toit’s Kloof Lodge on your left and continue until you reach the Klip River bridge. This is 2.7 kilometres from the Lodge. Do a U-turn here and drive back towards Cape Town for 700 metres and park well off the road on the grass verge just after a low barrier and a large motorway sign.

Approach
Walk back along the road for about 30 metres to the other end of the barrier. Here you will see a sizeable cairn low down on the slope above. Follow the path past the cairn and up to the first electric pylon and continue up to and directly beneath the second pylon. Carry on weaving up the sometimes good (and other times not so good) path, veering first off to the right, then to the left, and finally back right and up to the base of the crag. The path meets the crag midway between Magma Wall on your left and The Pit of Despair on the right. Scramble up to the left and around the corner to reach the base of Wall of Flames. From here, scramble down to the left to get to the Crow’s Nest, an ideal base and excellent tea spot.
Another good base is in the Pit of Despair, which you can reach by heading right from where the main path meets the crag. The Pit offers plenty of shade on a hot day.