Du Toits Peak ("Doo-Toy") is the highest seaward facing peak in the Cape Fold Belt

Cape Fold Belt

The Cape Fold Belt is the folded sedimentary sequence of rocks in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It is related to the Ventana Mountains near Bahía Blanca in Argentina...

 ranges, i.e. the highest peak in the Western Cape

Western Cape

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...

 within direct sight of the ocean. Located between Paarl

Paarl

Paarl is a town with 191,013 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its the third oldest European settlement in the Republic of South Africa and the largest town in the Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni township, it is now a de facto urban unit with Wellington...

 and Worcester

Worcester, Western Cape

Worcester is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is located 120 km north-east of Cape Town on the N1 highway north to Johannesburg....

 in the south-west of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, 70 km to the north-east of the provincial capital of Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

. The mountains form a formidable barrier between Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

 and the rest of Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 on the N1

N1 (South Africa)

The N1 is a South African National Route, running from Cape Town to Beit Bridge on the border with Zimbabwe. It is also the main road link between Johannesburg and Cape Town, and forms the first section of the famed Cape to Cairo Road....

 highway, also called the Cape to Cairo Road

Cape to Cairo Road

The Cape to Cairo Road or 'Pan-African Highway', sometimes called the Great North Road in sub-Saharan Africa, was an imperial dream envisioned by the British Empire that would see a road stretch the length of Africa, from Cape Town to Cairo, similar to the Pan-American Highway...

. This section is called the Du Toitskloof Pass

Du Toitskloof Pass

Du Toitskloof Pass is situated in the Western Cape province of South Africa, on the Regional road R101 between Paarl and Worcester. The pass was named after Francois Du Toit, a 17th century Huguenot pioneer who settled in the foothills...

. The old route culminates at 820m, however, the new Huguenot Tunnel

Huguenot Tunnel

The Huguenot Tunnel is a toll tunnel near Cape Town, South Africa. It extends the N1 national road through the Du Toitskloof mountains that separate Paarl from Worcester, providing a route that is safer, faster and shorter than the old Du Toitskloof Pass travelling over the mountain.Geological...

, of 4,4 km in length, cuts out the old mountain pass.

The range mostly consists of Table Mountain sandstone

Table Mountain sandstone

The Table Mountain Sandstone is a group of rock formations within the Cape Supergroup sequence of rocks. Although still widely used in common parlance, the term TMS is no longer formally recognized; the correct name is the "Table Mountain Group" . The sequence is dominated by quartzites of very...

, an erosion-resistant quatzitic sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

. Vegetation is almost exclusively montane fynbos

Fynbos

Fynbos is the natural shrubland or heathland vegetation occurring in a small belt of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate...

 of the Cape floristic region

Cape floristic region

The Cape Floristic Region is a floristic region located near the southern tip of South Africa. It is the only floristic region of the Cape Floristic Kingdom, and includes only one floristic province, known as the Cape Floristic Province.The Cape Floristic Region, the smallest of the six recognised...

. The rest of the mountains are barren rocks and steep cliffs. Precipitation occurs primarily in the winter months as rain on the lower slopes and as snow higher up, usually above 1000m. Climate varies dramatically, with the surrounding valleys being up to 10°C warmer than the mountains. The climate falls within the Mediterranean

Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

 type. The mountains form part of the Cape Syntaxis, a complex portion of the Cape Fold Belt

Cape Fold Belt

The Cape Fold Belt is the folded sedimentary sequence of rocks in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It is related to the Ventana Mountains near Bahía Blanca in Argentina...

where the north-south trending ranges meet in the east-west trending ranges in a complex series of folds, thrusts and fault-lines.