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Acknowledgement

The information on Paarl's granite is from a text by Prof Izak Rust in Paarl's granite, a geological perspective, published in Clift: a centuary in stone, 2006.

Recreation

In the 1800s and early 1900s, before motorised transport made family holidays in distant places more affordable, many families camped on Paarl Mountain during school holidays. Some of the camp sites were at Meulwater, Oukraal, Pienaarskamp, Groot Oukraal, Krismiskamp, Tredouxkamp, Elsiesbos, Waboomkop and at Kanariedam.

Paarl's granite

Five types of granite have been identified on Paarl Mountain. The most common is the coarse grained Bretagne Granite, named after Bretagne Rock.
Paarl Grey also called Laborie Granite is finely grained and found on the southeastern slopes on the mountain. Paarl Rock is composed of this type of granite.
The remaining three granites are less common: Bethal Dam Granite and Montvue Granite, and quartz porphyry.
Years ago granite was used as a building material. Monuments such as the Huguenot Memorial in Franschhoek was built from Paarl Grey granite.

Learn more 

Follow the following links to learn more about the Jan Phillip's mountain road, and the wild flower garden at Meulwater. Read about the VOC cannon on Paarl Rock, and other landmarks.

Paarl Mountain and its granite domes

View from Bretagne Rock, Paarl Mountain
Paarl's huge granite domes are part of a huge underground granite intrusion that extends from Saldanha in the north to George in the east.
It is difficult to visualise, but millenia ago Paarl Mountain did not exist.     Over time the Berg River, wind and rain gradually exposed the rock.
When granite weathers it seems to break off in concave shards that reminds one of an onion skin.
    In the earth the granite was exposed to a great deal of pressure, and this pressure is released once the rock is exposed to the surface of the earth. This release of pressure combined with the inherent qualities of granite, causes this type of weathering.
    Granite is composed of feldspar, quartz and mica, and is the most common form of rock found in the earth's crust and is formed when the magna inside the earth's crust begins to cool.
    The feldspar crystals give the granite is texture and colour. Sodium feldspar is responsible for the very pale grey granite, while iron minerals give granite a brick red colour.