It is not known what the original Khoisan inhabitants called this particular piece of land, but the early Dutch settlers knew these slopes as "Boschenheuwel". The name "Cecilia" derives from the first name of Cecil_Rhodes who at one point owned the land.
The park is often known as "Cecilia Forest" due to the large commercial plantations that have occupied this land. However, this name confusingly also refers to the far larger indigenous forests that occupy the high slopes north of Kirstenbosch. Consequently the decision was taken to remove this confusion by renaming the southern piece of land "Cecilia Park" to emphasise its protected status and intended recreational use by the surrounding population.
Location and layout
Map of the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, showing Cecilia Park
Cecilia Park lies on the eastern lower slopes of Table Mountain just to the south of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and north of Constantia Nek Area . It is located in an area of granite, and the undulating hilly slopes were naturally covered in Peninsula Granite Fynbos, with patches Silvertree forest. The valleys that cut across the park would naturally have been filled with a indigenous afro-temperate forest and some still partially are. Today, large parts of the park are still covered in uniform plantations of Pine and Gum trees, relicts from the days of commercial logging.
The park itself stretches in a thick band, from the north-east to the south-west. The car-park and main entrance is located at the north-eastern corner near the border with Kirstenbosch. The buildings of the forest station are a bit further up the slope. From the main entrance, the most popular walk follows a circular road, along the length of the park towards the south-western corner (near the other entrance at Constantia Nek) and then turns back making a complete loop. This road was originally built for the management and harvesting of the commercial plantations. The Dier River has its origins in the mountain slopes above Cecilia Park, in a large gorge – replete with a that is beginning to fill again with indigenous forest. The highest peak on the slopes above Cecilia Park is Klaasenkop