The Cape Folded Mountains dominate the southern peripheral region and consists of a western section stretching northwards and an east-west stretching southern section. These two sections meet in the southwest, forming the jagged Hex River Mountains (2260 metres). The larger, more prominent ranges of the Cape Folded Mountains are formed out of hard sandstone and quartzites of the Cape Supergroup, while softer shale and conglomorates form the basis of the valleys.
The western section is formed by, amongst others, the Olifants River (1960 metres), the Drakenstein (1520 metres), the Hottentots-Holland (1580) and the Cedar Mountains (2000 metres). It stretches north to Vanrhynsdorp.
The east-west stretching section is formed by two parallel sets of mountain ranges, one in the north and one in the south, terminating in the Uitenhage region. The northern ranges are, from west to east, the Swartberg (2300 metres) and the Baviaanskloofberg (1620 metres, also called the Bobbejaansberg); the southern ranges are the Langeberg, Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma Mountains. Together with these, smaller ranges are found, like the Waboomsberg, Warmwaterberg, Touwsberg and Rooiberg in the east and the Witteberg north of and parallel to the Swartberg.
Regions that fall within the Cape Folded Mountains, but are not unique or large enough to stand on their own, are:
- The Langkloof; about 160 kilometres long parallel with and between the Outeniqua, Kammanassie en Komgha Mountains; initial known as Terra das Trovoadas (“Land of Thunder”) and fully explorered and renamed “Langkloof” by Isaq Schrijver in 1689; inhabited by Europeans since 1762.
- The Kammanassie; lies between Oudtshoorn and Uniondale, thus between the Little Karoo and the Langkloof.
- The Warm Bokkeveld.