Eastern Cape Mountain Passes

Elandshoogte is a long rambling pass on the R396, which connects Maclear with Rhodes. The pass traverses the majestic forested intermediate area between the lower escarpment and the high mountains of the Drakensberg range. The road is usually in a reasonable condition and in fair weather can be driven in most vehicles, but in heavy rain or snow, a 4WD vehicle will be mandatory.

The pass contains 61 bends, corners and curves within its 10.7 km length and of those 16 are greater than 90 degrees and one is a full hairpin of 180 degrees. The road presents as an undulating road with no less than 3 false summits and routes through a commercial forestry zone, so please drive with your headlights on at all times to make your vehicle more visible to forestry vehicles that commonly use this road.

The road precedes the Naude's Nek Pass when driving from south to north and is itself preceded by the Pot River Pass. Cautionaries include dense mountain mists with poor visibility, slippery surfaces in wet weather, forestry vehicles, ruts, wash-aways and corrugations.

This very long pass of 26,3 km essentially is more of a poort than a pass as it faithfully follows the course of the Broederstroom (Brother's Stream) as it cascades down the kloof losing 463m of altitude. The average gradient of 1:59 is mild and regardless of whether you are ascending or descending this pass, you will find the change in altitude gradual. It has 33 bends, corners and curves but none of them are significantly dangerous or sharp.

The road is a farming road that forms a long crescent shape to the east of the N9 national road starting and ending at different points on the N9. The bulk of the pass falls within the borders of the farm, officially named Erasmuskloof 259 and this is obviously where the pass takes it's name from.

The pass is regularly maintained and despite the gravel surface is suitable for all traffic. This is mainly due to the arid climate where lack of rainfall ensures the roads remain in good condition.

We have not physically driven this pass ourselves as yet, so our description and research is based on available resources and government maps.

When you're on your way to Rhodes and heading for the major gravel passes in this mountainous part of the Eastern Cape, this is the first little pass that gets you off the R58 main route and into the remoter part of the southern Drakensberg. From here you won't see tar again for a long time.

At 5,7 km the pass is of moderate length, and it has an equally moderate altitude variance of 156m. The steepest parts are at 1:9 and should present no problems for any type of vehicle in fair weather. However, with a summit altitude of 2088m ASL this pass is regularly smothered under a thick blanket of snow. It's best avoided under those circumstances. On the day of filming, after heavy rain, the road was slippery requiring 4WD.

Fincham’s Neck is a minor gravel road pass located just to the south of Queenstown in the Eastern Cape. Getting to the pass from the northern side is relatively easy, but the approach from the south involves a number of twists and turns on corrugated gravel roads. The pass is named after George Thornton Zacharias Charles Fincham, who was born in Roydon, Norfolk in 1814. George emigrated to South Africa and acquired a farm in the Queenstown district in 1858, which he named after his birthplace. The farm is located on the eastern side of the pass. George died in 1889 at the age of 74, and is buried in a private cemetery on the farm itself.

As per the official 1:50000 topographical maps, the name of this pass is usually spelled with an “s”, as opposed to the more grammatically correct “Fonteinkloof”. It is a located on the tarred R72, a coastal road which starts off on its eastern side near East London and then stretches via Port Alfred, Kenton-On-Sea and Alexandria to end on the western side at the confluence of the N2 and the N10 near Nanaga, about 50 km from Port Elizabeth. The road surface is in an excellent condition, and can be traversed in any vehicle and in all weather conditions. The pass takes its name from a farm located on the eastern side of the summit.

This beautiful, modern and well designed pass is situated just north of the small town of Stutterheim on the national N6 highway. The pass derives its name from the small fort and telegraph office built in 1878 towards the end of the 9th (and last) Frontier War, and which was named after General Sir Arthur Cunynghame, commander of the British forces in South Africa from 1874 to 1879. The pass presents magnificent views over the forests which abound in the area, holds no apparent dangers, and can be driven in any vehicle.

The Fullers Hoek Pass is a well designed gravel road pass within the Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve, starting at 556m and summiting at 1173m ASL. This produces a gradient of 1:13 with some sections being a fairly steep 1:8. The pass is surpsingly well designed and maintained to a reasonably high standard. This allows it to be driven in normal sedan vehicles in reasonable weather conditions. In heavy rain or snow conditions, a 4WD vehicle will be necessary, especially near the summit area with its sharp switchbacks and steeper gradients.

This easy gravel pass can be driven in any vehicle, although like any gravel pass, things get quite slippery during and after rain. It boasts an impressive hight gain of 730m, which places it in position 20 in the biggest altitude gaining statistics. The 48 bends, corners and curves will keep you busy as each bend reveals new vistas over the citrus farms of the Gamtoos Valley and the densely wooded mountains to the east.

The road services a number of farms and provides an alternative and much more attractive route to Uitenhage. It also is the access road to the 4x4 only Antoniesberg Pass and Steytlerville and forms part of the T3 baviaanskloof Tourism Route system.

The road holds no apprarent dangers if speed limits are adhered to, but normal farming vehicles use the road frequently, so be aware of them.

Note that the videos have been produced in the opposite direction to the text in this article.

This short, mixed surface pass connects the village of Lambasi / Luphatana with the coast where the popular walk commences to Waterfall Bluff and Cathedral Rock on the Wild Coast. It is a dead-end road. There is an altitude variance of 144m which converts into a stiff average gradient of 1:11, but it is the very rough condition of the road that sets this one apart. The steepest part has a rudimentary concrete covering, which lasts for about 100m. When the pass is ascended (on your way back), a lovely waterfall consisting of about 8 cascades can be seen to the right of the concreted section. The waterfall occurs in the upper reaches of a tributary of the Mhlalane River, although most people refer to it as the Luphatana River.

The road and pass are not suited to non 4WD vehicles. We recommend a minimum of two 4x4 vehicles in case of a breakdown/recovery being required.

The Ghwarrie Poort is located on the tarred N9 between the Karoo towns of Uniondale in the south and Willowmore in the north. The poort is 14 kms long and falls 286 meters starting from a summit height of 1024m ASL.

The road is in excellent condition and is suitable for all vehicles.