Cats Pass is a typical inverted profile pass with a low point in the middle at the crossing of the Qora River. Although a little difficult to find, this pass will remain one of your travel treasures once you've driven it. It traverses unspoilt Wild Coast scenery through a remote part of the old Transkei, yet there is life in abundance as the locals go about their daily chores and livestock make themselves comfortable on the road. There are many passes similar to this one, yet each one has its own special charm.
At 8.5 km it's a substantial pass and you will experience an altitude variance of 247m via 48 bends corners and curves and of those 6 are greater than 90 degrees, but there are no hairpin bends. The going is fairly slow, due to the constant need to slow down for livestock on the road. The local cattle are particularly fond of spending time on the bridges and are reluctant to move out of the way. Exercise patience.
Cautionary: In very wet weather, the roads in this region quickly become extremely slippery. Under such conditions a 4WD vehicle is a very good option.
Subscribe for only R550 a year and get full access to our website (936+ mountain passes), including the videos, the full text of all mountain passes articles, fact-file, interactive map, directions and route files. New: Lifelong subscription. You'll never have to worry about annual renewals or price increases. Enjoy a Lifetime Subscription to our website for just R5,000 once-off. Subscribe Now (Lifetime subscription) If you have already subscribed to our site, you can Log in to view the full article. You will gain full access to the best parts of the website, which include: You will also get our weekly newsletter packed with the latest interesting passes information delivered to your email each Thursday. Paid subscribers qualify for 10% off the digital downloads from our online shop. You can visit five ‘Open’ pass pages on Mountain Passes South Africa to evaluate what you’ll be getting:The full content of this article is restricted to subscribers.
