This attractive gravel pass of 11,8 km length has a classic inverted profile of a pass that drops down into a river valley and rises up the other side. The river in question is the Mkomazi River - a small but powerful river that drains a sizeable portion of the Drakensberg escarpment. The pass forms part of the long and winding Lotheni Road that connects Nottingham Road in the north-east with Underberg and Himeville in the south-west.
Despite being a gravel pass, the road engineering is sound and the gradients never exceed 1:10. The usual gravel road cautionaries apply of wash-board corrugations, ruts, washaways, livestock on the road and loose gravel on the corners. The pass is named after the Bucklands farm over which it traverses and worth noting that a small nature reserve is crossed on the south-western side of the pass, called the Vergelegen Nature Reserve.
In fair weather this pass can be driven in any vehicle.
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