Ouberg Pass from the foot of the pass
Ouberg Pass from the foot of the pass - Photo: Photo:Trygve Roberts

The Ouberg Pass is a much revered gravel road pass by adventure travellers and is questionably the most impressive gravel pass in the Northern Cape. It is an impressive pass with an altitude gain of 820 meters over 10,4 km to produce a stiff average gradient of 1:13 but the steepest parts are at 1:6 - which is steep! It traverses a ridge of the Roggeveld Mountains north-west of the Verlatenkloof Pass (which is on the R354), and summits at 1402m on the upper Karoo plateau and it's a 40 km drive from the summit into Sutherland.

This is a major pass by South African standards and contains 44 bends, corners and curves, which include 8 hairpins and another 4 corners sharper than 90 degrees, as the road snakes its way laboriously down the mountain. Despite the size and scope of this pass, the gradients, although steep, are fairly consistent and the designer plotted a good line, making the pass safe to drive.

There is one large viewsite about 1/4 way down the pass, which provides a safe, level stopping point for many vehicles, where the views are spectacular. The pass does get snow from time to time in which case it should be avoided completely (even in a 4x4) as the drop offs are extreme and unguarded where an uncontrolled slide could spell disaster.

The full content of this article is restricted to subscribers.

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.

Subscribe Now (1 year)

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.

Log in


You will gain full access to the best parts of the website, which include:

  • the full content (non subscribers only see about 10% of the text) of 936+ mountain passes,
  • plus you get the video(s),
  • Fact File,
  • Interactive Map,
  • Directions
  • and the downloadable Route File.

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.

Still not convinced?

You can visit five ‘Open’ pass pages on Mountain Passes South Africa to evaluate what you’ll be getting: