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Fort Beaufort

This 19km long, gravel pass winds northwards up the Amathola escarpment through the beautiful Mpofu Nature Reserve, offering not only stunnng scenery and wildlife, but also some rich history and folklore. Entrance is free (at the time of writing in June, 2016) but there are gated control points at the foot and summit of the pass, where one has to sign in and out. This is the longest of the three local passes that traverse the Mpofu and Fort Fordyce Nature Reserves - the other two passes being the Fullers Hoek Pass and the Bosnek Pass. All three can be driven in a single day making for a feast of gravel road driving through some of the finest Eastern Cape scenery you will find. This pass is suitable for most vehicles in fair weather, but drive slowly as there are a few sections which get a bit rough. In very wet weather, a 4x4 would be best.

This high altitude pass can be found after summiting the Katberg Pass. It starts at 1623m ASL and summits at 1713m before dropping through through a series of switchbacks through the Winterberg Mountains to the next plateau of farms. We recommend a high clearance 4WD vehicle for this pass. It connects the summit of the Katberg Pass with the towns of Sada, Whittlesea and Queenstown further to the north.

The road (or rather the track) is mostly badly rutted with some deep washaways and large stones to get over. After rain, the summit area can be very slippery with large pools of muddy water over the road, which have to be traversed. Don't attempt this road without a backup vehicle and recovery equipment. Also make sure you have Tracks4Africa loaded on your GPS otherwise you will more than likely get lost. This is one of those roads very much less travelled.

The Ecca Pass is located 15 kilometers north of Grahamstown on the tarred R67. The road links Grahamstown in the south with Fort Beaufort in the north. The pass has great geological and historical value. The name Ecca is of Khoi origin and means "salty or brackish river"

The pass is named after the Ecca River, which is a tributary of the Great Fish River. Andrew Geddes Bain built the road (the Queens Road as it was known) northwards towards Fort Beaufort in the early 1800's. There is a plaque in his honour at the head of the pass. Bain was also a renowned geologist and named the rock type at the foot of the pass the 'Ecca Group' - comprising 250 million old sedimentary blue shales and mudstones.

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.

Kingo Hills Pass is situated just off the R67, about halfway between Grahamstown and Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape. Also known as Douglas Heights and (incorrectly) King Hills Pass, it is named after Kingo Hill, the summit (581 metres ASL) of which is located just north of the pass summit coordinates. The road is badly maintained, with major ruts and corrugations, and it is not recommended that you drive this pass in a normal car, although a four-wheel drive vehicle would not be required except in wet weather.

The Nico Malan Pass is located between Whittlesea and Seymour along the tarred R67 route towards Sada in the east. This is a serious pass climbing a massive 673 vertical metres over 13.8 km, ranking it in position number 25 in the top altitude gaining passes in South Africa. The pass is well engineered and modern and underwent an upgrade in 2016. There are many impressive steep sided cuttings, dense forested sections, sweeping views and fairly easy gradients, with nicely banked corners, making this pass a joy to drive. It is suitable for all traffic and although it is a safe pass in fair weather conditions, it is prone to thick mountain mists and heavy rain, which suddenly changes the safety rating to poor. Adjust your speed according to conditions. Excessive speed and human error have led to several fatal accidents on this pass.