Graaff Reinet

This is a pass not to be missed. It ascends and descends the Ribbokberg via the Valley Road and has some very steep gradients, which are not problematic as the entire pass is tarred. It's a slow drive offering fabulous and dramatic scenery culminating in the Valley of Desolation. No visitor to Graaff Reinet should miss this opportunity. The pass is 7,3 km long and it is not designed to be driven if you're in a hurry. Permits are required which can be obtained at the entrance gate. Bookmark this one - it is a real gem and rates high in our Eastern Cape Top 20 passes.

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.

This fairly staight forward pass is located on the tarred N9 route between Middelburg and Graaff-Reinet in Great Karoo (Eastern Cape). It is amongst the shorter passes in South Africa at just under 2 km and it only rises and falls 80 meters. The pass was originally built by Andrew Geddes Bain in 1858.

Munniks Poort is a straight forward drive along the tarred N9 highway, just 3 km south-west of Graaff Reinet - with few technical surprises, other than beautiful vistas of the Great Karoo, the unique and distinctive vews of Spandau Kop and the world famous Valley of Desolation - all part of the Camdeboo National Park. The naming of the pass is probably after Dr. L.A.P.A. Munnik - a parliamentary minister in the 1970's.

There are several similarly named passes spread around South Africa - at least 4 in the Western and Eastern Cape alone - so make sure you are not heading off to the wrong pass! This Ouberg Pass, or more accurately named the Oudeberg Pass in the more traditional Dutch style, lies 20km north of Graaff Reinet on the R63 tarred secondary road that connects with the town of Murraysburg.

 

Soutpansnek translates from Afrikaans as 'Salt Pan Neck'. This 7 km tarred pass is located on the R75, about 15 km north of the small Karoo town of Jansenville. The pass has a stiff gradient on its northern side of 1:14, but other than the one sharp bend at the summit, which is well marked, should present no real dangers. The road is suitable for all vehicles. There are several references to this pass also being called the Ravelskloof Pass. This stems from a sign at either end of the pass marked 'RAVELSKLOOF' which is the name of the kloof over which the Soutpansnek Pass traverses. In reality, there is no such pass as the Ravelskloof Pass.

Strangely there are two Soutpansnek Passes on the R75 just 43 km apart. This was always going to cause confusion, so we have labelled the two passes with a suffix to separate them distinctly. This one is the Soutpansnek Pass (Ravelskloof) and the more southern one is the Soutpansnek Pass (Wolwefontein).

There is not much left of the old Van Ryneveld's Pass with most of it being either under the surface of the new road or under the sparkling waters of the Nqweba Dam. The 'new' pass which forms part of the R63 route, is just  2.1 km long and only displays an altitude variance of 40m. What this little pass lacks in vital statistics, it more than makes up in points of interest and lovely scenery.

You will be able to enjoy shady picnic spots, views over the dam, close up views of the old pass (built by Andrew Bain), a visit to the Gideon Scheepers memorial and gain access to the Camdeboo National Park. Andrew Bain started his road building career in Graaff Reinet where he first worked as a saddler and later gained experience as a road builder. His famous son, Thomas Bain was born here.

This long pass of 16.8 km runs on the east/west axis between Graaff-Reinet and Cradock on the tarred R61 route. This is a high altitude pass summiting at 1768m ASL which puts it firmly into the Snow Belt. The average gradient is a mild 1:46, but there are sections where the gradients get as steep as 1:10, which translates into slow moving heavy trucks for ascending traffic.

The engineering is excellent and double lanes have been provided for most of the steeper ascending sections. The pass is named after the mountain range over which it passes. Most of the corners have a comfortable arc and the deep cuttings ensure that the gradients have been kept to a level which prevents blind rises. This is a wonderful pass to drive at any time of the year and is suitable for all vehicles.