Karoo

An easy drive through a poort that follows the course of the Aapsrivier (Monkey's River). This connecting farm road forms a semi-circular loop that joins the R407 near Klaarstroom with the northern end of Meiringspoort and is labelled as the P1721. With typical poort statistics, the road only ascends 89m over 4,66 km producing an easy average gradient of 1:54. The road is suitable for all vehicles and was receiving a major upgrade at the time of filming in May, 2015.

This pass is in reality just the initial climb leading from the Dwyka river to the start of the Rammelkop Pass. There are many references to the two passes being one pass, but the initial part of the climb traverses the farm Allemanshoek, thus causing plenty of confusion. To keep things simple, we have treated these as two separate passes.

Bastersnek has an almost perfectly symmetrical up-and-down profile, but in miniature; the pass only gains a total of 40 metres in height, and is just 1.2 km long. It is situated 11 kilometres from the well-known N1 junction town of Colesberg, on the R369 to Petrusville. The road is tarred through the section where the pass is located, is in a good condition, and can be driven in any vehicle. It is difficult to establish when, how, and after whom the pass is named. Other than the Hunter’s Moon Safari Lodge (private) and the Doornkloof Nature Reserve, there is not much else along this road, so it is best driven as an out-and-back route. A couple of minor skirmishes took place here during the second Anglo-Boer War.

The small pass is also sometimes referred to as Plessispoort or Bastershoek Pass.

A short traverse of a natural gap between two Karoo koppies, known as Blounek - on the R381/P0058 about midway between the Molteno Passin the south and the Roseberg Passin the north. This is a relatively minor pass by modern standards and it involves only a single gentle right hand bend and a small gain in elevation of just 59m. This pass should not be confused with another Blounek Pass on the R63 between Williston and Carnarvon.

The Bloupoort Pass lies on the east-west axis through a natural poort just beyond the Vaalpunt Mountain, some 30km due east of Sutherland in the Northern Cape. The pass is very short at only 1.16 km and presents no dangers other than the usual wet weather cautionary - but this is the Great Karoo and rains seldom fall here. The average gradient is a gentle 1:34. In the greater scheme of passes and poorts, this one is right at the bottom of the scale. The road is designated as P2259.

If you didn't know it had a name, this little poort (wisely listed in the Afrikaans diminutive, so as not to be taken seriously) would be gone in the blink of an eye and you would be none the wiser. Some maps and references also call this poort "Die Poort se Nek" This is about as obscure as any pass can get. It lies on a remote gravel road (the P2259) about 40 km due east of Sutherland. It is of some significance in that together with its sister poort (Bloupoort) a few kilometers to the west, these two little poorts are important landmarks on your journey to the fabulous Karelskraal Pass a little further on.

Die Venster translates into The Window. This is an easy pass with gentle curves and a fairly small altitude gain/loss. However, what it lacks in technical drama, it more than makes up for in terms of grand scenery. The road ascends gradually from the west through a curve to the left as it heads for the lowest point between two mountain ranges. From the summit, a vast landscape opens up featuring flat plains stretching as far as the eye can see with rugged mountains interrupting the Karooscape.

This is a very minor official pass (as per the government maps) which is just over 2 km long and has a single S bend where the gradients get as steep as 1:10 for a brief period, but the whole pass has a very mild average of only 1:68. The pass is named after a local indigenous bush - the Harpuis [Euryops abrotanifolius]. The pass is located about 40 km north-east of Fraserburg.

This is one of several Northern Cape passes and poorts which have been officially listed, but when driving them, they hardly resemble a pass in any way. Finding this one is quite tricky and you need to be a more serious pass hunter with good GPS skills to locate it.

Ceres has an abundance of passes connecting it to the outside world. One of the oldest is the Hottentotskloof Pass, which was the original wagon route between Cape Town and the Karoo through Ceres, long before the N1 was thought about. Together with the Karoopoort these two passes carried considerable wagon traffic to the northern parts of South Africa. The  modern pass we drive on today does not follow the original wagon route, which is slightly further south, a little lower down the slope. The careful observer will be able to trace the old road and it is clearly visible on Google Earth, but no longer publicly accessible.

The dramatic poort traverses a gap through the Grootrivierberge (Great River Mountains), which has been carved out by the Heuningkliprivier (Honey Stone River) which runs along the north/south axis, but via a convoluted path approximating the natural course of the river. It only climbs 58 vertical metres over 14km producing an easy average gradient of 1:241 - The beauty of this pass is its rugged, mountainous scenery.

April, 2017 - Information just received is that this road has been closed off by a locked gate and marked as 'Private'. We don't know if this road has been officially deproclaimed, but we will investigate and publish our findings here. [Source: Pieter Laubscher]

This is one of the most unusual and dramatic Northern Cape gravel passes offering challenging driving, multiple switch-backs, steep ascents and descents, serious drop-offs, as well as grand views over deep ravines and a sweeping Karoo-scape. This road is better suited to a 4WD vehicle or at least a "bakkie" with good ground clearance.

The pass descends 238 vertical metres in just 3,1 km producing a stiff average gradient of 1:13. There are one or two very steep sections at 1:5. If it is snowing, this will be a highly dangerous road to any vehicle. It is best to not have time constraints when driving this pass, as the going is slow and there are many farm gates to open and close.

Notice: We have received a report that the farm owner over whose land this pass traverses has locked the first gate near the summit, making this pass out of bounds to the general public. Should we receive any news that this situation has changed, we will update this page accordingly. Watch the video and see what you are missing!

Travelling on an unmarked gravel road through the Karoo, a seemingly endless herd of Angora goats forced us to stop the car, and allow the ancient farm scene unfolding before us to take us back in time...  Whilst this is not a mountain pass, we have added this page in as a general interest item. This road does not form part of our national passes database.

In this video clip, the entire herd of goats was controlled by the farmer in a 'bakkie' with single Border Collie ensuring there were no strays and at end of this 2 km long goat herd, two goat herders ensured they all entered a gate to a new pasture.

This poort primarily serves the local farming community to the south of Calvinia in the Northern Cape's Tankwa Karoo. It is a rough gravel road that runs on the North-West/South east axis through the Keiskie Mountains. The poort is named after the mountain range through which it traverses as well as the Keiskie farm, which lies 4 km to the south east of the poort. It connects the central sheep farming town of Calvinia with Middelpos - a minute hamlet of some 6 buildings including a post office and an hotel - 60 km to the South East.

Technically, this is not a poort, but a small mountain pass over a nek. It only takes four minutes to drive it, so do take the time to stop at the spacious view-site at the summit to enjoy the wide views over the mountains and plains. Here it is so still, you can hear your heart beating.

Whilst this is a basic farm road, it does provide a thoroughly enjoyable alternate gravel road drive to visitors to the Tankwa Karoo. The road can de driven as a circular loop of approximately 2 hours duration which will curve back towards the R355 and Calvinia to the North of the Bloukrans Pass. The pass rises 150 meters over 2.9 km producing an average gradient of a stiff l:15 with the steepest section being l:5.

It can be driven in any vehicle, but a high clearance vehicle is preferable. Be careful of the very sharp corner halfway up the pass

The Komsberg Pass is located approximately 40 km to the south-west of Sutherland. It's named after the mountain down which it traverses. It is a gravel road (P2243) and gets fairly steep in places. It has a maximum gradient of 1:5 and an average gradient of 1:13 which is produced over a distance of 3,9 km. In wet weather (a rare occurrence) or snow, this pass will need to be driven in a 4WD vehicle. Avoid it completely in heavy snow as there are some sections with negative cross-flow, which could result in a rollover.

One of the points of interest of this pass is that the official notice board at the summit gives the incorrect altitude (1721m). The correct altitude measured with a 12 sattellite GPS reading is 1654m. which concurs with the reading on Google Earth. Effectively, this makes the official board wrong by 67m. Errors like this frequently slip into official signage, but this is one of the biggest margins of error we have yet come across.

The pass mimics the line of the Verlatenkloof Pass which is 23 km to the north-west and offers a gravel descent down the same mountain range, as opposed to the much busier tarred version on the R354. As a bonus, you get to drive another two smaller passes along the same route. These are the Smoushoogte and Bakenshoogte passes.

This minor pass of just under 2 km in length only has 3 bends and an altitude variance of just 55m, but despite this offers good views and when you drive the pass from north to south it will immediately become apparent why is is called Koppie se Nek. A small, but distinctive conical peak forms a small nek adjacent to a bigger ridge and it is through this neck that the road has been constructed.

Although the average gradient is a mild 1:35 there are some sections close to the neck that get as steep as 1:8. This little pass, is followed back to back (heading south-west) by Tolletjie se Poort, which is in turn followed by the Ouberg Pass and Langkloofpoort. This provides almost 25 km of non-stop pass driving, descending constantly towards the town of Montagu.

The Kredouw Pass lies along the beautiful Prince Albert Valley, on the R407 between the town of Prince Albert and the farming hamlet of Klaarstroom, within the northern sector of the awe inspiring Swartberg mountain range. The pass was originally named the Kareedouwberg Pass and this name still appears on the official government maps, but the practical language of Afrikaans sensibly shortened it to Kredouw over time. This also helps in not confusing this pass with the Kareedouw Pass just south of the town of Kareedouw, much further east on the R62.

This is one of the shortest passes on our database at just under 1 km - (881 metres to be exact), but it offers magnificent and rugged scenery, despite being so short. It's name is something of a misnomer, as the topography and statistics are those of a poort and not a pass. Judging by it's name, lions no doubt once roamed this path.

What makes this drive even more dramatic is the obvious path of the substantial river which charges through this kloof after good rain, making this road a potential death trap as can be clearly seen in the video footage. The final river crossing on the northern side is the most dangerous spot. For the vast majority of the year, the river is nothing more than a dry, stony path as this is after all, the Karoo, but every adventure traveller should know and understand that the Karoo rivers are prone to flash floods, so if the weather is looking ominous, drive with your wits about you and dont take unneccesary risks.

This lovely pass with its sweeping curves around the buttresses of the Lootsberg, lies in the heart of the Great Karoo some 70km North of Graaff Reinet on the tarred N9. It is the highest pass in the Karoo and was named after Hendrik Loots who died on the old pass, after his carriage overturned.  It  is the first of a string of poorts and passes starting from the North East near Middelburg, with the final one being the Potjiesberg Pass to the South of Uniondale taking travellers from the high grounds of the Great Karoo down to the Little Karoo towards Oudtshoorn and George. The pass was originally constructed by Andrew Geddes Bain in 1858.

 

This scenic 4,5 km gravel poort has a classic ascent/descent profile, but as poorts go, this one also doesn't have much of an altitude gain at just 88m. The average gradient pans out at a very gentle 1:51, but there are a couple of sections with slightly steeper gradients. The pass meanders along the course of a tributary of the Grootrivier, which itself has a massive drainage area sourcing in the Great Karoo. The poort lies 30 km WNW of Steytlerville in the Eastern Cape. The attraction of this poort is its complete feeling of isolation in the heartlands of the Karoo.

The Grootrivier has spawned several exceptional gravel passes, besides cutting itself out a canyon of great length, depth and beauty from the highlands of the Karoo all the way to the confluence of the Gamtoos River at Patensie, this is the same Grootrivier that you will traverse on the Antoniesberg Passfurther south and it also plays host to the fabulous Grootrivier Poort, which is the final pass at the eastern end of the Baviaanskloof. 

This is one of many poorts in the mountainous region between Steytlerville and Willowmore in the Eastern Cape. It runs along the NW/SE axis and is unusual in that it is much wider than most poorts in South Africa at between 1,2 and 1,4 km. Topographically it looks much more like a valley than a poort. In addition it doesn't display the one key element of all poorts in that there is no river bisecting it.

It's an official poort, so it gets indexed here, regardless of how small or insignificant it might appear. It's 4,5 km long and displays an altitude variance of 68m producing an average gradient of 1:66 with the steepest section just east of the summit, measuring in at 1;14.