klaarstroom

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 fairly long pass offers an easy drive on a safe, well constructed main route - the N12 - between Beaufort West and Oudtshoorn in the vicinity of Klaarstroom. When approaching from the north, this is the first set of mountains the N12 traverses after more than 100 km of almost arrow straight flat driving over the vast plains of the Karoo.  The poort is named after the Droekloof Mountains, through which the pass winds. The name translates into Dry Ravine or Passage.

This enjoyable and very scenic gravel pass on the northern slopes of the Swartberg mountains, is the middle one of a trio of passes and poorts on the P1721. It connects the farm Kleinvlei in the north with the Sandkraal and Witrivier farms in the south. The pass can be driven by all vehicles and although fairly steep in places, should present no problems in fair weather. This is not an official pass.

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.