Montagu

This spectacular and very steep pass is well known to many locals who have been up to the top of the mountain on the popular Protea Farm Tractor ride. This takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but on any other day of the week, it's possible to book a self-drive trip up the mountain (at a fee).

The views are some of the best you will experience anywhere in the Western Cape, where from the summit you can look down on the town of Robertson and eastwards towards Worcester. The opposing view is over the Keisie Valley with its backdrop of tall mountains and neat orchards.

The road is mostly concrete strip paved, so traction is not a problem and it is possible to drive up in a normal car, but a reasonable level of ground clearance is important.

The statistics are impressive too. You will climb 540m over just 4.1 km which produces an average gradient of 1:8 but there are some sections which are as steep as 1:4

This road is not recommended for inexperienced drivers or acrophobia sufferers.

Cogmanskloof connects the towns of Ashton and Montagu. Its entire 6.5 km stretches through a majestic landscape of towering rock formations and a colourful pastoral patchwork, which delights the eye and invigorates the heart! Renamed after the popular Cape Colonial Secretary, John Montagu, the town's original name of Cogmanskloof is where this pass took its name from.

Technically this is much more of a poort than a pass, as the elevation variances are minor. The road more or less follows the river for the entire length. Montagu and Ashton are at the epicentre of the dried and stone fruit industry in the Western Cape and a visit to the local co-op is a must. Montagu has a wide variety of accommodation options on offer from basic backpacker style camping all the way through to 5 star luxury lodges. There are many restaurants and a few hotels. The town has become popular with the adventure set, attracting groups of mountain bikers, hikers and rock climbers. In the town are two caravan parks and several more on the outskirts and surrounding farms.

This 4,5 km pass has a classic profile, but the eastern ascent is much longer than the western descent. The pass provides access to the last farm along this rugged valley and is preceded by the Pietersfontein Pass. The two passes run back to back for a distance of 14,4 km and make for a magnificent gravel drive. There aren't many sharp corners, but the gradients get as steep as 1:6. It is the very steep, unguarded drop-offs on the left and the dazzling scenery that make this pass worth seeking out.

The Doornkloof Pass is named after the original farm in the small and compressed valley formed by the Doringkloofrivier. The road is a dead end so you will need to retrace your route back to Pietersfontein. It makes this pass quite exclusive and only the more dedicated pass hunters will seek this one out.

The second portion (descent) of the pass is marked as a private road, so please be aware of a possible trespassing issue, but the sign board announcing this is very small and can easily go unnoticed.

This moderate pass of 3,5 km is located on a side access farm road, the OP 06104, which connects with the bigger gravel road, the P0294 exactly at the point where the Langkloof Poort becomes the Ouberg Pass. The road runs along the east west axis and follows the course of a small ravine along the Salmonswater river. The road provides access to several nature and game reserves, which include African Game Lodge and Mont Eco Nature Reserve.

It has an average gradient of 1:19 but those numbers are fudged by some fairly steep sections towards the eastern end where things get as steep as 1:7. The road can get quite rough after rainy periods, but on the day of filming it had recently been scraped and was in good condition. It is suitable for all vehicles in fair weather. Please note that this is an out and back route, so the pass has to be driven first ascending, then descending returning to your starting point.

The relatively unknown Joubertspoort is a 12.8 km farm road, close to Montagu in the Western Cape, and well worth exploring. The route consists of a combination of some rough two spoor track as well as some good quality gravel road. In essence it is a combination of a pass and a poort. Although the average gradient is a mild 1:30 there are one or two short sections in the 4x4 part of this poort which reach gradients as steep as 1:5

This first (northern) section is strictly for 4x4 vehicles only with good ground clearance and low range. It provides magnificent views in complete tranquility and isolation. The southern section takes you past quaint little farm labourers' cottages flanked by green orchards and pastures towards the exit of the poort from where it is a quick drive into Montagu.

Allow about at least an hour to complete the route. Non 4WD vehicles could drive the poort from the south as far as the last farm, then turnaround and retrace the route back to Montagu.

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 Langkloof Poort is a well-known and much-loved route by off-roaders  which  links the town of Montagu with the Ouberg Pass and the Karoo highlands and gives access to the Anysberg Nature Reserve and the small town of Touws River. The road crosses back and forth across the Kingna river up to 18 times via concreted drifts! It is, to all intents and purposes, a lower extension of the Ouberg Pass; and the two are typically driven as one long pass.

If you didn't know this was an official pass, you would drive right over it and be none the wiser. Technically, it doesn't fit the description of a pass or a poort, but the government has decided it is a pass, so it's a pass! We have a number of these little minor passes on our database and we faithfully record each and every one for the sake of having a complete and accurate record of every listed pass.

It's short at 3,4 km and climbs only 38m producing an average gradient of 1:89 and never gets steeper than 1:16. What this little pass lacks in impact, it makes up for in the beautifully tranquil Karoo surroundings. A small flock of sheep; a creaking windmill; a solitary kestrel floating on the still air; a donkey cart carrying its occupants to the next farm. The Karoo has a magic all of its own.

This road is also the southern gateway to the wonderful Anysberg Nature Reserve.

The Op de Tradouw Pass lies on the popular R62 route between Montagu and Barrydale - both towns which attract tourists by the droves and each has it's own special mystique and charm. This pass should not be confused with the Thomas Bain designed Tradouw Pass, which lies another 10 kms to the east and further to the south of Barrydale. The Wildehondskloofhoogte Pass runs back to back with this pass and together the two passes form one long pass of over 15 km. The Op de Tradouw Pass has an altitude variance of 300m with an average gradient of 1:18 with the steepest parts reaching 1:15. It provides beautiful views of the Tradouw Valley peppered with fruit  orchards and dams, with the Langeberg mountains in the background. The pass is modern, well engineered and safe, providing the speed limits and barrier lines are adhered to.

This particular Ouberg Pass (there are another three - one in the Northern Cape near Sutherland and the other near Gifberg (W/Cape) with the fthird being in the Eastern Cape near Graaff-Reinet) is a well-designed gravel pass linking the town of Montagu with the Karoo highlands and remote towns like Sutherland, Matjiesfontein and Touwsrivier as well as providing an access route to the fabulous Anysberg Nature Reserve.

It is a perennial favourite with offroad clubs and touring bikers, but due to its good design and reasonable gradients, is suitable for all vehicles. It contains 38 bends, corners and curves within its 7,8 km length, with an altitude variance of 497m, producing an average gradient of under 1:16.

This is an unusual pass in many respects. It has no less than four false summits and displays an altitude variance of 273m over just under 10 km. Although the average gradient is a mild 1:36, there are some sections that are very steep at 1:5. It's located just north-west of Montagu to the north of the famous Koo Valley.

The pass is named after the old and historic Pietersfontein farm which lies at the end of the pass on the north-western side. On offer is a lovely drive through deep kloofs, juxtaposed with wide and sunny valleys smothered in fruit orchards and through all of this a small river provides life giving water to this small farming community.

The other odd feature of this pass is that it has very few bends, but watch out for loose gravel as well as slow moving farm vehicles and livestock on the road. If you drive a 4WD vehicle, it is possible to drive a complete loop and return to your starting point via the Patatsfontein Pass.

This lovely gravel road pass near Montagu in the Western Cape was built by the Department of Water Affairs as part of the access road and construction for the Poortjieskloof Dam. Access is available within certain hours, by permit only. This is a popular fresh water fishing venue. The road is an out and back route and terminates at a view-site adjacent to the dam wall. The road is 5.5 km long and you have to return the way you entered, making the total drive 11 km.

Tolletjie se Poort is a minor pass/poort of 1,9 km with two false summits that conencts with Koppie se Nek in the north and the Ouberg Pass in the south forming a continuous back to back pass with both of them. The two false summits are each separated by a stream crossing. The gradients reach 1:14 in places which make this poort suitable for all vehicles.

When driving this poort, in reality it neither resembles the typical features of a poort (a road that follows the course of a river) nor a pass as there are no sharp corners, no cuttings or steep drop-offs. However, it is an official pass and is marked as such on the government maps.

If you're a pass hunter, you had better enter the GPS coordinates of this one, otherwise you might not even notice it, especially if travelling from south to north, as you will have just ascended the impressive Ouberg Pass. This poort starts exactly at the summit point of the Ouberg Pass.

This pass holds at least one South African pass record - it has the longest name, with 21 letters! The name translates from Afrikaans into "Wild Dogs Ravine Heights" It can be found in the Langeberg mountains on the R62 between Montagu and Barrydale and precedes the Op de Tradouw Passon its western side. The two passes form one long continuous pass. The road ascends the southern side of a ravine formed by the Goedgeloofrivier. It's a long pass at 11,2 km and although the average gradient is a mild 1:37, the steep sections are quite long and sustain some stiff gradients at around 1:10.