Newcastle

This pass connects the Free State farming town of Memel via the R34 with the KZN town of Newcastle and straddles the border between the Free State and KZN. The pass starts at the summit altitude of 1809m ASL and descends to 1569m taking you 245 meters down the escarpment and in the process producing a gradient of 1/21 over 5.0 km., which is moderate. There is one U shaped bend halfway down the pass which turns through almost 170 degrees, but the arc is fairly wide, making it fairly safe providing the speed limit is complied with. With a summit altitude not far under the 2000m mark, it does sometimes snow on this pass.

This gravel pass traverses the Drakensberg and is strictly a 4x4 track, which connects surrounding farms to the east of Harrismith in the Free State with farms in the KZN Highlands near Dundee and Newcastle. The route traverses private land and requires the consent of the land owners. Together with Rogers Pass and Keays Pass the three passes ascend and descend the Drakensberg over some tough tracks making for a challenging 4x4 circuit. Not much information is known about Brandons pass and very few people have driven it.

A short, steep hill on the tarred R34 between Newcastle and Memel, named after the Brink family over whose land the pass traverses. At only 1,45 km it ranks right near the bottom of our pass distance table but it does ascend 85 vertical metres over that distance to produce a stiff average gradient of 1:17 with the steepest sections being at 1:10

This pass is named after the Ngogo River, which flows from west to east on the southern side. Derived from Zulu, the name has been explained as an onomatopoeic rendering of water gurgling over stones, but the phrase is also used as a term of respect for an older woman. This area was especially vulnerable during the Boer struggle for independence from Britain in the 1880’s, commonly known as the First Anglo-Boer War. Decisive battles were fought in the vicinity of Volksrust at Lang’s Nek and Ingogo, followed by the Boer victory at the Battle of Majuba, where the British commander, General Colley, was fatally wounded.

Koffiekloof Pass is one of those official but technically insignificant passes that you would barely notice unless you know exactly where it is, and is hardly worth going out of your way for unless you intend to tick the pass off a list. It is highly unlikely that coffee was ever grown here, so the name is probably derived from the likelihood that this location was used as a stop-over or break area during treks. The gravel road is in an excellent condition and can be driven in any vehicle, and few hazards other than the probability of farm animals in the road are likely to present themselves. The scenery is however lovely and its proximity to the Chelmsford Dam means you will probably see game and birdlife.

Lang’s Nek was named after William Timothy Lang, who bought a farm located to the north and east of Mount Majuba in Northern Natal in 1874. This is extremely well documented and cannot be disputed, but for the last 130 years, the pass itself, the road, the railway and the battlefield have all been erroneously spelled as “Laing’s Nek”. How this occurred is a mystery – perhaps a battlefield reporter or a cartographer made a careless mistake, and this has somehow been brought forward in perpetuity. Early maps of the region all have the correct spelling. The road is in an excellent condition and can be driven in any vehicle.

This is a substantial gravel pass of 8,8 km long that connects the N11 to the north of Laings Nek pass with the R34 near Memel and runs along the SW/NE axis. The pass climbs 266m to summit at 1848m and produces an average gradient of 1:33, but there are some very steep sections at 1:5. We issue the usual KZN gravel pass cautionary of "slippery when wet" as well as the occurrence of frequent mountain mists which can become extremely dangerous when visibility is reduced.

Mollshoogte is a long gravel road pass located in the north-western corner of the KwaZulu-Natal province, close to Volksrust and Charlestown. It is in the centre of a trio of passes which traverse the escarpment in this area, the other two being Lang’s Nek to the west and Barrowfield Pass to the east. With a height gain of nearly 400 metres and a length of almost 7 kilometres, this a substantial pass, but the road surface is good and there are no particularly sharp corners. It should not present any problems, except perhaps during or after heavy rains. Another official pass called Mollsnek is located very close to the summit, but as this is on private land, we have elected not to document this pass on our website.

This steep, gravel road pass lies between Newcastle in KZN and Memel in the Free State. The pass traverses a natural path up the Drakensberg and is located roughly 33 km west-south-west of Newcastle and  15 km north east of the Normandien Pass. It is OK to drive in a normal car subject to conditions being dry. Like most passes in this part of the Drakensberg, it is subject to heavy electrical storms in summer and snowfalls during winter. In such conditions a 4x4 vehicle is much safer.

The Sondagsrivier (Sundays River) Pass is a long gravel pass of 14 km with two summit points initiated by a big climb on the northern side. Grand views of the Chelmsford Nature Reserve and Ntshingwayo Dam are on offer from the main summit point. There are some very sharp corners (including one hairpin bend) and steep gradients on this pass, which might well cause traction issues for non 4WD vehicles in very wet conditions.

This pass gives access to Brandon's Pass, Roger's Pass and Keay's Pass (all of which are 4x4 only passes) as well as the Normandien Pass, which leads into the Free State.

An easy traverse along the tarred N11 route just south of Newcastle. The short pass climbs 90 vertical metres over 2,6 km producing an average gradient of 1:29 but the road steepens to 1:14 near the summit. From the pass there are good views of the old Newcastle power station and the Kilbarchan Colliery. The pass is suitable for all vehicles and holds no apparent dangers.

Visierkerfnek, which translates as “Gunsight Notch Neck”, is minor pass which connects Newcastle with the Vulintaba Country Estate and Hotel. Although recently tarred, poor workmanship has resulted in a bumpy surface riddled with potholes, but the pass can be negotiated in any vehicle. There are no apparent dangers, other than the tight curves on the southern side of the pass where the speed limit has been reduced to 40 kph, obviously because problems have been experienced here in the past. The pass is 3 km long and there is a height gain of just 105 metres.

This is a straight-forward climb up a steep hill about midway between Newcastle and Normandien on a tarred road and has only one slight bend in the road. It is suitable for all traffic and is named for its proximity to the well known iNcandu Waterfall, which is very close to the summit of the hill.