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Scenic Drives

This lovely country road goes under the official road number P1660. To the locals and on many maps it's labelled as the Kliprivier Road, which is something of a misnomer as the Kliprivier is merely one of the tributaries of the main river along the kloof, which is of course, the Keurboomsrivier. The official name is the Klein Langkloof as it is to all intents and purposes a smaller version of the actual Langkloof, which lies directly to the north. This is technically not really a pass. It's more of a poort as the road more or less follows the course of the river for most of its length.

The road offers exceptionally attractive scenery as it follows the course of the Keurboomsrivier Valley. There are fruit farms, misty mountains, tree filled kloofs and dozens of small streams. Whilst it cannot be compared to the Langkloof section of the Prince Alfred's Pass, it offers a wonderful alternative and in some instances, a substantial shortcut and saving in time.

It's a fairly long drive at 25.3 km and displays an altitude variance of 254m with the higher elevation being at its western end. The primary point of interest along this road is Burchell's Oxwagon Route. The road has lots of sharp bends - 115 in total, of which 14 are greater than 90 degrees and 5 of them are very tight hairpins.

Despite these impressive statistics, this road is much more a scenic drive than a proper mountain pass. It is nonetheless officially recorded as a pass, and as such it is documented and indexed into our database.

The Klipspringer Pass is located within the boundaries of the Karoo National Park a few kilometres outside Beaufort west. The pass is tarred and in excellent condition, providing sweeping views over the rugged landscape and the mini canyon known as Rooiwalle. It is an extension of the main road through the park and is suitable for all vehicles. The pass is obviously only accessible to paying visitors.

The pass is 5,8 km long and has an altitude variance of 264m, producing an average gradient of 1:22 with the steepest parts being at 1:6. It has a summit altitude of 1170m ASL.

Kloof Road is a steep descent from the six way intersection at Kloof Nek in a westerly direction towards Clifton. The road is exceptionally scenic and has the entire area of Lions Head and Signal Hill as part of the Table Mountain National Park to its right (east) with The Glen and the historical Roundhouse in the valley to the left (west). The Glen is a wonderfully tranquil, natural wooded area and a great place to go for a walk or a picnic. These were also the hunting grounds of Lord Charles Somerset back in the early 1800's. The road was first built in 1848. The surface is a little bumpy in places and the road loses 181m in altitude at the point where it joins Lower Kloof Road in Clifton.

Langersnek is an official pass located on a secondary gravel road (the S385) in the eastern Free State highlands. Although the pass itself is not particularly memorable, the road does traverse right through the middle of the Moolmanshoek Private Game Reserve, offering spectacular sandstone mountain scenery and an excellent opportunity to do some free game viewing.

The road surface is in a reasonable condition and can be driven in any vehicle, except in really bad weather. It has not been possible to establish the origins of the name of this pass, but it is probably derived from the original owner of the farm on the north-eastern side, or perhaps from a local hero of the Anglo-Boer War. The spelling of this pass is taken from the official government maps, but locally the name is always spelled as “Langesnek”.

Meiringspoort is a Top 10 destination. The poort bears a tough history of floods and landslides amongst incredible hardships, yet our engineers and road builders mastered the art of building a magnificent road through this awe-inspiring poort. Part 1 covers the first 8 km. of the poort. The second video covers the final 8 km and and includes the  Interpretive Centre and main waterfall and ends near the charming village of De Rust.

The pass is in superb condition and offers typically gentle poort gradients, but the 63 bends, corners and curves do require a high level of concentration. It's easy to become mesmerised by the mind boggling scenery, so drivers need to remain focused and understand that the lack of safety shoulders and large volume of heavy trucks means a certain level of danger is always present. It's best to drive this poort on a weekend or public holiday, when there are fewer trucks. Stop often and enjoy one of South Africa's finest poorts which is packed with history.

Michell's Pass (frequently misspelt as Mitchell's Pass) was named after Charles Michell who planned the original route through the Skurweberg & Witzenberg Mountains from Tulbagh and Wolseley through to Ceres. He was a talented military engineer, who perhaps gained more fame for his exploits by eloping with the 15 year old daughter of a French colonel. This might explain why he was "transferred" to the Cape of Good Hope! Michell went on to become the Surveyor-General for the Colony and designed and built several prominent Cape passes and bridges and was a major influence in road construction in the Cape, together with the popular Colonial Secretary, John Montagu, had the vision to plan a network of roads through the Cape Colony that would pave the way to a successful growth in the region's economy.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

THE PASS HAS BEEN COMPLETELY CLOSED TO ALL TRAFFIC, INCLUDING PEDESTRIANS AND CYCLISTS, DUE TO SEVERE FLOOD DAMAGE WHICH OCCURED IN 2023 AND 2024. ON 20TH MARCH, 2025 AN ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE THAT AN AGREEMENT HAD BEEN REACHED BETWEEN THE VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS (INCLUDING THE NATIONAL MONUMENTS COUNCIL), AS TO HOW AND WHEN REPAIRS WILL TAKE PLACE. AN AMOUNT OF R80m HAS BEEN ALLOCATED TO THE RESURFACING OF THE ROAD SURFACE, REPAIRS TO THE PARAPET WALLS AS WELL AS IMPROVED DRAINAGE. WORK IS SET TO COMMENCE BY OCTOBER 2025 AND BE COMPLETED BY AUGUST 2026.

PLEASE DO NOT TRY AND ACCESS THE ROAD ILLEGALLY AS IT WILL BE DANGEROUS AND A WORKING CONSTRUCTION ZONE. ALLOW THE REPAIR WORK TO BE COMPLETED AS EXPEDIENTLY AS POSSIBLE. UPDATES WILL BE POSTED ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES.

This was the first road between George and Oudtshoorn. The Montagu Pass was opened in 1848, having taken 3 years to build by some 250 convicts at a cost of 36,000 Pounds Sterling. It lays claim to being the oldest, unaltered pass still in use in South Africa and covers 17,1 kms of magnificently scenic narrow, gravel road driving, ascending from the tiny hamlet of Herold, on the northern side of the Outeniqua Mountains up and over the summit and then all the way down to the outskirts of George.

The road compresses 126 bends corners and curves into its length and gradients reach a maximum of 1:6. The road is suitable for all vehicles in fair weather, but please drive slowly and due to many sections being only single width (especially on the southern side) it might be necessary to reverse back to a wider point to allow passing oncoming traffic.

The pass was built to replace the highly dangerous and extremely difficult Cradock Pass, which still exists today, but as a tough hiking trail. The pass was named after John Montagu, who was the colonial secretary of the Cape at the time.

When approaching Olifantsnek from the south, it is said that part of the mountain overlooking the dam looks like the head and trunk of an elephant, hence the name. Alternatively, it is quite possible that herds of wild elephant would have roamed this area long ago. It is the most westerly point of the “3 Dams” route, which is very popular with the motorcycle set as a breakfast run (the 3 dams being Hartbeespoort, Buffelspoort and Olifantsnek). This little pass is just 1.8 km long and gains only 39 metres in height, but what is lacks in statistics it makes up for in scenic beauty.

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.

Despite the romantic, historical connotations of its name "Ou Kaapse Weg" ('Old Cape Road'), this is actually a relatively modern road, which was opened in 1968. There is a jeep track that runs more or less paralell, but higher up the northern side of the pass, which is purportedly an old wagon road road used to cart ore from the silver mine lower down the mountain in the late 1800's, and which is still accessible to hikers who walk the many beautiful routes available on both sides of the pass within the Silvermine Nature Reserve.

The pass is a major one covering a distance of 10,6 km and in that length contains 26 bends, curves and corners including 3 full horseshoe bends and another 3 corners in excess of 90 degrees. The pass offers a modern, well bult road with superb views over it's entire length of both False Bay and the Atlantic Ocean with the Steenberg Mountains and Silvermine Nature Reserve with its winter waterfall keeping travellers entertained through the middle section. It gives access to Fish Hoek, Noordhoek, Kommetjie, Simonstown and the Cape Point Nature Reserve. 


 

The Pakhuis Pass (meaning 'packing shed' in Afrikaans) begins just outside Clanwilliam, connecting it with the Karoo town of Calvinia and beyond. The pass's surveyor and builder, Thomas Bain, was an incredibly energetic man of many talents, which included art, rock paintings, geology, cartography and engineering. This is a major pass which has recently been fully tarred over its entire length and offers a wide variety of scenery, grave sites, weathered rock formations, picnic sites and some of the Cederberg's finest hiking trails.

The pass is suitable for all vehicles but do comply with the speed limits, especially along the northern switchback section, where the gradients are quite steep and the corners (although nicely radiused by the road builders), are quite sharp. The pass is in the Top 20 passes nationally in terms of its length (26,4 km)  and has a big altitude gain of 824m. Most of the new road follows Thomas Bain's original lines.

Like its neighbouring pass, Katbakkies Pass, the Peerboomskloof Pass was originally carved out by the local Khoi people as a cattle path. Farmers later used it as a wagon road to cross over the mountains from the Koue Bokkeveld to the Ceres Karoo. Only recently tarred and 4,5 km long, it provides picture-perfect views of the open, rugged expanse of the Tankwa Karoo and the mountain range separating it from the Koue Bokkeveld. 

The first 2 km of the pass are tarred and sports a stiff gradient of 1:7. This tarring was done fairly recently and the road remains narrow with no road markings, so don't be fooled by the tar surface as it is still a dangerous pass. The pass initially enters the bottom end of the poort via an S-bend. The second part of the bend is very sharp and immediately a gravel track leads off to the left which goes to a picnic area. Once the top of the tarred section is reached at 704m ASL, the surface is once again gravel, but the gradient initially remains steep as the road heads up towards the plateau section, whereafter the gradients ease off to a more comfortable 1:20. The upper portion of the pass is relatively easy.

This is a short, but very scenic gravel road that follows the poort of a small river. The exposed and almost vertical rocks on the southern side of the kloof are dramatic and some of the rock formations are well worth exploring. The road crosses the (usually dry) riverbed four times in rapid succession. The pass is just under 2 km in length and only has one steep section near the eastern end, where the gradients are at 1:6.

The mysteriously named Phantom Pass is the final pass on the Garden Route's string of "Seven Passes" between George and Knysna. The 7,4 km of narrow, gravel road descends to the famously picturesque Knysna River Lagoon, and finds its end-point at the N2. The other six passes are listed at the bottom of this page for easy reference and access.

The Prinsrivier Pass should not be confused with the Prinsrivierpoort, which lies a few kms fiurther to the south east, on the same river. It's an unofficial pass and is technically a mixture between a pass and a poort. Whatever you decide to call it, you can enjoy a beautiful traverse of the Prinsrivier Valley with its green pastures. There are some very tight corners, narrow bridges and fairly steep gradients to keep the route interesting with fabulous views of big mountains on either side of the road. You can also pay a visit to the Prinsrivier Dam, with its crystal clear mountain waters.

This is an easy gravel poort in the heart of the Sandveldpotato growing region that connects a range of local farms. It has a minor change in altitude and a single S-bend in the middle of the poort. Typical of a poort, it sports an easy average gradient of only 1:30 and the steepest section is a mild 1:16. The road is suitable for all cars, bearing in mind that gravel roads can change quickly in wet weather. In the dry season, the road is subject to corrugations, so adjust your speed accordingly. The road runs through a gap on the southern side of the Heerenlogement mountain, which plays host to the famous 18th century traveller's cave of the same name.

Red Hill Road is 7.6 km in length, packing a fantastic scenic punch into that distance, with most of it in the final 3.4 kms of descent. The road starts at the intersection of the M65 (the coastal road from Cape Point to Kommetjie) and the M66 (Redhill's official route designation.)

It plays host to one of Cape Town's favourite long distance road running races - the 36 km Redhill Race.

The road contains over 30 corners, bends and curves, which include no less than 6 hairpin bends - four of which occur on the eastern side of the mountain. Allow space on the hairpins for bigger vehicles, which will require the entire width of the road to negotiate the bends. Despite the extreme bends, the gradients are actually quite reasonable at 1:14 at the steepest point.

Located about midway between Bethlehem and Fouriesburg on the R26 tarred road in the southern Free State, this easy 3 km long pass offers sweeping views of mountains and plains when travelling southwards. It has a mild average gradient of 1:30, but the southern descent offers much steeper gradients of 1:12. The road is safe and suitable for all vehicles.

Rhodes Drive is a 7 km mountain drive along the eastern slopes of the Table Mountain range and connects Constantia Nek in the south with the suburb of Newlands. This is one of the most scenic wooded drives on the Cape Peninsula and traverses some of the plush suburbs of the Southern Peninsula. It is also the only access road to the world famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. From dense indigenous forests, to towering old pine trees, majestic mountains, hiking trails, picnic spots and world class botanical gardens - it's all there along the wonderful Rhodes Drive.  

Over a distance of 7.6 km, the tarred Rooihoogte Pass displays 370m of altitude variance, with a comfortable average gradient of 1/20. Literally a stone's throw along the same road is Burgers Pass, formerly known as Koo Pass. Both of these passes were first designed by master road engineer, Thomas Bain in 1877.

The Rooihoogte Pass was originally known as Thomson's Pass and together with the Koo pass, both received name changes in the 1940's. This is reputed to be the pass with the highest summit altitude in the Western Cape. The pass is more enjoyable driving it in the descending mode with huge views over the rugged Langeberg mountains.