tarred passes

The Muiskraal Pass is named after the farm of the same name near the northern foot of the pass. The pass is basically the northern descent of the Garcia Passonto the Little Karoo plateau and forms one long, continuous pass which connects Riversdale in the South with Ladismith in the North. It is a modern, well engineered pass with no obvious safety issues. We filmed the Muiskraal Pass ascending from north to south. 

Murray's Neck is a straightforward tarred pass rising 116m to a neck where fabulous views over the Pongola Nature Reserve can be enjoyed. The pass forms an integral part of the access road from the N2 to the SA/Swaziland border control point at Golela, where there is also a railway station. The road provides tourism access from the eastern end of the pass to some of KZN's finest game reserves. The pass has a steeper descent gradient, but in general this is an easy pass with a good safety record and comfortable gradients with gentle corners. It is suitable for all vehicles.

This is another big tarred pass covering 16.2 km. It is one of several big passes along the A25 and connects Seshute in the north with the Katse Dam complex in the south. There are 95 bends corners and curves to contend with, of which 23 have angles greater than 90 degrees, but there are no hairpins.

The altitude variance of 624m means lots of ascending and descending and although the road is tarred, caution needs to be exercised in terms of traffic volumes and the very real possibility of finding livestock on the road. All of Lesotho's passes are subject to winter snowfalls to varying degrees.

The pass offers very good elevated views of sections of the Katse Dam. It gives access to two airports - Katse Airport at the southern end and Seshutes airport at the northern end.

This average length pass of 4 km forms a back to back continuous pass with the Umzimvubu Pass on the tarred R61 route between Lusikisiki and Port St Johns. The pass has plenty of corners compressed into those 4 km, so drivers need to be wide awake as the pass traverses three villages - Gemvale, Mdovu and Gcakeni.

Expect pedestrians on the roadway, minibus taxis and the ever present threat of livestock. Some of the locals drive like maniacs, so it's best to let them pass you as quickly as possible. The scenery more than compensates for the Level 3 driving and is typical of the Wild Coast.

Take your time. Stop at the roadside stalls. Support the local crafters and allow the climate and the people to embrace your spirit.

This poort lies immediately to the North of the Free State town of Clarens. It is on the tarred R712 route between Clarens and Bethlehem. Other than snow from time to time, the pass presents few dangers, but offers lovely scenery of towering sandstone cliffs and tall poplar trees that line the road as you descend into Clarens.

The Nqutu Pass is named after the village at its summit point. This short, tarred pass is fairly steep with average gradient of 1:18 over a distance of 3,3 km. Being close to a busy town, you can expect pedestrians and livestock on the road, minibus taxis and other slow moving vehicles.

The name is of Zulu origin, and is derived from 'isquthu', ‘flat-topped vessel’, descriptive of a nearby hill from which the village takes its name.

Note that the entire pass has double barrier lines, so there is no overtaking allowed.

This pass has an inverted vertical profile typical of a pass that drops down into a river valley. There are 44 bends to contend with, including one hairpin. The pass is the first of three back to back passes that drivers have to negotiate that terminate at Port St Johns.

At 7.2 km it's well above the national average and offers an altitude variance of 180m. The pass is quite steep in places with a maximum gradient of 1:6. Although the R61 is in good shape, there are numerous dangers to contend with, which include dense mountain mists, badly behaving minibus taxis, erratic local driver behaviour which can range between ridiculously fast to frustratingly slow, plus the standard Wild Coast hazards of livestock and pedestrians. Commercial vehicles and even large trucks drive here at high speed.

This section of the R61 should be treated with the utmost caution in any weather and drivers should be alert and drive anticipating these dangers at any time.

All the dangers aside, if you have time to glance up from the road, you will see fabulous scenery, so typical of the Wild Coast. The pass is also the access point to head down to the Ntafufu River estuary where the pristine waters offer some of the best fishing in the area in magnificent settings.

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.

Olifantspoort is located on the N6, the national road between Bloemfontein and East London, about 20 km north-west of Queenstown. The road is in an excellent condition and can be traversed in any vehicle and in all weather conditions, with the possible exception of when snow falls, which does happen here from time to time. The poort is undoubtedly named after the herds of elephants which once frequented this area; unfortunately, this is no longer the case, and these giant pachyderms are today restricted to some of the larger game reserves, like the Addo Elephant National Park near Port Elizabeth.

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.

The Paardekloof Pass is located approximately 25 km NNE of Graaff-Reinet in the heart of the Great Karoo. It is an easy, short, safe pass that is easily left unnoticed in the vastness of the Karoo. It rises to a maximum altitude of 1223m ASL and is 3,94 km long. It is also known as Amandelshoogte (Almond Heights). The biggest danger facing motorists is fatigue, due to the great distances and arrow straight roads.

Paardekraal Pass traverses a long unnamed ridge, a spur of the Magaliesberg, that separates Krugersdorp from the south-western suburbs of Johannesburg. It derives its name from the original farm on which both the pass, and Krugersdorp itself, was established. The road carries a very high volume of traffic, even at night and over weekends, as this is the primary route which connects Krugersdorp to Pretoria, so try to avoid it at peak times if you can.

Fortunately, it has been constructed as a double highway, with multiple lanes in both the ascending and descending directions, so unless you get stuck behind trucks that are overtaking one another (a common occurrence), you should not encounter any problems. Magnificent views over the farms and smallholdings of the Muldersdrift area to the north are presented, but it would be both illegal and highly dangerous to stop anywhere along the length of the pass.

This short tarred pass connects the towns of Elim in the north with Mbhokota and Chavani in the south. It is located 27 km south east of Louis Trichardt (Makhado) in Limpopo Province. It's a fairly minor pass exhibiting an altitude variance of 211m over just 2.4 km. There are only six bends and all (but one) of those are less than 90 degrees. Although old, the road is well engineered with concrete stabilising walls and safety barriers. Overtaking lanes are provided for ascending vehicles.

There is a large township on the ridge of the mountain to the east known as Patwini, which is more than likely where the pass took its name from.

The Pelangwe Pass is an obscure, but extremely well engineered, tar pass situated near Ga-Nkoana in the centre of the Limpopo province. To get to the pass from the south involves some complicated routing through a densely populated rural area, so travel is slow and you will need to be extra vigilant, because of traffic, pedestrians and livestock. The approach from the north is on a gravel road which is poorly maintained, but a 4x4 is not required. The landscape surrounding the pass is very unusual, with the predominant colour of the rocks and ground being white. The pass and the small town at the northern end are named after the Pelangwe Mountain, which is in the immediate vicinity.

The Penhoek Pass is a well engineered, high altitude tarred pass forming part of the N6 highway between Queenstown in the south and Jamestown in the north. The 5.6 km long pass traverses through the aptly named Stormberg to assert itself as one of South Africa's dangerous tarred passes. In earlier days (circa 1846) the original pass was known as the Stormberg Pass and featured some impressive retaining walls with very steep drop-offs. Some of the original lines can still be seen on the satellite imagery. Traversing the old pass was a major event, compared to the easy drive over today's version with it's perfectly banked corners, deep cuttings and easy gradients.

This underrated tarred pass lies on the N12 route between George and Oudtshoorn. It's a long pass at 17,1 km and has a substantial altitude variance of 312m. It offers wonderful Klein Karoo scenery, several impressive cuttings and of course the well known horseshoe bend of 170 degrees, which in Afrikaans is a 'perdeskoendraai' and where the pass takes its name from. This is a very busy road with many trucks and other commercial vehicles in the mix - all of whom seem to be in a hurry. Factoring in a fairly uneven road surface, no safety shoulders and barrier line transgressions, you need to be focussed as this pass has a high accident rate.

The road and the railway line share the northern sector along the banks of the Kliprivier for 8 km, then part company as the road climbs steeply away to the east towards the horseshoe bend, whilst the railway line takes a longer, more gentle gradient towards the west.

Perrieshoogte is a minor cutting a few kilometers north of Graaff-Reinet on the N9. The typically flat Karoo landscape is peppered with koppies and rocky ridges through which the N9 routes, covering a range of climbs/descents between Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg. Other passes between Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg on the N9 are Goliathskraal se Hoogte, Paardekloof Pass, Naudesberg Pass and the impressive Lootsberg Pass. The pass was originally constructed by Andrew Geddes Bain circa 1858.

This interesting little pass is named after the Plankfontein farm, which it traverses and forms part of the R61 tarred route between Tarkastad and Cradock. It's a mixture of a pass and a poort, with the first section displaying the big pass-like cuttings, whilst the second half after the bridge near the farmstead, displays more poort like characteristics as the road mimics the course of the river down the kloof.

It takes just 4 minutes to drive the pass, which is 3,5 km long and has an altitude variance of 128m, producing a comfortable average gradient of 1:27, but the steepest part, immediately after the start and summit is quite steep at 1:8. The pass lies about 15 km north-east of Cradock and is suitable for all vehicles.

This short pass of 1,7 km descends 99m in altitude producing an average gradient of 1:17 but it never gets steeper than 1:14. The pass falls under the category of a suburban pass and offers excellent views of the eastern side of Plettenberg Bay as well as the Keurbooms River estuary and beach zone, known as Lookout Beach.

It carries heavy traffic being on the N2 and there a number of cautionaries on offer. Be on the lookout for minibus taxis, jaywalkers, livestock, road blocks and speed traps as well as slow moving heavy trucks. This is a high accident zone, so stay sharp!

This is a short, easy tarred pass on the R563/R400 road between Krugersdorp and Hartbeespoort with an easy average gradient of 1:40, but the southern side has a short sharp section with gradients of 1:14. The pass is close to the Hartebeeshoek Radio Observatory and the John Nash Nature Reserve. The road is often referred to as 'The Satellite Road' by locals due to the large number of radio satellite dishes along the road.