Explore The Western Cape
One of the most rewarding journeys in the Western Cape is an inland counterpart to the Garden Route – the mountain route from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, largely along the R62, and thus often referred to as Route 62. Nowhere near as well known as the coastal journey, this trip takes you through some of the most dramatic mountain passes in the country and crosses a frontier of dorps and drylands. This “back garden” of the Little Karoo is in many respects more rewarding than the actual Garden Route, being far less developed, with spectacular landscapes, quieter roads and some great small towns to visit.
The most likeable of these towns are the historic spa town of Montagu, rural and arty Barrydale, and the port capital Calitzdorp. Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves mark the convergence of the mountain and coastal roads; over the most dramatic of all passes in the Cape – the unpaved Swartberg Pass, 27km of spectacular switchbacks and zigzags through the Swartberg Mountains – is Prince Albert, a Karoo village whose spare beauty and remarkable light make it popular with artists.
From Prince Albert, the hinterland of the Great Karoo opens up, the semi-desert that covers one-third of South Africa’s surface. The fruit farms of the Little Karoo spread out into treeless plains, vegetated with low, wiry scrub, and dotted with flat-topped hills. The best of the Karoo can be found in the Karoo National Park, while, in Sutherland, the clear, clean air provides some of the best stargazing opportunities in the world.
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Passes and poorts of the Little Karoo
Passes and poorts of the Little Karoo
The Little Karoo is hemmed in by a gauntlet of rugged mountains and steep-sided valleys (or poorts) that for centuries made this area virtually impassable for wheeled transport. In the nineteenth century, the British began to tackle the problem and dozens of passes were built through the Cape’s mountains, 34 of which were engineered by the brilliant road-builder Andrew Geddes Bain and his son Thomas. In fact, whatever the Little Karoo lacks in museums and art galleries is amply compensated for by the towering drama of these Victorian masterpieces. We’ve listed a selection of some of the best of the passes here.
Cogman’s Kloof Pass Between Ashton and Montagu. A five-kilometre route that’s at its most dramatic as it cuts through a rock face into the Montagu Valley.
Gamkaskloof Pass Also called Die Hel (The Hell), reached from the summit of the Swartberg Pass. Arguably the most awesome of all the passes leading into a dramatic and lonely valley, all on gravel.
Meiringspoort A tarred road through a gorge in the Swartberg, which can be taken to reach Prince Albert, which keeps crossing a light-brown river, while huge slabs of folded and zigzagging rock rise up on either side.
Prince Alfred’s Pass On the R339, between the N2, just east of Knysna, and Avontuur on the R62. A dramatic dirt road twisting through mountains, past a few isolated apple farms.
Swartberg Pass Between Oudtshoorn and Prince Albert. Over-the-Swartberg counterpart of Meiringspoort, with 1:7 gradients on narrow untarred roads, characterized by precipitous hairpins.
