Thomas Bain built a great many passes, and Prince Alfred, finished in 1867 and named for Queen Victoria's son, who visited the Cape in 1860, is one of the longest. It runs from Knysna up through the Outeniqua mountains to Uniondale, over a distance of nearly eighty kilometres, and most of it is gravel. The route was built to link the timber country of the Garden Route with the farms of the Karoo, and for decades ox wagons carried wood, wool and supplies along it.
The climb leaves the coast behind and enters one of the greatest indigenous forests in South Africa, where yellowwood and stinkwood trees, tree ferns and creepers hang over the road, and the air smells of damp earth and leaves. The surface can be rough in places, with loose gravel, corrugations and washaways after rain, and the road narrows to little more than a lane on the steepest sections, so go slowly and expect to take most of the day. Fog and drizzle are common near the top, and the temperature drops noticeably as you leave the coast.
Beyond the forest the scenery opens up. The road passes through fynbos, rocky ridges and, eventually, the dry farmland of the Little Karoo, with long views over folded mountains. The old stone bridges and culverts are a delight, and the road has a sense of quiet history. Occasionally you will see the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe, a heritage train, running on a line in the distance, and birds such as Knysna turacos flash green and red in the trees.
There are no services on the pass, so fill up in Knysna, which is a sizeable town of nearly seventy thousand people with every facility, and Plettenberg Bay is an alternative on the coast. At the northern end, Uniondale is a small village with fuel and a few cafés. Check the condition of the road before you set out, particularly after rain, and tell someone where you are going, as mobile signal is weak in the forest. A day on this road, with a picnic by a stream, is a good way to understand the country behind the coast.