Why this ride
A coastal grand route from Mossel Bay, South Africa to Storms River, South Africa, via Wilderness. Key character: forest; lagoons; beaches; cliffs. Surface: paved.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Garden Route
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 209 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 06
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Garden Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 12 km this is Garden Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 12 km
- Named road
- Garden Route
- Pass
- Kaaimans River Pass
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Mossel Bay
The Garden Route is usually said to begin at Mossel Bay, and this is where the story of European contact with this coast begins too. In 1488 the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias anchored here after rounding the Cape, making the first known European landing on this part of Africa, and the town's museum complex keeps a full-size replica of his caravel. A famous old milkwood tree in the town, known as the Post Office Tree, recalls the tradition that sailors left letters in a shoe hung from its branches.
Read the complete Mossel Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Garden Route point 1 sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Garden Route point 2.
2. George
George lies at the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains, a long blue ridge that shuts off the sea breezes to the south and gives the town a warm, sheltered feel. It is the largest town on the Garden Route, and it sits in a strip of green country between the mountains and the Indian Ocean, with forest, farmland and rivers close by. The Dutch founded the settlement in 1811 and named it for King George III, and the old oak tree planted in the early days still stands in the centre of town, protected as a national monument.
Read the complete George write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Garden Route point 2 comes up 34 km in. Next is Garden Route point 3.
3. Near George
George lies at the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains, a long blue ridge that shuts off the sea breezes to the south and gives the town a warm, sheltered feel. It is the largest town on the Garden Route, and it sits in a strip of green country between the mountains and the Indian Ocean, with forest, farmland and rivers close by. The Dutch founded the settlement in 1811 and named it for King George III, and the old oak tree planted in the early days still stands in the centre of town, protected as a national monument.
Read the complete George write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
68 km in you reach Garden Route point 3. Next is Garden Route point 4.
4. Knysna
Knysna lies around a tidal lagoon on the Garden Route, with a pair of sandstone cliffs known as the Heads guarding the narrow channel to the sea. Forest runs down to the water, and the whole town has a green, relaxed look, with a population around sixty-nine thousand and a waterfront full of small shops and restaurants. The lagoon is an estuary, home to rare seahorses and a rich oyster industry, and every year there is an oyster festival in the winter that fills the town.
Read the complete Knysna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Garden Route point 4, about halfway. Next is Garden Route point 5.
5. Plettenberg Bay
The Portuguese called this bend of the coast Bahia Formosa, the beautiful bay, and nobody has seriously disagreed since. Plettenberg Bay, or Plett as everyone calls it, sits near the eastern end of South Africa's Garden Route, with a curved beach below forested hills and the dark rocky peninsula of Robberg standing out to sea. The Dutch governor Joachim van Plettenberg gave the town its present name in 1778, and the place grew through timber, whaling and later tourism.
Read the complete Plettenberg Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Garden Route point 5 sits at 137 km, late in the day. Next is Garden Route point 6.
6. Garden Route point 6
East of Plettenberg Bay the coast turns serious. The Tsitsikamma, whose name comes from a Khoisan word often translated as place of much water, is a narrow band of forest and cliffs where the mountains run almost straight into the Indian Ocean.
Read the complete Garden Route point 6 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Garden Route point 6 comes up 209 km in.