Why this ride
A historic gravel pass from Oudtshoorn, South Africa to Prince Albert, South Africa, via Die Top. Key character: folded mountains; dry gorge; switchbacks. Surface: gravel.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Swartberg Pass
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 71 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 34
- 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
Swartberg Pass
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 15 km this is Swartberg Pass, 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
- 15 km
- Named road
- Swartberg Pass
- Pass
- Swartberg Pass
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn owes its elegant sandstone buildings to the feathers of a very large and bad-tempered bird. In the years before the First World War, ostrich feathers were fashionable in Europe and America, and farmers in the Little Karoo made fortunes supplying them. Merchants built grand houses known as feather palaces, with fine stonework and ornate interiors, and some of them still stand. The boom collapsed around 1914, when fashion changed and the war disrupted trade, but ostrich farming continues, now for meat, leather and tourism.
Read the complete Oudtshoorn write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Swartberg Pass point 1 sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Swartberg Pass point 2.
2. Near Prince Albert
Planning note
Swartberg Pass point 2 comes up 23 km in. Next is Swartberg Pass point 3.
3. Prince Albert
Prince Albert sits at the foot of the Swartberg mountains on the edge of the Great Karoo, a small, whitewashed town with Cape Dutch gables, irrigation furrows running down the main street, and an air of having been forgotten on purpose. Water from the mountains is the secret. It runs through the town in channels, feeds orchards and olive groves, and turns a patch of desert into a place that grows apricots, figs, grapes and olives on a surprising scale. Nobody comes here for speed, and the town is very good at that.
Read the complete Prince Albert write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
71 km in you reach Swartberg Pass point 3.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Swartberg Pass starting at Oudtshoorn · 71 km
- Meiringspoort · 63 km
- Meiringspoort Road · 18 km
- Route 62 · short arc · 1298 km