Why this ride
A 404 km round trip from Mossel Bay - roughly 5 h 40 in the saddle. On the way it passes Wilderness, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and Storms River. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Garden Route · 404 km from Mossel Bay
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 404 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 40
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
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.
Road summary
A coastal grand route from Mossel Bay, South Africa to Storms River, South Africa, via Wilderness. Key character: forest; lagoons; beaches; cliffs. Surface: paved.
Scenic road chapters
Seven Passes Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 55 km this is Seven Passes Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 55 km
- Named road
- Seven Passes Road
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
Mossel Bay is where the day begins. Next is Wilderness.
2. Wilderness
Wilderness is a quiet beach village on the Garden Route that has quietly kept out of the way of the bigger towns on either side. It sits where the Touw River and a string of freshwater lakes meet the Indian Ocean, about twelve kilometres east of George, at the foot of the forested Outeniqua mountains. The coastline here is a mixture of long sandy beach, tidal lagoon, lake and indigenous forest, and it forms part of the Garden Route National Park, so the development is limited and the birdlife is rich. Kingfishers, fish eagles and herons are common around the lakes, and the Knysna loerie, a bright green forest bird with a crimson flash in its wings, can be spotted in the trees.
Read the complete Wilderness write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wilderness comes up 52 km in. Next is Knysna.
3. 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
104 km in you reach Knysna. Next is Plettenberg Bay.
4. 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
Plettenberg Bay, about halfway. Next is Storms River.
5. Storms River
Storms River is a village of a few houses and a petrol station tucked in a clearing of the Tsitsikamma forest, a place that would be easy to overlook if the setting were not so extraordinary. The Garden Route here runs along a narrow strip of land between the Indian Ocean and the mountains, with ancient indigenous forest, towering yellowwood trees, ferns and mist, and every river cutting a deep gorge on its way to the sea. The Khoi name Tsitsikamma is usually translated as place of much water, and the name is earned.
Read the complete Storms River write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Storms River sits at 209 km, about halfway. Next is back through Plettenberg Bay.
6. back through Plettenberg Bay
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Plettenberg Bay comes up 261 km in. Next is back through Knysna.
7. back through Knysna
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
313 km in you reach back through Knysna. Next is back through Wilderness.
8. back through Wilderness
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wilderness write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Wilderness, late in the day. Next is Mossel Bay.
9. Mossel Bay
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
The route ends here after 404 km.