Seven Passes Road from George

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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

   George is where the day begins. Next is Kaaimans River Pass.

2. 2. Kaaimans River Pass

   Kaaimans River Pass is the opening movement of the Seven Passes Road, a route that the great Cape road builder Thomas Bain laid out in the nineteenth century to link George with Knysna by way of a sequence of river gorges. It is only about a hundred metres above sea level here, but the road descends and climbs through a deep, wooded valley with a character all of its own. The river itself is dark, tea-coloured from the tannins in the fynbos and forest, and winds toward the Indian Ocean through a landscape of green slopes and shadowy gullies.

   Read the complete Kaaimans River Pass write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kaaimans River Pass comes up about 9 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hoekwil.

3. 3. Hoekwil

   Hoekwil is the kind of village that artists and retreat-seekers find and then try not to tell anyone about. It sits in a fold of green hills on the Seven Passes Road, a few kilometres inland from the Wilderness lakes, where the Garden Route's coastal tourist rush thins out into forest, smallholdings, and cattle grazing under tall trees.

   Read the complete Hoekwil write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 19 km into the recorded legs you reach Hoekwil. Next is Karatara.

4. 4. Karatara

   Karatara is a forest village that exists because of timber. It lies deep in the Knysna-Tsitsikamma forest belt, on the road that Thomas Bain pushed through the Outeniqua foothills, and for years its people worked the great yellowwood and stinkwood forests that surround it. The sawmills have quietened, and the community has shifted toward crafts and the careful use of the forest, but the sense of a settlement built around the trees is still strong.

   Read the complete Karatara write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Karatara, late in the day. Next is Knysna.

5. 5. 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

   Finish at Knysna. That is the ride.