Bloukrans Pass

ThomasDocumented

Built by Thomas through formerly impassable forest opened by the 1869 fire. Hairpin bends cut in unstable shale.

R102Route

9.5 kmLength

220 mSummit

Tarred(deteriorated / closed EC section)Surface

Before you go

The Eastern Cape side is officially closed to vehicles and in poor repair: overgrown, rockfalls, potholes and narrowed lanes. Do not rely on it as a through route. The Western Cape side is maintained. Check before you go.

Road conditions change with weather, floods, fires and roadworks. Check the latest conditions with the road authority or local tourism office before you leave, and carry offline maps.

About this pass

Until the late 1980s this was the main coastal link between Port Elizabeth and Plettenberg Bay. Sa-venues calls it arguably the most spectacular of the Tsitsikamma passes, with steep ravines, many sharp turns and winding stretches under a tree canopy. It crosses the Bloukrans River, the Western Cape and Eastern Cape boundary. Once the N2 Bloukrans Bridge opened, through traffic left and the two provinces shared the upkeep. The Western Cape side is kept up, while the Eastern Cape side has been left to go wild: bush and fallen trees crowd the road, rocks and potholes litter it, and two lanes have shrunk to about one. An old bridge still stands at the bottom, leading into the Eastern Cape.

A traveller who drove the pass reports mountain bikers and cars coming round blind corners, rockfalls, exposed edges and a dirt mound and pothole near the top that force you to squeeze past, and says a small car such as a Suzuki Jimny copes easily. The overgrowth hides most of the view of the new bridge. From Plettenberg Bay you reach it by leaving the N2 just before the Tsitsikamma toll road and following the old road above the Groot River, past the Groot River Pass and its sudden hairpin, through Nature's Valley with its lagoon and beaches, and onto the Bloukrans River Pass over a low-level bridge. Just beyond Nature's Valley the high N2 Bloukrans Bridge carries a bungee jump of 216 m, reputedly the highest commercial bungee in the world. Travel in daylight. Nature's Valley has accommodation for an overnight stay. A local Facebook post summarises: built by Thomas Bain between 1881 and 1886 as part of a coastal route from Port Elizabeth to Plettenberg Bay through the Tsitsikamma Forests; officially closed to traffic after the 2007 flood damage; the western side has been repaired and reopened for local use, the eastern side is impassable to vehicles; the road is barely one lane wide. Bain's own 1893 record lists a "Blue Krantz Mountain road" among his works.

History

Built by: Built by Thomas through formerly impassable forest opened by the 1869 fire. Hairpin bends cut in unstable shale.
Built: Approximately 1881–1885. Sources give 1884, 1881 and 1885 as the finish; the joint works with Storms River began 1879.
Location: R102, Tsitsikamma, Garden Route National Park, on the Bloukrans River (the Western and Eastern Cape boundary)
Later work: Upgraded.Recently upgraded before flood damage (unconfirmed report); date not found.Bypassed.The N2 Bloukrans Bridge took the through traffic. The pass has been permanently closed to vehicles since November 2007.
Notes: One traveller's account measures the pass at 6.75 km (3.4 km on the Eastern Cape side), while the card keeps 9.5 km from Wikipedia. The Facebook post you sent could not be read, because Facebook blocks automated access, so nothing is taken from it. The sa-venues page gives no builder, dates or length.

Bloukrans Pass

Before you go

About this pass

History

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Sources

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