Bain's Passes

Pakhuis Pass

ThomasDocumented

Surveyed and built by Thomas with convict labour. He found rock paintings during construction.

R364Route
About 26 kmLength
About 905 mSummit
Tar, then gravel after Engelsman se grafSurface

See it on the mapLog your drive

Before you go

Tar from Clanwilliam over the pass; the road turns to gravel just after Engelsman se graf, so expect gravel towards Calvinia. Observe speed limits on the steep, sharp northern switchbacks.

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

The R364 climbs out of Clanwilliam into the northern Cederberg, gaining about 824 m. Down in the Pakhuis Kloof it winds through fynbos and sandstone cliffs, then switchbacks steeply up the northern section. The top opens onto wide Karoo views, and the road runs on towards Calvinia. The name comes from the rocks, which look like crates stacked in a packing shed (Afrikaans pakhuis). Wind and rain have carved the sandstone into boulders, arches and honeycomb patterns, and some look like faces or mythical creatures. Local stories say horses balked on the rocky stretches because the place was haunted. Geologists know the area for the Pakhuis tillite, a glacial deposit from about 440 million years ago. Rock art is still visible on a rock face above Leipoldt's grave.

Beside the road lies the grave of the Afrikaans poet, doctor and writer C. Louis Leipoldt (1880 to 1947), under a rock overhang about 17 km from Clanwilliam. Further along stands Engelsman se graf, the grave of British Lieutenant Graham Vinicombe Winchester Clowes, killed in a 1901 clash with Boer forces. The pass cuts through the Cederberg Wilderness Area, run by CapeNature. Nearby Rocklands is one of the world's best-known bouldering areas (a CapeNature permit is needed). Hikers can use the Pakhuis, Kloof and Waterfall trails. The tar ends just after Engelsman se graf and the road continues as gravel. A Pakhuis convict station (Clanwilliam) has postal records from 1862 to 1871. Ross's chronology: Thomas Bain started in 1874 and the pass was opened in April 1877 (including Klipfontein Pass); in 1878 he extended the route toward Calvinia. C. Louis Leipoldt's ashes are buried in a San rock shelter along the pass.

History

Built by
Surveyed and built by Thomas with convict labour. He found rock paintings during construction.
Built
1875 to April 1877
Location
R364, Clanwilliam to Calvinia, Western Cape
Later work
Upgraded.First improved in the 1960s.Resurfaced.Tarred in 2009 (the tar ends just after Engelsman se graf).
Notes
Most of the modern road follows Thomas's original line. Several sources say the pass is tarred along its full length, but an unconfirmed source reports the road turns to gravel just after Engelsman se graf, which matches sa-venues; the card follows that. Sources also disagree on: length 25 to 26.4 km, summit 904 to 922 m, and a start date of 1874 (Daily Maverick) or 1875 (SAHO). The card uses the SAHO dates. The Grokipedia page used for some scenery details is AI-generated and was checked against SAHO, sa-venues, Daily Maverick and the Heritage Chronicle. SAHO's postal records give a Pakhuis convict station from 1862 to 1871, which is earlier than the 1875 to 1877 construction on this card. It may relate to earlier road work, so the dates are left unchanged.

Find it

Pin
-32.13321, 19.03361
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Sources

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