Bain's Passes

Schoemanspoort

ThomasAttributed

Thomas was in charge of its construction alongside the Swartberg Pass, linking it to Oudtshoorn.

R328Route
Just under 20 kmLength
450 mSummit
Tarred(R328)Surface

See it on the mapLog your drive

Before you go

Tarred R328 along the Grobbelaars River; busy with tour buses to the Cango Caves, so travel in daylight and take the bends slowly.

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

Schoemanspoort was in use by 1855. It follows the Grobbelaars River between Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves on the R328, about 220 m of climb over just under 20 km. From Schoemanshoek the road passes farms and tourist stops, then enters the poort between rocky cliffs in a series of twists and turns. It crosses the Grobbelaars River twice, with a picnic spot beside the first crossing, and the second crossing comes where the road begins to climb like a pass. Haworthia, which look like miniature aloes, grow on the steep south-facing slopes. It is shorter and less dramatic than the Swartberg Pass, Seweweekspoort or Meiringspoort, and often overlooked, though it is used every day.

The pass takes its name from Schoemanshoek (also Schoemansdorp), the settlement where several Schoeman families gathered, about halfway between Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves on the farm Roodewal. The well-watered Grobbelaars River valley made it one of the most prosperous communities in the district. By the mid-1840s the Central Road Board valued the farm at £2,250, the highest in its district, and an 1857 church census counted 118 residents. A church school opened there in 1858. Travel in daylight and watch for tour buses on the narrow bends. Ross's chronology: a petition from 40 farmers in 1859 (farmers to pay £200, the Divisional Council £400, Government the rest); Adam de Smidt estimated £2,000 in 1860 and Hattingh's £2,000 tender was accepted in May 1861; handed to the council in June 1862 and washed away in toto in October 1869 and again in 1875. In January 1883 the council began a higher-standard road on a pound-for-pound basis; W.K. Stephens laid out a section in Thomas Bain's absence, and Mr McConomy finished it in September 1889 using convicts, with near-vertical slopes, heavy blasting and retaining walls averaging 18 feet.

History

Built by
Thomas was in charge of its construction alongside the Swartberg Pass, linking it to Oudtshoorn.
Built
1880s with the Swartberg Pass. One account gives 1862.
Location
Oudtshoorn to the foot of the Swartberg Pass, Western Cape
Notes
Chart bar assumes the Swartberg period. The 1862 date comes from one low-authority source. The name's link to the Schoeman families comes from an unconfirmed source; the Oudtshoorn Info page describes Schoemanshoek but does not mention the pass or Bain. The route number was missing and is now given as R328 (sa-venues). Goetze dates it 1883–89; Coyne says 1881. Ross infers it was built as the access road for the Swartberg Pass works.

Find it

Pin
-33.42290, 22.24590
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