Bain's Passes

Swartberg Pass

ThomasDocumented

Designed and built by Thomas with convict labour. John Tassie (or Jan Tassies, per another account) built the last 6 km at the Prince Albert end. Described as his final and finest pass.

R328Route
23.8 kmLength
1,575 mSummit
Not tarredSurface

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Before you go

Can be treacherous after rain.

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

Thomas's last and, many say, finest pass climbs from the Little Karoo at Oudtshoorn to the Great Karoo at Prince Albert on gravel. Retaining walls of dry stone, up to about 13 m high, still carry the road round the hairpins after more than 130 years. On the northern side the road runs below cliffs about 700 m high. The best known is the Wall of Fire, where the rock strata are tilted on end, and a sharp left turn at Skelmdraai catches many drivers by surprise. The convicts split big rocks by heating them with fire and then splashing them with cold water. The pass is also the only road access to Gamkaskloof (Die Hel), the isolated valley reached by a long side road that opened in 1962. The summit is about 1,575 m (one account gives 1,585 m). The pass is a National Monument.

Before Thomas, the contractor Jan Tassies started the work with about 100 labourers but went bankrupt after 13 months with only about 6 km done. Thomas took over and finished the road, which opened on 10 January 1888. The pass is rated as a gravel road that standard cars can drive in dry weather, but rain, snow and rockfalls close it from time to time, and the Gamkaskloof side road needs a sturdy vehicle. There is no fuel or shop on the pass. SAHO lists it among Cape passes on which convict labour may have been used, but gives only its location. Ross's chronology: contractor John Tassie worked 13 months (1881–82), advanced six kilometres and was declared insolvent; construction halted for a year, then Thomas Bain took over. Bain's 1879 estimate was £20,000 and the actual cost only £14,000, excluding convict costs. Gradients are 1:8 against Montagu Pass's 1:6. Portions were washed away by the May 1885 floods, and Dr G. Russel of Oudtshoorn was the first motorist over it in 1904. Ross (1993): the Swartberg Pass was opened in 1888 to replace Meiringspoort as an access route after that road was repeatedly washed away, and it was probably the crowning achievement of his career and the last great pass of his era; Bain resigned from the Road Department the same year. A notice board stands on the pass in his memory.

History

Built by
Designed and built by Thomas with convict labour. John Tassie (or Jan Tassies, per another account) built the last 6 km at the Prince Albert end. Described as his final and finest pass.
Built
Approximately 1881–1888; opened 10 January 1888. Four of the five sources end in 1888; their starts range from 1878 to 1884, and 1881 is the middle value.
Location
R328, Oudtshoorn to Prince Albert, Western Cape
Later work
Rebuilt.During construction Thomas rebuilt flood-damaged sections away from river flood levels.
Notes
National monument, still largely as built. Some colour comes from Grokipedia (AI-generated), cross-checked against Wikipedia and Roxanne Reid's travel article; Grokipedia's 1988 monument date and the name Malvadraai could not be confirmed and are not used. Bozzoli is the source for the Tassie and cost figures.

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