Outeniqua Pass

#Outeniqua Pass The Outeniqua Mountain Range runs from East to West and is the great divide between the Garden Route to the South and the Little Karoo to the North. The main road between the towns of George in the Garden Route to Oudtshoorn in the Little Karroo traverses the scenic Outeniqua Pass.

In the olden days the Mountain was crossed with the Voortrekker Pass and later the Montague Pass. By the mid 1930’s it became obvious that this pass could not cope with the increasing traffic. The construction of the new Outeniqua Pass commenced during World War II (1942) with mainly Italian prisoners of war used as labourers. Work progressed very slowly as the POW’s were mainly artists and singers and were not able to cope with the heavy manual labour. After they were repatriated and local labour was used, the road building progressed at a much faster rate and the pass was completed in 1951.

By the 1980’s traffic increased to such an extent that the widening of the pass to provide for passing lanes became necessary. Construction commenced in September 1993 and was completed in July 1997. The designers and builders of the pass need to be commended for their sensitivity to protect the environment and to cause a minimum of damage to the mountain and indigenous vegetation. Today the pass makes for a wonderful scenic drive, with one or two view points providing sweeping views of the Outeniqua Mountain Range's imposing peaks, hills and valleys.