Prince Alfred's Pass

Thomas Bain built Prince Alfred's Pass between 1861 and 1867 with some 270 convict labourers, naming it after the first member of the British royal family to visit South Africa, in 1860, and at about sixty-eight kilometres it is the longest mountain pass in South Africa - not a single climb but a sustained crossing of the Outeniqua range from the forests behind Knysna to the dry country at Avontuur. The road is gravel almost throughout and takes three to four hours driven properly. It passes through indigenous forest at Diepwalle, over ridges with long views, past the tiny settlement of De Vlugt where a farm stall is the only stop, and down through fynbos and Karoo scrub. Bain built it with limited resources and no machinery, and much of the alignment and stonework is his. It is a favourite among motorcyclists and 4x4 drivers, and the surface varies from good to badly corrugated depending on when it was last graded.

The main sights

• The sixty-eight kilometres - the longest mountain pass in the country, mostly gravel.
• Bain's stonework - retaining walls and alignment from the 1860s construction.
• The vegetation change - indigenous forest at one end, Karoo scrub at the other.
• De Vlugt - a tiny settlement halfway with the only refreshment stop.

When to go

March to May and September to November. Half a day driving, three to four hours without long stops.

Things to know

Gravel for most of its length with variable corrugations - low cars suffer. There is no fuel and almost no signal for the whole crossing. Rain makes sections slippery and can wash them out. It takes far longer than the distance suggests.

Nearby

Knysna and Diepwalle forest are south; Uniondale and the Karoo are north.

Key facts