Bainskloof Pass () is a
mountain pass
A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...
on the
R301 regional road between
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
and
Ceres in the
Western Cape
The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
province of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. The 18-kilometer (11-mile)
pass, opened in 1854, was constructed by road engineer
Andrew Geddes Bain
Andrew Geddes Bain (baptised 11 June 1797 – 20 October 1864), was a Cape Colony geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.
Life history
The only child of Alexander Bain and Jean Geddes, both of whom died when Bain was still a ...
with the use of convict labour.
Originally built for horse-drawn traffic, the pass was later tarred.
The pass reaches
at its highest point. Here, the road joins the
Witte River, which descends the northern side of the mountains through a precipitous cleft to a stretch of rapids, waterfalls and natural pools. Bainskloof Pass is now a national monument.
After roadworks starting in 2018, it finally reopened to the public in June 2022.
Getaway Magazine
/ref>
Kramat of Sheikh Sulaiman
Near the summit of Bainskloof Pass lies the historic Kramat of Sheikh Sulaiman, a revered Muslim shrine and burial site. Sheikh Sulaiman was a 17th-century Islamic scholar and political exile from the Indonesian archipelago who contributed to the early spread of Islam in South Africa. The kramat is part of the well-known Circle of Kramats around Cape Town and remains an active pilgrimage site for Muslims and visitors seeking spiritual blessings and reflection.
See also
* Andrew Geddes Bain
Andrew Geddes Bain (baptised 11 June 1797 – 20 October 1864), was a Cape Colony geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.
Life history
The only child of Alexander Bain and Jean Geddes, both of whom died when Bain was still a ...
* Bainskloof moss frog
* Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky
References
External links
Passes Index
at Wild Dog Adventure Riding website
* Bainskloof histor
{{commons category, Bain's Kloof Pass
Mountain passes of the Western Cape
1854 establishments in the Cape Colony
Kramats in South Africa