Buffelspoort is the westernmost of five defiles that cut through the Swartberg Mountain range, situated 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 others are the Seweweekspoort, Die Poort, where the Gamka River transects Die Hel, Meiringspoort, and Snykloof at its eastern extremity. The deep gorge and river valley is located some 10 km from the western limit of the Swartberg range, in the section known as the Klein Swartberge. After exiting Floriskraal Dam, the Buffels River enters the Swartberg's foothills or Wit Nekke, before it enters Buffelspoort from the north. The 9 km long gorge connects the northern foothills of the Swartberg with the Little Karoo in the south, where the Buffels River exits the defile. Downstream from this point the Buffels is known as the Groot River. The vegetation of this remote and untouched gorge is predominantly the arid, succulent-rich ''Gamka Thicket'' vegetation, and includes many endemics, such as '' Astroloba cremnophila''.E. van Jaarsveld: ''Astroloba cremnophila'' a new cliff dwelling succulent from the Klein Karoo (Western Cape, South Africa). ''Bradleya'' 33/2015, January 2015. The defile is not to be confused with the Buffelspoort Dam, an unrelated land-form situated far to the north in

North West Province North West ( ; ) is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre and province of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of ...

, South Africa.

References

{{coord, 33, 25, 35, S, 20, 57, 45, E, type:landmark_region:ZA, display=title Landforms of the Western Cape Valleys of South Africa