Pakhuis Pass is a mountain pass on the R364 in the northern

Cederberg The Cederberg mountains are located near Clanwilliam, Western Cape, Clanwilliam, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, South Africa at about . The mountain range is named after the endangered Clanwilliam cedar (''Widdringtonia cedarbe ...

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 pass connects Clanwilliam to

Calvinia Calvinia is a regional town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa named after the French people, French religious reformer Jean Calvin. The town falls under the Hantam Local Municipality which forms part of the Namakwa District Municipalit ...

. A turnoff from the pass heads southeast to the

Biedouw Valley Biedouw Valley (where Biedouw is a surname) is a valley situated in the Western Cape province of South Africa at an elevation of 376 m. It is located near Pakhuis Pass Pakhuis Pass is a mountain pass on the R364 (South Africa), R364 in the no ...

and

Wupperthal Wupperthal (sometimes also spelt Wuppertal) is a small town in the Cederberg mountains in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It was founded in 1830 by two German missionaries of the Rhenish Missionary Society (Rheinische Mission), Theob ...

. The pass is 25 km long, reaches an altitude of 905 m at a gradient of 1:9.

History

The pass was built between 1875 and 1877 by Thomas Bain. The pass was improved for the first time in the 1960s and was tarred in 2009. In December 1946, a

Junkers Ju 86 The Junkers Ju 86 is a monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed and produced by the Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Junkers. It was designed during the mid-1930s in response to a specification for a modern twin-engined aircraft suit ...

aircraft (flight SAAF 647) of the

South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...

crashed into the 1 077 Pakhuis Peak in misty weather, killing everyone on board. The plane was on route to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

from

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

with a cargo of plywood.

Features

During construction, Thomas Bain discovered many important San

rock paintings In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

in the area. The grave of the poet C. Louis Leipoldt is situated on the pass 15 km from Clanwilliam. There are also a number of hiking routes in the area.

References

{{reflist Mountain passes of the Western Cape