Ou Kaapse Weg (

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

for ''Old Cape Way''), numbered as route M64, is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

in the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of ...

that connects the Southern Suburbs of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

with the Fish Hoek Valley. It traverses the Steenberg mountains and passes through the

Silvermine Nature Reserve Silvermine Nature Reserve forms part of the Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town, South Africa. It covers the section of the Cape Peninsula mountain range from the Kalk Bay mountains through to Constantiaberg. The area is a significant conser ...

. Ou Kaapse Weg is one of three routes to the Fish Hoek Valley: the others are

Chapman's Peak Drive Chapman's Peak is a mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula, between Hout Bay and Noordhoek in Cape Town, South Africa. The western flank of the mountain falls sharply for hundreds of metres into the Atlantic Ocean, and a road, known ...

along the Atlantic coast and Main Road along the

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...

coast. Despite its name, the pass was only constructed in 1968, by the Divisional Council of the Cape. Ou Kaapse Weg begins at a T-junction with Steenberg Road in Westlake, close to the southern end of the M3 expressway. It rapidly ascends the northern face of the Steenberg mountains, through two

hairpin bend A hairpin turn (also hairpin bend or hairpin corner) is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn about 180° to continue on the road. It is named for its resemblance to a bent metal hai ...

s, to the summit at an elevation of . Near to the summit are entrance gates to the Silvermine Nature Reserve. The pass then descends along the valley of the

Silvermine River The Silvermine River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 river that flows through the towns of Norwalk, Wilton and New Canaan, Connecticut. It is spanne ...

, passing by Noordhoek to end at a junction with Kommetjie Road ( M6 road), which provides access to

Kommetjie Kommetjie (Afrikaans for "small basin," approximately pronounced ''cawma-key'') is a small town near Cape Town, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It lies about halfway down the west coast of the Cape Peninsula, at the southern end of ...

Fish Hoek Fish Hoek ( af, Vishoek, meaning either Fish Corner or Fish Glen) is a coastal town at the eastern end of the Fish Hoek Valley on the False Bay side of the Cape Peninsula in the Western Cape, South Africa. Previously a separate municipality, Fish ...

and other places in the Fish Hoek Valley. In 2012 Ou Kaapse Weg suffered severe traffic congestion because it was used as an alternative route to avoid construction work on Main Road between

Muizenberg Muizenberg ( , Dutch for "mice mountain") is a beach-side town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the main surfing spot i ...

and Fish Hoek.

References

External links

* {{Cape Town, built Roads in Cape Town Metropolitan routes in Cape Town Mountain passes of the Western Cape