Piekenierskloof Pass 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 ...

that is part of the N7 national road, running south of

Citrusdal Citrusdal is a town of 5,000 people in the Olifants River Valley in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated at the base of the Cederberg mountains about north of Cape Town. Agriculture in the area is dominated by citrus fruit fa ...

in the mountains west of the Olifants River in

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

History

The first known route through the pass as a bridle path was in 1660. Jan Dankaert crossed the pass with the help of Khoi who showed him the route. His expedition was followed in 1662 by Pieter Cruythoff using oxen and wagon. The name came from the pikemen (lancers equipped with

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

s) posted in the area by the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

to protect farmers from

Khoikhoi Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also ''Hottentot (racial term), Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 ...

raids. A farm was established near the pass and was called Piquinier's Kloof.

Thomas Charles John Bain Thomas Charles John Bain (29 September 1830, in Graaff-Reinet – 29 September 1893) was a South African road engineer. As a prolific road building pioneer, Bain was responsible for the planning and construction of more than 900 km of road ...

built the first road there in 1858, a gravel route and was named Grey's Pass after the governor of the Cape Colony,

Sir George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...

. He started in February 1857 on the western approach with 220 convicts, ignoring the existing route at the time through the pass. The western approach opened at the end of 1857 and by July 1858, the pass was completed. It was officially opened on 17 November 1858. In 1939, a decision was made to build a new road over the pass. World War Two ended the construction and planning and building resumed in 1957 with the existing route completed in 1958 and renamed the Piekenierskloof Pass.

Route

The pass peaks at 519 m above sea level and has a maximum grade of 1:16.

Sources

* ''

Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa The ''Standard Encyclopædia of Southern Africa'' (''SESA'') is a 12-volume encyclopaedia that is principally about the Republic of South Africa and nearby countries. About 1400 people contributed to the encyclopaedia. The first two volumes we ...

, vol 8''. Cape Town: Nasou, 1973.

References

{{Authority control Mountain passes of the Western Cape

History

Route

See also

Sources

References