Suurberg cycads in a valley of the Suurberg The Suurberg (also Zuurberg or Suurberge) is a mountain range in the southern Sarah Baartman District Municipality of the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

, South Africa. The range of some 70 kilometres long (west to east) is situated at the eastern end of the

Cape Fold Belt The Cape Fold Belt is a fold and thrust belt of late Paleozoic age, which affected the sequence of sedimentary rock layers of the Cape Supergroup in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It was originally continuous with the Ventana Mount ...

, and rises just north of the towns of Kirkwood and Bontrug (in the

Sundays River Valley The Sundays River Valley is a low-lying area along the Sundays River. It forms part of the Sunday's River Valley Local Municipality in Cacadu District Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The valley stretches from the Kirkwood prison gr ...

), and Paterson further east. Its rugged terrain is intersected by many defiles and ridge lines, rising from some 200 m a.s.l. in the south to 936 m a.s.l. The southern slopes are drained by various tributaries of the Sundays River, including the Kabouga, Uie, Wit and Krom Rivers. Two passes cross the mountain from south to north, namely the

Suurberg Pass Suurberg Pass () is traverses the Suurberg range in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, on the regional road R335, between Coerney and Somerset East. The pass hugs the western edge of the Nyati section of the Addo Elephant National P ...

and

Olifantskop Pass Olifantskop Pass, (English: Elephant's Head), is situated in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It carries three to four lanes of road traffic on the N10 national road over the Suurberg mountains between Paterson and Cookhouse A cook ...

. '' Oldenburgia grandis'' and the Suurberg cycad are striking plants that are endemic to the mountain range and its vicinity.

References

{{coord, 33, 16, 45, S, 25, 30, 56, E, type:landmark_region:ZA, display=title Mountain ranges of the Eastern Cape