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The Swartberg Pass | Die Hel 

The Swartberg Pass
Day 4: 19 December 2005 MONDAY

The Swartberg Pass is definitely a road one should travel at least once during your lifetime. Even if the thought of height really does make your knees wobble, seeing the beauty of our world from above is worth more than that.

Just do drive carefully, especially the corners. We unfortunately did encounter the reckless driver, but if you do your bit by driving slowly, you will most surely be al right. When we did stop, we made sure our car was parked in such a place so that we wouldn’t cause any danger to other travellers.

It was interesting to note how quiet it was. Even though the pass was always busy and you always saw a car nearby, you never heard a car’s engine rev or any of the sorts.

It is approximately 55km from the turnoff on the Swartberg Pass to Die Hell.

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A Short History:

Thomas Bain built the Swartberg Pass. It took Bain, with hundreds of convicts providing labour, four years to complete the project.
It snakes upwards in a seemingly endless series of curves, U-turns and zigzags to a height of 1585 m above sea level. There is no relief in the climb, while a well-maintained car makes the ascent without trouble. Remnants of the stone buildings in which the convict labourers were once quartered can still be seen on places.

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