Sir Lowry's Pass

This article is about the pass. For the village, see Sir Lowry's Pass Village.

Sir Lowry's Pass
View from Sir Lowry's Pass towards Somerset West and Helderberg.

Sir Lowry's Pass is a mountain pass on the N2 national road in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It crosses the Hottentots Holland Mountains between Somerset West and the Elgin valley, on the main route between Cape Town and the Garden Route. A railway line also crosses the mountain range near this point.

The pass is 4 lanes wide and is subject to heavy traffic, especially at the start and end of holiday periods when many people travel in and out of the Cape Town area, and is sometimes seen as an accident black spot.[citation needed]

The summit of the pass is at 460 m. There is a viewpoint at this point which is also used as a paragliding launch point.[1] Baboons are often seen in this area. The top of the pass was formerly the start of the Boland Hiking Trail, but this section of the trail was closed after a number of deaths due to the difficult hiking conditions.[2] On the Grabouw side, the road passes the Steenbras Dam.

Sir Lowry's Pass Village is situated near the base of the pass.

  1. ^ Hamerton, Greg. "Sir Lowry's Pass near Cape Town". Fresh Air Site Guide. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference burman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).