Uniondale Poort

Uniondale Poort

The little town of Uniondale on the N9 south west of Willowmore, has rather a few passes in the vicinity. The town lies in the Kammanasie River valley with mountains on all sides. Just south west of the town is the Potjiesberg pass, the Prince Alfred Pass lies on the R339 on the other side of Avontuur towards Knysna, and Uniondale Poort, which also lies on the R339 but links the towns of Uniondale and Avontuur, is on the more famous Route 62.

A little further afield are still more passes – the Nuwekloof Pass, Montagu Pass, Outeniqua Pass and Meiringspoort. All of these can form part of self-drives across the many mountains of the area.

Uniondale Poort is a tar road through some incredible scenery. Despite this the condition of the road after fairly devastating floods meant that it was closed for more than a while whilst under repair. Since it serves as something of a short-cut into the Langkloof it was sorely missed. But by all accounts the new and improved Uniondale Poort opened again in late 2010, its sides protected by sloping cement banks that should withstand any further flood action.

Bikers who ride the poort often, speak of its spectacular scenery. There are a couple of places where you can actually stop and view the sandstone rocks close up – well worth it. Geologists speak about bedding and folding of these rocks that took place here over years, and resulted in some of the many caves in the area. A refuge for owls, swallows, bees and little mammals they used to be lived in by earlier man and cave paintings are in evidence around Uniondale.