Combrinks Pass

About Combrinks Pass

The Baviaanskloof is a valley that runs east to west between the Baviaanskloof Mountains and the Kouga Mountains. The wilderness area is also a World Heritage Site for its incredible biodiversity. The passes, mountains and the tranquility you experience when visiting, is unsurpassable elsewhere in the country.

Did you know? Most people drive the kloof from west to east, although it can be, and is often, driven in the opposite direction. The three interlinking passes lie in the eastern section of the wilderness.

The Grasnek, Holgat and Combrinks passes lie in the eastern part of the Baviaanskloof. All three are linked, and often the Holgat and Combrinks are confused as the one is the ascent, and the other the descent, of the Bergplaas plateau, where you'll find the Bergplaas campsite.

Sometimes spelt Combrincks, Combrinks Pass (named for a local farmer) takes over where the Holgat Pass left off. Up on the plateau one often spots red hartebeest and zebra and, at the far end of Bergplaas, there is a short walk off the road to a view of the old cableway that farmers used to transport their goods to and from Enkeldoorn plateau.

The descent twists and turns its way through lush and sub-tropical vegetation, particularly at the river crossings. Look out for the outcrops of Bokkeveld shale, and the cone-shaped hill known as Langkop.

It doesn't take long to reach the gates of the reserve, where the road enters the Cambria Valley, full of accommodation options and a good place to overnight before leaving the Baviaanskloof. This part of the area is tame, by comparison with the kloof. Now there are wide, corrugated farm roads, as opposed to rocky mountain paths and sightings.