Oudshoorn also became an important railway junction, starting in the late 1800s, that connected Gorge, Gqeberha and the hinterland. All was not boom for the inhabitants of the region after the collapse of the feather industry. Milliners became paupers and extended droughts, floods and epidemics took their toll. 

In recent times, the area has revived itself as an important tourist destination as part of the Garden Route loop, as well as boasting the longest wine route in the world, Cango Caves and many private game reserves which are in a malaria-free zone with some home to the Big Five African animals.

Route 62 Road Trip

Cogmanskloof

This has to be one of the most spectacular gateways to any region in the world with the towering Langeberg Mountain (Long Mountain) flanking a narrow passage created by the Kingna River. Geologists speculate that the river was here long before the rising mountain range but kept pace through erosion. This gap through the mountain is considered a poort and not a pass as ittends to hug the valley floor with very little gradient. A pass has a much higher gradient ratio and utilises higher ground on either side of the canyon and can cross over ridge lines and mountain tops. Cogmanskloof was first used as a footpath by the Khoi and, thus, was named after the local clan of the area in 1701. 

European settlers also used it as a footpath until ThomasBain’s developed the first road in 1873 as there were numerous impassable sections for wagons to travel due to high waters and flooding. 

The new road one drives on today was built in 1953 and was upgraded in 2025. The highlights in this kloof are the historical unlined tunnel, the remains of Bain’s old road which can be seen on the right just before the tunnel, the old British fort,‘Sidney Fort’, built on Kalkoenkrans to keep the Boers out of the Cape during the Second Anglo-Boer War and the superb examples of folded rock that are now vertically positioned. It was these rocks that made Montagu a rock climbing mecca with its first traditional climb in 1971 and, later, the home of sports climbing in South Africa starting from the early 1980s.

Montagu

After leaving Cogmanskloof, you enter the beautiful colonial town of Montagu, the oldest European settlement in the Klein Karoo. In 1744, the first farm was established via the Koo Valley by the widow van der Merwe. In 1850, the farm, De Uytvlugt, was sub-divided to create a village. This made it one of the very few towns not established around a church (kerkdorp). 

At this time, farmers moved away from cattle grazing to crop growing to take advantage of the fertile valley fed by the Kingnaand Keisie Rivers. The town was known as Agter de Cogmans Kloof until it was renamed in 1851 after John Montagu, the Colonial Secretary at the Cape. Today, you will see a town that is filled with beautiful historical buildings showcasing Cape Dutch, Victorian and Georgian architecture. 

Along with its first and main attraction, the hot springs, which acquired its first bath house in1873, the town offers many outdoor activities such as rock climbing, hiking, biking, golf, restaurants, art galleries, wine tours, birding, game drives, a museum, San rock art and historical walks and rides.

When leaving Montagu towards Barrydale, you will notice a slow climb out of the Montagu catchment basin area where you cross a watershed at the Op de Tradouw Pass. Fromhere, you follow the Tradouwrivier down to the Barrydale catchment area where the river breaches the Langeberg mountain through the Tradouw Pass.

Barrydale & Tradouw Pass

This was the second logical place for a town to be established on today’s R62 as it lies in a bowl funnelling the surrounding rivers through the Langeberge via the Tradouw gorge and also gave the settlers faster access to markets to Cape Town through this pass at a later date. This kerkdorp was built, in part, on the farm ‘Tradouwshoek’ (mid 1700s). Even though this settlement wasfirst established via Cogmanskloof and Platte Kloof, it truly took off once a decent wagon road was built through the pass in 1873 by Thomas Bain. 

The town is said to be named after Joseph Barry who was the most dominating businessman in the Klein Karoo and Overberg because of his shipping enterprise on the Breede River and his own private printed money. It was 8 yearsafter Barry’s death that the Southey’s Pass was opened but the locals preferred the original name ‘Tradouw’ (meaning “the women’s poort” in Khoi) and the town grew from a farmer’s hub to a residential town.

Today, most through-visitors usually stop at the iconic restaurants on the R62 above the town but a quick detour into the town will reveal quaint streets with a Britishcolonial feel, interesting shops, lodges, restaurants, art galleries, a proud 1908 church and one of the best second-hand bookshops in the Western Cape. Along with these, a visit to the Barrydale Hand Weavers factory should be a must.

Ladismith

After leaving the Barrydale valley, you cross over a ridge line defining another water catchment area with all the rivers now draining east. The road now crosses the Klein Karoo valley and is the longest part of the R62 without settlements. The highlight of this section of the road is the arid, yet beautiful, landscape of the rounded Bokkeveld shale hills contrasted against the giantrugged quartzite mountains of the Swartberg range, and the freestanding Warmwaterberg and Touwesberg, the leftovers of the Cape fold belt. Ronnie’s Sex Shop, 26 km outside Barrydale, is a popular pitstop with an interesting backstory, a prank that put it on the map. 

Ladismith was also the first and only town east of Callitzdorp to get a railway line in 1925 but, in 1981, agreat flood destroyed a large portion of the line which was never replaced. Today, this little town is worth a visit and not only as a pit-stop through to the next town. From many get-away spots, outdoor activities, cellar visits, to taking in the unique architecture of the town which has acquired its own name: ‘Ladismith style’.

Calitzdorp

On leaving Ladismith, you pass the turn off to Seweweekspoort which is an experience in itself, but closer to the R62 is Zoar, the oldest mission town in the Klein Karoo (1817). Close by is Amalienstein (1853), another mission station. These mission stations served the indigenous population and ex-slaves who had been forced off open land mainly by the ‘Caledon Code’ of 1809.Back on the R62, your journey takes you through the Huisrivier Pass which was the key to the establishment of the R62. 

The first pass was built in 1897 and can still be traced on the hillside above the new 1996 tarred road. This pass drops you down a few hundred metres to the next geological level of the Klein Karoo. Calitzdorp, the port wine capital of South Africa, is reached atthe bottom of the pass. This area, on the junction of two rivers, is fertile compared to the surrounding arid Klein Karoo landscape. In 1757, J Pretorius settled in this area and later, in 1821, so did JJ and MC Calitz. 

With The Calitz’ ever-growing family, the town became known as ‘Calitz Dorp’. The settlement became a kerkdorp in 1873. Over the years, the town grew mainly on the back offarming wine, brandy, tobacco, wheat, vegetables and fruit. The town had its fair share of booms and busts; the booms included the ostrich feather boom and the busts as a result of excessive drought and epidemics. A railway line was built in 1924 to Oudtshoorn to help get the town back on its feet. Today, it is still a farming area but has attracted retirees and tourists withits beautiful setting, vernacular architecture, wine tasting and slow pace of life. 

Oudtshoorn

15 km after leaving Calitzdorp on the R62, keep your eyes on the left for the Rooikrans (Redstone Hills). It is worth driving down this gravel road to get up close to one of the finest conglomerate rock formations in South Africa. Back on the R62, you pass De Hoop (1908) with its conspicuously oversized church for its small community. This settlement was founded on theostrich feather boom. Another 15 km on from De Hoop, you arrive at the capital of the Klein Karoo. 

This is not the oldest settlement in the valley, but it gained the most importance, being the major crossroad and thoroughfare from the Cape to the north. It also became the hub of the ostrich feather empire, the commercial centre in the region and also an important tourismdestination as far back as the 1800s with the discovery of the finest cave system in Africa. The town was first called Hartebeestenfontein where a church was founded in 1839.

The name ‘Oudtshoorn’ (1849) either came from the newly appointed Cape governor in 1772 (he died on the voyage on the way to the Cape) or after the wife of the firstCommissioner of George (which this region fell under). Today, one can visit the many attractions that hark back to its golden years when it was one of the richest towns in South Africa, from the ostrich palaces, historical public buildings, ostrich show farms, numerous passes and poorts and Cango Caves, still its number one attraction. 

Added to these old attractions, many moretourism-related businesses over the years have come on board to enrich visitors and add variety. These have come mainly in the form of animal encounters, game reserves, wine routes and outdoor pursuits. Oudtshoorn is well placed for day trips to the surrounding areas such as Cango, Rust en Vrede Waterfall and Meiringspoort.