Zigzagging from Touws River to Richmond

My wife and I have a new iteration of a popular 4x4 SUV to test. We’re aiming to do the tricky Grade 3+ Pienaar’s Pass in the Karoo National Park, a track that has eluded me for more than a decade as it’s always been closed, either due to maintenance or bad weather.

But what we’re equally excited about is the back road detours we’ve chosen (route description under Travel Notes) to get there and beyond. It’s a plan which eschews the truck-clogged N1 and other N-roads as often as possible; yet, it’s also mindful of adding too many expensive extra kilometres.

We hook right 28km out of Touws River onto one of our favourite dirt tracks, the 72km stretch of pristine Karoo back road that is the Wittebergpad. We park in front of the unguarded level crossing over the main Cape Town—Johannesburg railway line. It’s a good place to mark the start of our back roads’ odyssey with a photo; after which I walk to the railway line, get down on my knees and rest my ear on one of the rails. It’s an old schoolboy trick to hear when the train is coming; but predictably in SA, there’s nothing en route.

We head east for 7km and by the time we turn north again we’re smiling broadly. Not only are we the only folk on the road, the rained-clean contrasts of yellow-orange rock and green-bushed mountains on the valley’s opposite sides, with a red earth dirt track separating them, hold us rapt — the miracle of a well-watered Karoo.

At the entrance to our caravan farm stay, we are greeted by a rampant pit bull that wants to eat us. Luckily, our hosts eventually hear us calling and we are welcomed in by Estelle and Albert Murphy. The pit bull turns out to be a real softie, the only danger he poses is knocking us over when he jumps up to lick our faces.

After directing us to our caravan in the lee of a cliff face, affable Albert insists we come on a tour of the large house he and his wife owner-built after relocating to the Karoo. It’s a grand place with medieval volumes, and their guest rooms are well appointed with fireplaces and all the conveniences you’d expect in a luxury guest house of this nature.

Along the way he introduces us to a friend sitting in the kitchen, a man who apparently survived being swept away in Laingsburg’s 1981 floods by holding onto a gas cylinder for flotation. But when the conversation later veers towards controversial world leaders and the Russo-Ukranian war, we retreat to the sanctity of our caravan out back.  

After a short stint on the N1 the next day, we turn left onto the Merweville dirt track. This 85km magic carpet ride is another old favourite and leads one through the more barren yet starkly beautiful Koup Karoo. It tracks through kloofs, farms and vast dry plains so reminiscent of arid Arizona that an international J&B whisky advert, calling for a tiny town on the Mexican border, was once shot on the outskirts of Merweville.

When we get into town, though, our epicurean needs are less intoxicating and more food inclined. Die Boekklub, named after an Afrikaans TV show of the same name, makes the most decadent toasted sandwiches (“ouma se brood” dripping with farm butter, cheese and many other fillings) and “moerkoffie” guaranteed to wake up a dead horse with the first sip.

Unfortunately the place was robbed last night — “tik” addicts are suspected, a plague in rural towns these days — and our host says he will only be open in half-an-hour. But it’s no problem. We take a leisurely stroll around this more trendy side of town, pop into my friend Samson at a guest house complex and also visit the local butchery where we stock up on lamb chops and Karoo wors for the braai days ahead. On our way back to Die Boekklub, a septic tank causes us to giggle — on its lid rests a memorial stone inscribed “R.I.P — T.Urd”.

The rest of today’s journey entails another 120km of Zen-dirt tracking. If we weren’t booking into a dinky cottage on the border of the Karoo National Park for five nights, we would carry on straight on the “dirt highway” from Merweville to Beaufort West, and not turn left towards Oukloof Pass as we do, 15km after crossing the R353 to Fraserburg.

Due to the many sandy drifts on this route, it’s preferable to do it in a proper 4x4 (low-range gears, high ground clearance and All Terrain tyres), particularly if the Karoo has had rain recently. Yet, if the Koekemoer River is in spate, even a Unimog might battle to cross it.

But we have no problems in our capable test vehicle, and besides enjoying the otherworldly drive itself, after arriving abreast of the Karoo National Park’s fence later we are rewarded with bonus sightings of gemsbok, springbok and eland on the other side.

For much of the next five days we are rained in — perfect for staying in bed most of the day and ploughing through the pile of books we’ve brought along — but we do manage to take a drive back towards Ou Kloof Pass to witness the now flooding Koekemoer River; hike 10km across the still Karoo vlaktes and then halfway up the closest flat-topped mountain; visit the Karoo National Park (KNP) for a day drive (the best R126 we’ve spent in a long time) and follow our most hospitable hosts, Karel and Tania Cornelissen, on an epic 4x4 trail (15km).  

Our next detour off the N1 is at Nelspoort, about 40km northeast of Beaufort West. It’s a narrow yet pristine tar road with long grass lapping at its edges and back roads’ serenity quickly sets in. Things get slightly more adventurous when we cross over the railway line at Nelspoort and make for Murraysburg (about 80km) on a crinkly, wet dirt surface. En route we stop on the bridge over the now fast-flowing Buffels River and marvel at the huge tree trunk dangling over the weir wall upstream, testimony to the violence of recent flooding.

Murraysburg, like a number of small Karoo towns these days, has seen an exodus of the well-heeled old farming folk and is now mainly home to grant-subsidised indigents trapped here. Named after the indefatigable Reverend Murray, the Graaff-Reinet pastor whose parish stretched over vast distances in the 1850s Karoo (nearby Aberdeen is named after his hometown in Scotland) the town still boasts a few well-restored old homes set in tree-lined streets, but the Dutch Reformed Church is by far the most noteworthy.

We’re on the last section of dirt on our zigzag route from Touws River to Richmond. It’s been 187km further than travelling on the N1 and about twice the driving time; but we’ve felt like modern-day explorers most of the way and have arrived 10 times more relaxed.

Travel notes

The route:

Section 1: Bot River to Waterval Karoo Farm — via Van der Stel Pass (28km — dirt); to Touws River (132km — tar) through Worcester on the R43 and the N1; after 28km (tar) turn right at the railway crossing marked Witteberge and make for Waterval Karoo Farm, about 60km (dirt) on. Distance — Section 1: 248km (88km on dirt).

Section 2: Waterval Karoo Farm to Karoo Stilte cottage — via 12km (dirt) on Wittebergpad; turn left for Laingsburg (5km — tar); turn right onto N1 and turn left opposite Koup siding (39km — tar) for Merweville (85km — dirt); follow the dirt track north out of Merweville and make for junction with the R353 to Fraserburg (40km — dirt); continue straight and turn left (15km — dirt) for Ou Kloof Pass/Fraserburg and head for the next T-junction (35km — rough dirt, check road condition at first drift and if in doubt, turn around and head for Beaufort West or Karoo National Park on “dirt highway”). At T-junction, turn right and Blaauwkrans Farm (Karoo Stilte cottage) is 30km (dirt) on. Distance — Section 2: 261km (217km on dirt).

Section 3: Karoo Stilte cottage to Richmond — head northeast to the N1 (47km — dirt); turn left, head through Beaufort West and make for the Nelspoort turn-off (57km — tar); to Nelspoort siding is 11km (tar) and on the dirt track to Murraysburg, a further 79km (dirt). It’s another 107km (dirt) to Richmond. Distance — Section 3: 301km (233km on dirt).

Total route distance: Bot River to Richmond: 810km (538km on dirt). The comparative distance via the N1 is 623Km, variance 187km.

Best time of year to go: Late and early summer/autumn or spring.

Why should I go there: Back roads trips are enthralling enough for me, but if you’d like to see the sights, too, some highlights are:

Laingsburg — Visit the Flood Museum and Boer War blockhouse north of town; Merweville — Take in the old NG Kerk and have lunch at Die Boekklub: Beaufort West — Drive around the Karoo National Park (Klipspringer Pass to Doornhoek is a must) and visit the Dr Christiaan Barnard Museum in town; Murraysburg — Admire the Dutch Reformed Church and dream of yesteryear; Richmond — Visit the Horse Museum; browse for books and collectibles; admire period architecture (the Municipal Building is extraordinary) and enjoy lunch at Vetmuis Kombuis.

Where we stayed: Waterval Karoo Farm (outside Laingsburg; Eloise — 065 864 4321); Karoo Stilte cottage on Blaauwkrans Farm (borders Karoo National Park), call Tania Cornelissen on 083 752 5110.