Ouberg Pass

Ouberg Pass
Ouberg Pass is found near Sutherland in the Karoo, South Africa. About 45 km from Sutherland on the Roggeveld Mountains, you will find yourself on the escarpment, a thousand metres above the Karoo Valley. The view from these mountains is spectacular and on a clear day you can even see the snow on the mountains in Touwsriver. The pass winds down this valley and is still used by visitors, locals and farmers. The Ouberg Pass was one of the first routes used by the pioneer farmers, from the Ceres Karoo to the Roggeveld and then on to Sutherland. Once a year the farmers would pack up all their belongings including their livestock and "trek" down this pass to the warmer Karoo farms. The weather was too cold higher up and detrimental to the animals. Most farmers still "trek" down to the Karoo once a year to avoid the extreme winter conditions. Ox Wagons were the only means of transport in those days and the "trek" took anything up to four days to complete. Since then, things have been made easier. The Sutherland community and the Fish River Farmers Union helped finance the building project of a new road. It was completed in 1969.