Abel Erasmus Pass

Abel Erasmus Pass (R36) Part 1 - Mountain Passes of South Africa

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BEZ_DRONE - JG Strijdom Tunnel

Abel Erasmus Pass is situated in the Limpopo Province, on the R36 road between Ohrigstad and Hoedspruit/Tzaneen, South Africa. It navigates the Manoutsa section of the Limpopo Drakensberg. Since 1959 the road passes through the 133 m long JG Strijdom Tunnel, named after old Prime Minister JG Strijdom.[1] The pass is 11 km long and generally follows a coach route of the late 19th century.

Able Erasmus Pass (R36), Limpopo, South Africa on board with BST Tours and Mr Shuttle

This is a route that I almost travel daily between Hoedspruit and OR Tambo International airport.

I have stopped so many times with so many photos always spotting something breathtaking.

I need to take some better videos and photos of this area....


The spectacular Abel Erasmus Pass, named after a very prominent citizen of the area, was officially opened on the 8th of May 1959, and navigates the Manoutsa section of the Limpopo Drakensberg. It is regarded as an engineering triumph, with a sequence of bends and twists that can only give rise to admiration for the gold rush pioneers of the late 19th century that carved this route through the mountains with their wagons. The pass has 62 bends, corners and curves of which 12 exceed an arc of 90 degrees.
The pass also includes a 133 metre-long tunnel, named after J.G. (Hans) Strydom, who served as the prime minister of South Africa from 1954 to 1958. This huge pass is over 24 km long and has an altitude variance of 737 metres; the road surface is in a good condition, but the pass is sometimes plagued by heavy traffic. It can be very difficult to pass slow-moving trucks – please exercise a degree of tolerance and patience, and give yourself plenty of time to traverse this route.



Erasmus Pass is a magnificent mountain pass, cutting through the Drakensberg escarpment and offering sensational views of the Blyde River Canyon.
The route follows a Voortrekker wagon track that was pioneered in the 1840s as they moved further into the interior of South Africa. It is named after Abel Erasmus, a farmer who owned the farm at Graskop in the 1870s and was the peace-keeper in the local lowveld community. The community saw it a fitting way to give back to him by honouring his name along the peaceful pass.
The pass is also one of the most dramatic in Mpumalanga, as it rises 610m above the level of the Olifants river, and then drops 335m down to the level of the Ohrigstad river. Driving the pass is the perfect way to lazily take in the breathtaking Mpumalanga/Limpopo scenery on a not-to-be-forgotten trip in the Mpumalanga/Limpopo lowveld.

Getting there: the Abel Erasmus Pass forms part of the modern R36 road between Lydenburg and Burgersfort. From Gauteng, take the N4 going East into Mpumalanga. At Belfast, turn onto the R540. Follow the R540 until it meets up with the R36 in Lydenburg. Continue along the R36 to the Abel Erasmus Pass going into Ohrigstad.

Mpumalanga

On the R533, road between Ohrigstad and Pilgrims Rest

KEVIN BALE

TRIP TO LEBOENG FROM OHRIGSTAD