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Prince Albert hosts the annual
Swartberg Pass Half Marathon. The race route goes out of the town and into the Swartberg Pass, with sheer rock and mountains on both sides. The warped and twisted rock formations are both beautiful and spectacular. This race is held usually on the first Saturday of May,
627:
The pass is not paved and can be treacherous after rain, but has views over the Little Karoo and the Great Karoo to the north, as well as unusual geology. The
Swartberg is regarded as one of the "finest exposed fold mountain chains in the world", and this is apparent at the northern end of the pass.
417:. The heavy black line flanked by opposing arrows is the fault that runs for nearly 300 km along the southern edge of the Swartberg Mountains. The Swartberg Mountain range owes some of its great height to upliftment along this fault line. The subsurface structures are not to scale.
465:
in the exposed limestone basement rocks exposed by upliftment along a 300 km fault line that runs along the southern flank of the
Swartberg ranges (see diagram on the left). These are the most famous subterranean system in South Africa, located just north of
409:(approximately 21° 30’ E), showing the relationship between the Little and Great Karoos, separated by the Swartberg mountain range. The significance of the various geological layers (coloured layers) can be found in the articles on the
781:
461:, which cuts a gorge directly through the range. This section, almost of a similar height, is slightly lower in elevation, with the Tierberg (Leopard Mountain) at 2132 m being the highest. These mountains are home to the
482:
cut through the
Swartberg Range, and these are famous primarily for the spectacular geology they dissect, as well as for the engineering skill required in completing several of the routes across them.
531:
The pass was cut and the route completed in only 223 working days, comprising one of the era's most extraordinary feats of engineering. It was also a huge economic step for the interior of the
579:
It was built initially purely by a team of convicts without engineers. It was begun in 1859, and the work was finally taken over by Adam de
Schmidt. It was completed and opened in 1862.
347:. Most of the Swartberg Mountains are above 2000 m high, making them the tallest mountains in the Western Cape. It is also one of the longest, spanning some 230 km from south of
785:
628:
The plant life along the pass is particularly interesting as many hundreds of species are found on the
Swartberg. Also notable is the drystone work supporting some of its
927:
782:"Welcome to Cape Town & the Western Cape - Hikers along the Swartberg Pass have an aerial view of the travellers in the pass below - Full article"
508:
Until the first pass was cut, these mountains were virtually insurmountable, and cut the Great Karoo off from the Little Karoo and from the coast.
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at a height of 2189 m. The peak is so named for its cleft peak, that, according to legend, was split by a spell and subsequent bolt of lightning.
85:
71:
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The
Smaller Swartberg are the westernmost of the two. Ironically, this range is the higher one, including the province's highest peak,
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860:
873:
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that ends in the town of De Rust. Modern additions mean several different passes now cut different routes through the range.
695:
538:
The
Meiringspoort provides paved road transit through the Swartberg range, using the route largely carved by a river. The
528:. They rode out from Beaufort West on horseback, in 1854, for a week-long ride to traverse the range and plan the routes.
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in the north. It also offers a spectacular drive through incredible rock formations, and is the setting for an annual
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339:. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid
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613:
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356:
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The
Swartberg consists of two officially named ranges, the Smaller and the Greater Swartberg Mountains.
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659:
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The
Greater Swartberg is located to the east, with the dividing line between the two ranges being the
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270:
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535:. For example, by 1870, an eighth of the country's wool exports passed through the Meiringspoort.
393:
617:
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521:
432:
232:
66:
49:
856:
835:
436:
410:
496:
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572:, connects the modern town of Laingsburg and the "Rooinek pass" in the north, with the
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343:. To the north of the range lies the other large semi-arid area in South Africa, the
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A diagrammatic 400 km north–south cross-section through the southern portion of the
632:. Paved road transit through the Swartberg is available further east, through the
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and many more. It was built using convict labour, and opened on 10 January 1888.
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in the east. Geologically, these mountains are part of the
911:
Geological Journeys. Norman, N. and Whitfield, G. 2006
771:
Geological Journeys. Norman, N. and Whitfield, G. 2006
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23:
605:, which runs between Oudtshoorn in the south and
435:(Seven Weeks Gorge Peak) at 2325 m. The famous
8:
16:Mountain range in Western Cape, South Africa
520:) first surveyed the range for a pass with
20:
169:Location of the Swartberg in South Africa
597:The Swartberg Pass, soon after being cut
753:
742:List of mountain ranges of South Africa
655:
385:Small (Klein) Swartberg Range from the
72:List of mountain ranges of South Africa
640:to coincide with the Olive Festival.
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125:230 km (140 mi) ESE/WNW
7:
928:Mountain ranges of the Western Cape
366:Much of the Swartberg is part of a
133:70 km (43 mi) NNE/SSW
568:This pass, to the far west in the
264:Cape Floral Region Protected Areas
14:
156:
718:
706:
694:
682:
670:
658:
612:The Swartberg pass was built by
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29:
853:Romance of Cape Mountain Passes
546:in the south, with the town of
439:(Bewitch Peak) towers over the
1:
644:Gallery of the Swartberg Pass
61:2,325 m (7,628 ft)
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855:. New Africa Books. 2004.
601:Most famous of all is the
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253:UNESCO World Heritage Site
737:Geography of South Africa
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246:
142:
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516:businessman (and later
351:in the west to between
275:Natural: (ix), (x)
701:Top of the Pass (2004)
689:Part of Swartberg Pass
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652:The Greater Swartberg
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583:Swartberg Pass (1888)
558:Seweweekspoort (1862)
542:connects the town of
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401:, South Africa, near
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101:33.36667°S 22.35417°E
616:, son of the famous
486:Meiringspoort (1858)
677:Swartberg mountains
371:World Heritage Site
106:-33.36667; 22.35417
97: /
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618:Andrew Geddes Bain
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564:Seweweekspoortpiek
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433:Seweweekspoortpiek
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50:Seweweekspoortpiek
41:Highest point
622:Bain's Kloof Pass
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890:. Archived from
888:"Swartberg pass"
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864:
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834:. Struik. 2008.
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809:. Archived from
807:"Swartberg pass"
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784:. Archived from
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725:Rock formations
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570:Klein Swartberge
452:Groot Swartberge
426:Klein Swartberge
411:Karoo Supergroup
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874:"Meiringspoort"
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713:View from Pass
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665:Swartberg Pass
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609:in the north.
603:Swartberg Pass
589:Swartberg Pass
587:Main article:
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576:to the south.
562:Main article:
559:
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518:Prime Minister
490:Main article:
487:
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415:Cape Fold Belt
378:
377:The two ranges
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361:Cape Fold Belt
329:mountain range
321:black mountain
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35:Swartberg pass
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894:on 2010-06-05
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861:9780864866639
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813:on 2010-06-05
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634:Meiringspoort
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630:hairpin bends
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607:Prince Albert
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552:half marathon
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514:Beaufort West
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502:Meiringspoort
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222:Carboniferous
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896:. Retrieved
892:the original
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826:
815:. Retrieved
811:the original
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790:. Retrieved
786:the original
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638:
626:
611:
600:
578:
574:Little Karoo
569:
567:
539:
537:
530:
510:John Molteno
507:
500:View of the
477:
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451:
430:
425:
420:
407:Little Karoo
399:Western Cape
365:
341:Little Karoo
337:South Africa
335:province of
333:Western Cape
320:
316:
314:
233:Type of rock
193:Western Cape
183:South Africa
18:
614:Thomas Bain
548:Klaarstroom
533:Cape Colony
526:Thomas Bain
522:Andrew Bain
463:Cango Caves
459:Gamka River
441:Klein Karoo
345:Great Karoo
319:mountains (
293:2004 (28th
290:Inscription
217:Age of rock
104: /
79:Coordinates
922:Categories
898:2010-06-05
840:1770073876
817:2010-06-05
792:2010-04-04
748:References
620:who built
468:Oudtshoorn
403:Calitzdorp
387:Laingsburg
353:Willowmore
349:Laingsburg
302:Extensions
238:Quartzitic
117:Dimensions
92:22°21′15″E
851:G. Ross:
830:L. Nell:
445:Ladismith
357:Uniondale
325:Afrikaans
317:Swartberg
280:Reference
241:sandstone
163:Swartberg
138:Geography
89:33°22′0″S
57:Elevation
24:Swartberg
761:Towerkop
731:See also
478:Several
443:town of
437:Towerkop
327:) are a
271:Criteria
189:Province
863:. p.89.
544:De Rust
405:in the
331:in the
295:Session
284:1007bis
260:Part of
226:Permian
205:Orogeny
199:Geology
179:Country
67:Listing
859:
838:
480:passes
368:UNESCO
122:Length
933:Karoo
842:p.94.
540:poort
130:Width
857:ISBN
836:ISBN
504:pass
413:and
389:area
355:and
315:The
305:2015
224:and
46:Peak
323:in
924::
636:.
524:,
512:,
470:.
373:.
363:.
901:.
876:.
820:.
795:.
297:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
