History

Bainskloof pass, 28km in length, was built by Andrew Geddes Bain, using convict labour and primitive tools, such as picks and shovels, sledgehammers, hand held rock drills, steel wedges and gunpowder to hack and blast through almost impossible terrain.

It took 1608 working days or 53 days per kilometre, from February 1849 to 14 September 1853 to open the way to the north via Michell’s pass to Ceres and the Karoo beyond. The pass cost about R100,000 to construct.

The pass was tarred in 1935 and declared a national monument in 1980.