About the Route
This route takes you from the small town of Vanrhynsdorp, via a mix of gravel and tar, to Calvinia. The first part of the route is tarred and takes you over the Van Rhynspas. The views are stunning, but there are some sharp bends and a large amount of trucks, so keep your concentration. Once on the top of the pass, it is a short ride towards Nieuwoudtville. If you need to stock up on water or fuel, please do this here. There won't be any other possibilities until you reach the end destination. At Nieuwoudtville you turn on a small tarred road that takes you past the nieuwoudtville waterfall. There is an entrance gate and I think you normally have to pay a small fee to look at the waterfall. When we went past it didn't rain for a while and the waterfall was dried up. That was probably the reason that the entrance gate was left open and nobody manned the gate. After several Km's on this tar road, you will reach the gravel turnoff towards Gannabos to your right. Gannabos is a protected area and contains the largest Quiver tree forest in the Southern Hemisphere. The gravel road towards the forest contains sandy patches, so be aware of this as you ride. The Quiver tree forest will be at your right hand side on this road, the forest itself is private property and is fenced off. You can contact the owners if you want to have a walk through, the access fee is R50. We were told that they erected the fence and access control because people were taking the small trees as souvenirs and this had a negative impact on the forest. The up to date number of the owners can be found via Google and there was also a sign with their number at the entrance. There is a possibility to camp or have other overnight accommodation here, this gives you access to the forest even at night (incase you would like to do some star photography here with the trees). Once you leave the quiver tree forest, you continue with this road. From here on it will become farm tracks and there are several gates to be opened and closed. The tracks can be sandy at stages. You are allowed to traverse these farm tracks, but please be respectful and limit your speed as you are traversing farmers lands and there is livestock everywhere. The road will stay gravel roads and farm tracks until you reach Calvinia.