Camping at Rooiberg Lodge

Carl Koch's picture

Rooiberg Camping

Rooiberg Lodge one of the club’s favourite destinations has recently added a camping area to their venue. A number of us were keen to try it out.

So on the Saturday morning 6 of us (Baron, Trevor, Francois, Olaf, Stehan and me) on four 1200 and two F800 GS’s met at the BP garage in Franschhoek for a 8am start.

Our route took us over the Franschhoek pass to the bridge over the dam. Here we dropped tyre pressure and then took a left onto the dirt. We stayed pretty much on dirt most the morning towards Greyton. From there we stayed on dirt along the R406 until joining the N2 just before Riviersonderend. After a quick coffee break and in the interest of time we stayed on the N2 through to Buffeljagsrevier.

 After a nice lunch consisting of their famous vetkoek and homemade pies it was time to tackle what was going to be a new route for us over the Langeberg mountains into the Karoo. This new route took us over the Wadrift pass and then the somewhat technical Geysmanshoek pass. As we headed further into the mountains it was clear that not many vehicles use this road and with the recent rains the vegetation was lush and green, not to mention overgrown which resulted in using your shoulder to push the bushes out the way. I have included a U tube video of our trip over the pass.

Once over the pass and after a regroup to make sure we were all fine it was the usual dirt road into Rooiberg

The campsite was perfect consisting of 16 camp sites each with their own Braai, PowerPoint table and benches. The management had ensured that the freezer was well stocked with ice and that we had plenty of fire wood. As we were overnight guests, we also had full use of the pool which after a hot dusty day went down a treat with a cold beer.

Since the campsite is next to the water hole, during the full moon evening we were treated to Zebra and Kudu coming down to drink. The evening was spent in the usual way a group of adventure riders would, Braai, Beer and plenty of stories about the ride over the pass and past rides. Thanks to load shedding (yes even in Rooiberg) we got the real camping experience relying on light rom the fire and the full moon.

Next morning after coffee and rusks we headed off to Ladismith to refuel and enjoy a Steers breakfast.

From Ladismith we took the Laingsburg road for around 20km then turned left onto the dirt road to Montague.   This road follows the valley and borders on the Anysberg nature reserve. The road is in good condition and we met a number of motorcycles going in the opposite direction. Just before connecting with the N2 before Montague we traversed the Ouberg pass which was not as technical as its namesake in the Tankwa.

From Montage it was time to refuel and head home along tar. Got home early afternoon with some 850km for the weekend.

For those looking for different route options to Rooiberg I can recommend Wadrift and Geysmanshoek passes, the scenery alone is worth it.

Below are U tube and relive links for the 2 days riding.

Carl Koch

 

 

 

Comments

GeelKameel's picture
Offline
Joined: 2007/06/21

Baie dankie, Carl​!

Julle het n baie mooi roete gery. Gysmanshoek se pas is besonder mooi, veral die groen bosse wanneer dit reen gehad het. En die proteas is iets besonders.

En die koedoes in die nag by die water is sekerlik n hoogtepunt!

Ek is baie bly om darem nog n tripreport te sien voordat ons Forum verdwyn.