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  4. Du Toit’s Kloof
  1. Home
  2. Western Cape Province
  3. Du Toit’s Kloof

Du Toit’s Kloof

The cliffs of the Hawequas mountains provide a spectacular backdrop to this thermic mountain site. The launch is on the west facing slope below the car park and the discontinuation of forestry on the plateau below, offers plenty of landing options.

This site has been re-graded from Sport to Basic license.

Wind

Light Westerly.

Cautions

Only use the upper launch in very light winds.

Launch

The 3rd carpark from the top of the pass – easy launch, but landing options are bad (thermal or land in trees). In SW use the carpark overlooking the tunnel entrance. Or if you can organize the key, you can launch in a constricted gully high in the peaks, with another peak upwind of you, in front of the southern-most radio mast. Scary.

Altitude

Carpark 800m ASL, Tower 1000m high (1294m ASL), military use (300m AGL to ground), civilian ceiling at 1300m ASL (i.e. don’t go up, head N for Bain’s Kloof Pass, where ceiling is 2300m. You’ll be out of D159 ‘danger area’ 1km N of radio masts.

Landing

Carpark: topland, or before trees, or in clear strip beside power-lines.

Tower: in the carpark on the old pass, or glide down the pass to land beside the tunnel entrance.

For HG there is an abandoned ‘soccer field’ at Bosdorp (on valley-side of the forest below carpark), or sandy fields 5km to the West beside the furthest forested hillock, beside a little dam.

Directions

N1 to Paarl, take the alternative route to Worcester (old Du Toit’s Kloof Pass, not the tunnel). Park at best carpark near the crest of the pass (depending on wind direction). If you organise a key the day before through Conservation, you can drive up the private road which turns left at the crest of the pass and leads up to the radio masts.

Caretaker

Deon Rossouw: Conservation (021 871 1536 | 082 494 9707)

Permission

For the upper launch site, prior arrangement with Conservation Department is essential, and the gate must be locked behind you. This is a military helicopter training area D159 – danger, not restricted, so you can fly just watch out. (Ysterplaat Airforce Base 021 508 6911 to see if active).

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IMPORTANT: The SAHPA Site Guide is not a substitute for a detailed site briefing from an instructor or experienced local pilot. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and relevance of information contained herein, pilots are reminded that the SAHPA Site Guide is based on a volunteer effort to make information freely available to the community and thus information may be out of date. Pilots are still required to use their discretion and common sense, and validate the information with each club.

Many of the sites described in the SAHPA Site Guide are privately owned. The landowner reserves the right to limit access to the site.