Road Conditions from Calvinia to Sutherland

[PetrusNel2006]

We are planning on going to the Nuy Festival this weekend in De Doorns and are contemplating which vehicle to drive.

We have a 2016 Land Cruiser 200 and a 2019 Rav4 Hybrid. The Rav obviously has the better fuel efficiency, but we want to drive the gravel road to Sutherland on our way to De Doorns and are not sure if the Rav would comfortably drive that road.

If anyone could give advice or give an update on the road condition for the gravel road between Calvinia and Sutherland, I would greatly appreciate it. I heard they are paving the road, but I’m not sure how far they have already paved. Thanks in advance.

[Ersatz Syncro]

Hi Unfortunately I cannot comment on how the road is now, but I have driven it three times years ago. The first time was in January 1978 in my (Orange!) Passat LS, and twice in my Syncro, July 2006 and again in July 2007. It was a decent road that did not present any difficulties. For what it is worth, we drove the road from Fraserburg to Sutherland last year November and it was in very good condition (similar type of road). The secret with driving shale roads is to not exceed 80 km/h and to avoid anything that you can discern on the road from about 20m in front of you. At that speed you have enough time to dodge largish stones. I normally try to avoid anything larger than golf ball size. Unless your RAV has super low profile road tyres (40 or lower, depending on the width) you should be fine. I would also suggest you call the police in Sutherland (and maybe Middelpos) to enquire about the condition of the road. We went on a trip to Tankwa in 2022 and they were still repairing flood damage from 2021. I'm not sure if the Calvinia Sutherland road was affected as well. Have a safe trip; if you haven't used that road before, it is quite scenic and worth the effort.