M6 · South Africa

Chapman’s Peak Drive

A 9 km cliff road with 114 curves on the Atlantic side of the Cape Peninsula near Cape Town, between Hout Bay and Noordhoek.

StartFinish

9.3 kmLength

81Pace-note calls

0Hairpins

25Tight corners (1–2)

↑210 ↓170Climb and drop, m

≈170 mHighest point

Counts are from Turini’s pace-note engine on this route. Heights come from terrain data and can differ from signposted figures by a few tens of metres.

Where is Chapman’s Peak Drive?

Chapman’s Peak Drive is in South Africa, on the M6. Also known as Chappies. The route on this page: Hout Bay to Noordhoek, the toll section, 9.3 km.

Why Chapman’s Peak Drive is famous

It is cut into the mountainside above the sea. After a fatal rockfall in the 1990s it was closed, re-engineered with protection against falling rock and reopened as a toll road.

Chapman’s Peak Drive corners

Over 9.3 km Turini calls 77 corners graded 1 to 6. That is 81 calls in all, one every 115 metres on average. Grade 1 is the tightest, 6 is nearly straight (how to read pace notes).

222

322

417

Chapman’s Peak Drive elevation profile

From 14 m at the start to 55 m at the finish, with a highest point of about 170 m.

200 m0 m

0 km4.7 km9.3 km

Chapman’s Peak Drive pace notes, first few km

The first 25 calls, exactly as Turini reads them, with the distance from the start.

110 mLeft 2

205 mRight 3 long opens

445 mLeft 3

515 mRight 3

675 mLeft 6

840 mRight 3

905 mLeft 4

960 mRight 3 tightens

1.06 kmLeft 1

1.13 kmRight 3

1.20 kmLeft 2

1.31 kmRight 3 long

1.45 kmLeft 3 very long

1.78 kmRight 2 long tightens

1.89 kmLeft 2

2.08 kmRight 2

2.21 kmLeft 3

2.35 kmLeft 5

2.46 kmRight 6

2.49 kmGive way

2.49 kmLeft 5

2.54 kmRight 3 long

2.70 kmLeft 3

2.87 kmRight 6

3.06 kmLeft 4

That takes you to 3.06 km. 56 more calls follow over the remaining 6.3 km.

Before you drive Chapman’s Peak Drive

Toll road, open all year, but it closes in high winds, heavy rain and for rock clearing.

A toll is charged at the toll plaza. Check the road status before you go, as it can close at short notice.

How to drive Chapman’s Peak Drive with Turini

Set the route before you leave and Turini saves its notes on the phone, so it works with the screen off and no signal. On the road it reads each call about 4.5 seconds before the corner, timed to your speed, and you never touch the phone. It also works through Android Auto. If pace notes are new to you, start in Simple mode (Easy, Medium, Hard) and switch to the 1–6 scale once it feels natural.

Always drive within the law, the conditions and what you can see. Turini tells you what the map says; the road is what counts.

More roads like Chapman’s Peak Drive

Great Ocean RoadAustralia44.6 km · 260 calls · 1 hairpins

Amalfi Coast RoadItaly15.4 km · 212 calls · 14 hairpins

Sa CalobraSpain12.6 km · 118 calls · 24 hairpins

All famous roads · How to read pace notes

Sources: Wikipedia: Chapman's Peak Drive, chapmanspeakdrive.co.za.

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