The area around Lutzville was originally known as Vlermuisklip, a reference to a rocky overhang near the town called Vleermuijsklip, one of Lutzville’s popular tourist sites. It is a national monument.
Located on the West Coast Way Wild Route
Lutzville is located on the West Coast Way Wild Route. The area around Lutzville was originally known as Vlermuisklip, a reference to a rocky overhang near the town called Vleermuijsklip. The cave was often used by early travellers as a shelter, and was first named by Pieter Everaerts in 1661. Other visitors included Governor Simon van der Stel, and Pieter van Meerhof, who was the first European to reach the Troe-Troe River near Vanrhynsdorp. British soldiers also used the shelter during the SA War (1899-1902).
The town Lutzville was established in 1923 and named after Johan Lutz, an irrigation engineer who worked on the Clanwilliam Dam and also surveyed the Lutzville area for agricultural development. The town has a population of just over 5 000 and services a farming community that produces wine and cultivates beans and tomatoes for the canning industry.
Lutzville’s popular tourist sites include two national monuments: Vleermuijsklip Rock and the Melkboomsdrift farmhouse, built in 1825.
The Sishen-Saldanha railway bridge over the Olifants River is also worth a visit. The 1 035 m high railway bridge was completed in 1976 and is supported by 22 pillars, each pillar extending 45 m into the river bed.
The village of Koekenaap has a population of less than 1 500 and lies 7 km north of Lutzville on the R362. It was first settled in 1928. According to legend two German missionaries of the Rhenish Missionary Society exclaimed “guck inab!” in wonder at their first sighting of the Olifants River after travelling through the harsh Knersvlakte. “Guck inab” eventually became “koekenaap”.
Find Lutzville on the West Coast Way Wild Route.
Open 7 days a week
Distance from Cape Town: 324.8 km
Where: N7
Contact: +27 (0)27 201 3376 | www.experiencenortherncape.com
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