The Hex River

The Hex River is a tributary of the Breede River.  Important settlements along the river are the small towns of De Doorns and Touws River.

The Hex River originates on the southern slopes of the Bonteberg Mountains at about 1000 m altitude close to The Hex Pass. The Valley is blessed with plentiful water from the Hex River mountains. Sometimes during winter, the surrounding mountains are covered in snow.

There are 5,200 acres of irrigated agricultural land in the valley. About 86 percent of this land is used for growing lemons. 450 boreholes are also used to extract groundwater, with an average flow rate of 5 liters per second.

Europeans first settled here in the 18th century. By 1700, Boer treks had already passed the valley on the way to the Great Karoo. The valley was difficult to access from Cape Town. Access was via a detour to the north, which led through the Tulbagh Basin and the Nuwekloof mountains. In 1835 the Bainskloof Pass was finished and in  1944, construction work on the road from Worcester to Paarl and Cape Town was completed via the Du Toitskloof Pass.

When the railway line to Kimberly was completed, it helped to encourage farming in the valley. Easier access  increased the development of farming in the area

A dam on the river course is the Lakenvallei Dam with a capacity of 10.230 million cubic meters) is near Ceres and the Roode Elsberg Dam  has a capacity of 7.733 million cubic meters

The Hex River flows into the Breede River not far from the city of Worcester.