Touws River (Afrikaans: Touwsrivier) is a small railway town of 8,126 people in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

The Touwsrivier CPV Solar Project is located just outside of the town and supplies 50 MW to the national electrical grid.

[3][4] A railway was needed from the port at Cape Town, to service the newly discovered diamond fields in Kimberley.

[5] In 1875, the engineers of the Cape Government Railways arrived to survey the region and found that, at the exact spot indicated, there was indeed a viable route through the formidable Hex River Mountains, starting from Worcester and descending on the other side, to a spot where the town of Touws River now stands.

[7] The name "Touws" originates from a Khoi word for ash, which also referred to the local "Ash-bushes" (Salsola aphylla).

Now a sleepy town, surrounded by farms, mountains and game reserves, it preserves open-air displays of steam engines in memory of its history as a railway centre.