of many gated communities and shopping centres. Geography Hillcrest is located in the Upper Highway Area, a suburban region located on the M13 highway above Pinetown along with the neighbouring suburban areas of Kloof, Gillitts, Everton and Waterfall. It is situated on the M13 and R103 about 30 km north-west of Durban, 16 km north-west of Pinetown and 52 km south-east of Pietermaritzburg. Hillcrest is bordered by the rural area of Embo to the north, the suburb of Waterfall to the north-east, the suburbs of Gillitts and Everton to the east and the semi-rural area of Assagay and the village of Botha's Hill to the west. Transport Roads Hillcrest has access to two major highways, the M13 and the N3 and one regional road, the R103. The M13 King Cetshwayo Highway is the main highway that traverses past Hillcrest. The highway bypasses Hillcrest to the south and links Hillcrest to the neighbouring suburbs of Gillitts and Kloof to the east and further south-east to Pinetown, Westville and Durban and to the N3 highway (to Pietermaritzburg) to the west. Access to the M13 from Hillcrest can be obtained through the Old Main Road off-ramp (Exit 28), Shongweni Road off-ramp (Exit 31) and the Kassier Road off-ramp (Exit 33). The M13 acts as an alternative route to the tolled N3 highway for motorists heading south-east towards Pinetown and Durban. The N3 highway is a toll highway that bypasses Hillcrest further south than the M13 therefore it has more of an indirect linkage to Hillcrest than the M13. The N3 links to Pietermaritzburg in the north-west and Pinetown and Durban in the south-east. Access to the N3 from Hillcrest can be obtained through Kassier Road. The R103 links Hillcrest to Ladysmith in the north-west via Botha's Hill, Inchanga, Cato Ridge, Camperdown, Pietermaritzburg, Howick, Mooi River, Estcourt and Colenso. The R103 is the original N3 and served the same function before the construction of the highway. Similarly to the current N3, the R103 was the main road between Durban and Pietermaritzburg and thus the name of the road being Old Main Road. Other than the M13, Hillcrest has access to other metropolitan routes in the eThekwini metropolitan area including the M33 Inanda Road linking Hillcrest to Waterfall in the north-east and Kloof in the east and M46 Kassier Road linking Hillcrest to Assagay in the west and Shongweni and Mpumalanga in the south-west. Schools