Dare to Drive on Any of the 19 Extremely Dangerous Roads on Earth

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The fun and pleasure derived by driving on smooth, downy thoroughfares is the just irresistible. You keep whooshing at top speed, yet you wish your vehicle could have sped more. However, there are roads where a minute change in your pace can be fatal; a diminutive error can haul your car 100 feet down the valley; a tiny distraction can result in death.

With some excellent and extremely convenient roads, this world also encompasses expressway that are awfully congested, tremendously entwining, or cruelly unforgiving. After you reach safe to the other end of the road, you feel glorious and triumphant, more than a king because you conquered these roads, because your drove through them, because you are still ALIVE.

Col de Turini, France

Hiking a mountain is much easier than driving through it. Col de Turni, an entwining mountainous road in French Alps, is constructed 1 mile above sea level (a level where you can hardly spot a sea or anything down). If you thinks it’s quite perilous to drive through this region, think about the participants of Monte Carlo Rally, who zoom their cars at 112 miles per hour for twenty miles. The highest point of this road is 1607 meters above sea level (a level where you don’t think about see or anything except prayers) and it has around 35 hairpin turns, where a minute error it synonym to death.

Stelvio Pass, Italy

Even higher is the Stelvio Pass that measures 1.7 vertical meters above sea level. This intricate mountainous thoroughfare is a part of Eastern Alps in Italy. With highest point of 2757 meters and around 49 breathtaking hairpin turns, it’s almost impossible for a rookie to transverse. This route is a link between Merano and Valtellina. I wonder how many people would take the risk of traveling to and fro. I would get some credit and fly all the way, if I don’t have enough money, but wouldn’t take the risk of zooming here.

Leh-Manali Highway, India

The Leh-Manali Highway, a hilly road in India, covers around 297 miles of Himalaya mountainous range. If you were laughing and teasing when I said I would fly all the way, I am sure you will support my idea when you learn that Leh-Manali is amongst the highest passes in the world with over 2 to 3 miles above sea level. This bloodcurdling height is accompanied with landslides, snows, and rolling rocks which makes it impossible to drive through without a tough car and a tougher spirit. Who uses it? The Indian Army used it for several years. Not very sure who uses it now, probably some of most adventurous people on earth.

The Puxi Viaduct, Shanghai

Here, traveling is easy but the technology and infrastructure used to fabricate such intricate roadways is quite appreciable. This route, with five levels of bridges, is the busiest and biggest interchange in Shanghai that enables hundred thousands of cars to pass through, without halting.

The Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange, LA

A helicopter view of Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange in Los Angeles, CA immediately urges your mind to untangle it. This most obscure interchange of the country has 4 levels of viaducts with restricted entrance for made especially for high-occupancy automobiles. Millions of cars pass through this intricate arrangement of roads, yet you wouldn’t find any traffic here.

The Road of Death, Bolivia

If you are a passenger traveling from La Paz to Coroico through North Yungas Road, famously known as the “Road of Death”, you would need life insurance for sure. Tagged as most treacherous road on earth by Inter-American Development Bank, this route is a breathtaking 43 miles of heart-pumping journey. People with weak heart would get a stroke by just glance down the valley. Valley? Didn’t I tell you this is another road on a hill? Though others are quite high, those had enough space for few vehicles to pass by safely. Here, on the road of death, the space can be used by maximum one car per lane. Although this route isn’t used much by common people, around 200 to 300 die every year.

The Highway from Hell, Russia

A part of Russian Federal Highway, ‘Lena Highway’ (or the highway from hell) is a 600-mile stretch while driving from Moscow to Yakutsk in Siberia. When it rains, this road is a mud lake with countless deep pits that makes it virtually impossible for any vehicle to drive. During cold season, it’s chilly here; lower than -45 °F. However, the road is quite crammed with vehicles when it doesn’t rain as it’s the only route to Yakutsk. This road is parallel to River Yakutsk. I wonder why people don’t consider sailing as an option. Crocodiles?

Gravelly Hill Interchange, Birmingham, UK

Also casually known as ‘the Spaghetti Junction’ due to its similar looks. This interchange in Birmingham, UK, is a 6 level junction covering around 30 acres of land. The bridges of this route are quite elevated making it the most intricate junction of UK.

Russain-Georgian Military Mountain Road

Not less scary than a car-swallowing monster, this route is always swathed with snow or mud. Your car might just disappear into it leaving no traces. However, locals drive their Lada cars as if it’s a plain, uncomplicated runway. This road amid Causcasus Mountains is accessed mostly by Russian militants. If snow and mud isn’t a distraction, fog is a constant accompaniment.

Gouliang Tunnel Road, China

This road was constructed by population of 13 neighboring villages led by chief Sheb Mingxin and it took over 5 years to complete the construction. Numerous people lost their lives while piercing through the mountains. Yes, most part of this read is a 5×4 meter tunnel stretching over 1200 meters. However, the number of lives lost every year on this road exceeds the number of people died during the construction. The road doesn’t tolerate any negligence or errors while driving. Positioned in Henan Province of China, it’s a chief tourist route and one of the most dangerous roads in the world.

Taroko Gorge Road, Taiwan

Similar to Gouliang Tunnel Road, the Taroko Gorge Road is pierced through mountains and rocks in Taiwan. However, this route displays some marvelous panoramas as it makes its way through Taroko National park flanked by Taroko Gorge. This road is traveled by most of the tourist visiting Taiwan due to its natural vistas and genius engineering.

Pasubio, Nothern Italy

I am not pretty sure what you will assume while traveling through this road, because just looking at it can skip your beat. Anciently, it was a hiking trail. Now, it’s a known as a road, without any major changes in the width and conditions. Encompassing numerous crags and tunnels, this route is awfully dangerous, and very slippery, and very narrow, and very coarse, and …

Did I pass out?

The Halsema Highway, Philippines

An entwining stretch of 150 miles through steep crags, totally unpaved with no guard rails around is known as The Halsema Highway. Also know as Baguio-Bontoc Road, this path slices through Central Cordillera Valley in Philippines. If you want to travel through this stretch and if it’s monsoon, you will probably need to wait for a couple of months or return to the starting point because it’s almost impossible for anyone, including Tom Cruise, to drive here in damp season.

Not that it’s not allowed, but people don’t generally travel through this route. Many did and many died due to fatal landslides, rock slides, and mud slides.

Trollstigen in Norway

Just have a look at the photo and tell me why anyone would build such a road. Maybe to attract tourists, and avail them the ease to explore every corner and bump of the mountains. Though traveling through this road is quite a panoramic expedition, you will be quite happy after you conquer the route. It takes excellent driving skills and incredible concentration to drive here. Trollstigen is crammed with steep slopes, hairpin turns, and narrow lanes, which doesn’t allow overtaking.

This pathway became quite popular among tourists after its redevelopment in 2005. Prior to that, hardly any people took the risk of tripping here due to frequent landslides. A popular panorama that can be seen while driving on Trollstigen is Stigfossen Waterfall.

Los Caracoles Pass, Andes

Los Caracoles Pass is a part of route that takes you to Chile from Argentine. This is an entwining route built on extremely steep and abrupt inclination. To negotiate safety on this route, you need driving skills that very few possess. This is because it’s swathed with snow in most months of a year and there aren’t any safety guard rails to protect your (and your car). However, the road is quite broad and hence, not many accidents have been recorded in this area.

Iroha-Zaka Winding Road, Japan

A major link between Oku-Nikko and Nikko, there are two Iroha-Zaka’s along the way. One to go up and another to come down. Every turn of this route displays an ancient Japanese alphabet that starts with I, Ro, Ha. See, you got the name. Each road has 48 turns because japan has 48 alphabets, or is it vice versa? Who cares as far as I reach safely to the other side? Actually the second Iroha-Zaka had 50 turns, but it was modified later to match the number of alphabets.

Van Zyl’s Pass in Namibia

Though people call it a pass or a road, I am quite hesitant to even call it a way. I guess once a car tried to make its own way through mountains, looking at which other cars followed and there it is – The Van Zyl’s Pass. No concrete, no slabs, no tar, just rocks and mud. You and your car should be compatible to dodge the rocks, badland, gorges, and boulders to drive on this route. However, your excursion doesn’t go in vain because at the end of the journey – if at all you reach the end – you will come across Marienfluss Valley, an extremely splendid gorge in this area.

El Espinazo Del Diablo, Mexico

It takes around five hour to cross the devil’s backbone. That’s what the locals say. El Espinazo is probably the only route that connects Mazatlan and Durando. Thoough people in the neighborhood are quite petrified to travel here, I found it to be quite convenient to drive. It’s well maintained and you are cautioned about the perilous turns well in advance. Not much of a problem for cars, few turns are extremely difficult for trucks. However, if we overlook the few intricate curves, the road is extremely gorgeous with gorgeous green lush landscape down the valley.

Lysebotn Road, Norway

Are we moving from dangerous trips to exciting and enjoyable journeys? I don’t know. Maybe I want a happy ending. The Lysebotn Road is the most enjoyable road among all the ones I mentioned. In fact you would love it on foot as well. Though it’s quite entwining, the road is very smooth and panoramas are simply gorgeous.

Let me know if you have traveled through any of these roads, and returned safely.

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