Fasten Your Seatbelts
At its most basic, driving is a stressful experience; after all, you're piloting a huge metal animal going hundreds of miles an hour with pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers popping up like a high-stakes game of wack-a-mole. However, some roads take danger to the next level. These 20 roads are for the most confident drivers only. Read on, if you dare...
1. 99-Turn Road
Just looking at this road is enough to make your knees turn to jelly. Curving around China's gorgeous Tainmen Mountain, this road ascends to an altitude of 6500 meters. If the altitude isn't enough to scare you, then the 99 hairpin turns weaving through the mountain certainly will.
2. Death Road
We're not going to sugarcoat this: Yungas Road in Bolivia is called Death Road for a reason. This road offers drivers an unmatched view of the Amazon rainforest from above the clouds, but it comes at the cost of bumpy trails, hairpin turns, landslides, and soupy fog. Until a new highway opened in the 1990s, this road claimed hundreds of lives per year!
Alicia Nijdam from Cordoba, Argentina on Wikimedia
3. Dalton Highway
Made famous on Ice Road Truckers, this Alaskan highway connects Fairbanks to the ominously-named community of Deadhorse. Plunging north into the Arctic Circle, drivers face loose gravel, isolation, mountains of snow, and curious polar bears.
Along the way you may encounter Surprise Rise, Oil Spill Hill, and Oh Sh*t Corner.
4. Passage Du Gois
This French causeway may look harmless, but looks can be deceiving. Passage du Gois connects the island of Noirmoutier to the mainland, and is known for its high tides. Not only are these tides high, but they come in fast. Once the tide goes out, the road is only usable for 3 hours.
5. Keylong Kishtwar Road
A lot of roads take you to the edge and back, but few have the risk of crumbling underneath. Nicknamed the "Cliff Hanger", the road that connects Keylong and Kishtwar, India also faces threats of landslides and severe storms. In the winter, this winding road can be inaccessible for days at a time.
6. I-70
Interstate 70 stretches from Utah to Maryland, with Colorado laying claim to the longest stretch of road, and also the most dangerous. Not only can the Colorado altitude wreak havoc on unsuspecting drivers, but this also comes with potholes, congestion, steep grades and the risk of severe weather. So, all the usual highway perils, just on a larger scale.
Photo credit: Dennis Adams, National Scenic Byways Online on Wikimedia
7. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
This road is rather sedate compared to others on this list, unless you're afraid of water. Connecting New Orleans with Mandeville, Louisiana, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway holds the word record for the longest bridge over continuous water.
At 24 miles long with enough traffic to fill Madison Square Garden, there's no escaping this bridge; once you're on, you're on.
formulanone from Huntsville, United States on Wikimedia
8. Guoliang Tunnel
We've (literally) gone over plenty of mountains in this list, but what about going through them? Guoliang Tunnel was carved by fed-up villagers in 1972 using mostly hammers and chisels. Today, this road is a popular tourist attraction, with scooters, cars, and buses all sharing a single, undulating lane.
FANG Chen from Beijing, China on Wikimedia
9. Bayburt D915
What was once part of the Silk Roads is now named one of the world's scariest roads. While Bayburt D915 starts and ends with smooth asphalt, the road quickly turns to gravel and gets narrower and steeper as you drive. This road has it all: no guardrails, hairpin turns, and a 17% incline.
10. Fairy Meadows Road
How bad can a road be with such a whimsical name? Pretty bad in this case! Fairy Meadows National Park in Pakistan is absolutely stunning, but the road into it was carved hundreds of years ago with little modern upkeep. This narrow road lacks any sort of safety barriers and can only be driven by locals.
11. Sichuan-Tibet Highway
The Sichuan-Tibet highway begins in Chengdu China and ends in Lhasa, Tibet. By this point, you should already know the drill: sharp turns, high altitude, single-track sections, and avalanche risks are all present.
However, this highway offers a little something special to drivers: lots and lots of traffic. It can take up to 15 days to drive the whole thing!
12. Transfăgărășan Highway
In general, Romanian roads leave something to be desired in terms of highway quality, but that doesn't stop adrenaline junkies from coming back to Transfăgărășan Highway. This twisting road features tunnels, hairpin turns, and some truly drastic changes in elevation. Another hazard is the local wildlife; brown bears are often seen roaming the mountain pass, along with flocks of sheep who will often wander across the road.
Antony Stanley from Gloucester, UK on Wikimedia
13. Million Dollar Highway
If you thought we were done with Colorado, you thought wrong. The Million Dollar Highway between Ouray and Silverton Colorado is one of the most beautiful roads in America, and one of the most deadly. This pass is a favorite of RVs, much to the chagrin of cars, and features steep cliffs and narrow lanes. Let the passengers enjoy the view, drivers should keep their eyes on the road.
14. Svalvogar Road
Iceland's scariest road cuts through the fjords on the west of the country. Given the geography, this road is no stranger to harsh weather (it's closed from November to April), sheer drops, and potential landslides. This road is so narrow that there's barely enough room for one car to take it, let alone two.
15. Austrian Road
This confusingly-named road in Kazakhstan was built by Austro-Hungarian POWs during WWI, so we can't really blame them for their craftsmanship. This 37-mile road was carved using picks and shovels through a national park, but it regularly falls into disrepair. The views are next-to-none, but landslides could strike at any minute.
16. Skippers Canyon Road
Built during a gold rush in 1862, this New Zealand road is carved into rock so soft it can literally turn to dust when it rains. Motor vehicles were actually banned from using Skippers Canyon Road for over 40 years until it was safe. Today, some rental agencies refuse to honor insurance on this stretch.
17. Zoji La Pass
A route so remote you may see the yeti on your drive, Zoji La Pass connects the Kashmir and Suru valleys in India. With no safety barriers or signs, and only enough one room for one motorized vehicle at a time, it may be a good thing that the snow makes this road impassable part of the year. Mercifully, this road is only a few miles long.
Yogeshgupta26 at English Wikipedia on Wikimedia
18. Cotahuasi Canyon Road
We've talked extensively about mountain passes, but what about altitude changes in the other direction? Cotahuasi Canyon is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, and you can take a bus through it, provided it isn't too muddy.
The saving grace with some of these roads is that they aren't very long; the same cannot be said for this bus ride, which is 10 hours long.
19. Katu-Yaryk Pass
The Katu-Yaryk Pass weaves through the Siberian section of the Altai mountains for spectacular views that might be worth the risk. In addition to loose gravel and a lack of safety barriers, drivers also have to cross several streams and battle a 19% incline.
20. Stelvio Pass
Allegedly one of the best roads in the world to drive a Ferrari on (at least according to Top Gear), this road is one of the highest in the Alps. Stelvio Pass is popular for motorists thanks to its challenging hairpin turns marked only with painted rocks. Even after Stirling Moss plunged off this road in the '90s (don't worry, he was okay) this road still holds prestige for petrolheads.
