15 Most Scary Roads For Driving in the World
Have you ever experienced driving on the road without side boundaries and scary elevation? If you have not traveled through the roughest and most dangerous terrains, then the exact details of the scary roads will definitely frighten you. Here, the description and features of the 15 most dodgy and scariest roads from different parts of the world are given. Enjoy a virtual ride to these roads but do not forget to fasten the seatbelt.
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15- New Zealand’s Skippers Canyon Road | Scary Roads
Risks: Without guardrails, unpaved, sharp cliffs and narrow
Length: 26.5 Km
Utmost Elevation: Unknown
Basically, the Skippers Canyon is famous as a gold mining vicinity. The roads directing towards this area are designed cautiously for safe traveling. Still, these are not as safe as normal roads for first-time visitors. Sadly speaking, the unsafe way is responsible for taking hundreds of lives each and every year, and it is considered one of the Scary Roads. Even the basic mining track is much safer than the road. You will not believe that workers have given 7 years to carve this terrifying road. The project was completed in 1890, and many parts are still in their original form. Nowadays, adventuring companies, as well as tour buses, use Skippers Canyon Road for traveling.
14- France’s Butcher of the Extreme | Scary Roads
The exact location of this road is not confirmed. It is known as one of the risky roads. There are a lot of perilous roads worldwide; some are unpaved, whereas others are similar to animal trails. Butcher of the extreme is a road where logging trucks drive to make both ends meet. Obviously, they deserve more to get as their lives are always in danger for a few Euros.
13- Southern Peru’s Cotahuasi Canyon Road | Scary Roads
The Cotahuasi Canyon Road is located in Southern Peru, close to Arequipa city. It takes almost 12 hours to cover the road by bus. Away from Chuquibamba, the road is totally unpaved and quite unsafe. It is the reason vehicles having four-wheel drive systems are used while driving on the stretch of this bloodcurdling road. Currently, tourists do not frequently use the road; therefore, searching for a camping place by the side of this dodgy highway is painless.
Remember, the Cotahuasi Canyon is figured as the 3rd fathomless canyon worldwide. For your convenience, it is better to state that this canyon is twice deeper than the Grand Canyon of America. Grand Canyon Yarlung Tsango in Tibet is the deepest above sea level canyon, having 19,714 feet in depth.
12- Taiwan’s Taroko Gorge Road | Scary Roads
Utmost Elevation: Unknown
Length: 19 kilometers
Dangers: Earthquakes, flooding, landslides, rockfalls, blind corners and narrow road
Taroko Gorge Road is made by carving the mighty mountains. It has impressive surroundings. Therefore, tourists visit the road on a frequent basis. Having an alarming reputation cannot stop travelers from coming through cars, tour buses, scooters, and cycles. Even pedestrians also struggle to find some space and enjoy the fabulous surrounding alongside the narrow road.
Due to typhoons and heavy rainfall, it is hard to maintain the good condition of this bending road. Rockslides and landslides usually block the fragments of the road. People, who have visited Taroko Gorge Road, confirm that it is a death-defying road not made for faint-of-the-heart people.
11- Pakistan to China Karakoram Highway | Scary Roads
Utmost Elevation: 4714 meters
Length: 1300 KM
Dangers: Cliffs, avalanches, floods, falling rocks and landslides
It is designed 15000 feet above sea level, having coarse road conditions. It is also said that Karakoram Highway is the 8th speculate in the world. In 1966, the construction started, and it took 12 years to accomplish the project; however, the road opened for public travel in the year 1986.
This deadly road has wrapped beyond the 1300 KM area. In some places, the route follows the ancient Silk Road. The road has been designed by cutting the risky hilly region. While traveling on Karakoram Highway, the visitors need to be careful of the hazards like terrible storms, precipitous cliffs, herds of animals, flooding, rock falls, reckless drivers, snow drifts, avalanches, and landslides.
It is interesting to know that the Karakoram Road also wanders through the beautiful Hunza Valley. For literature lovers, Hunza valley is much more valuable as the “Lost Horizon” scene by James Hilton describes the mythical Shangri-La Valley where the people are blessed to live more than 100 years.
10- Pakistan’s Nanga Parbat Pass (Fairy Meadows Road) | Scary Roads
Highest Elevation: 2400 meters
Length: 16 Km
The Fairy Meadows Road begins from Karakoram Highway. It leads to the Tato village. Though the length of this road is just 16 km, this remote terrain is highly dangerous and harrowing. The width is not more than that of Jeep Wrangler. It is really a nerve-racking job to cover unmaintained, unpaved roads free of guardrails. The drop below from this valley is multi-thousand meters. In other words, the drive is based on terrifying sharp sections. Side by side, the Fairy Meadows are indescribably dazzling and worthy of viewing. Only the brave people have the courage to cover the road and enjoy the gorgeous Fairy Meadows.
9- China’s 99 Bend Road to Heaven | Scary Roads
Length: 11 km
Risks: Hairpin turns and sheer drops
China is legendary land that welcomes visitors to Hua Shan’s wooden rickety walkways, dangerous roads, and Grand Canyon Glass Bridge of Zhangjiajie. 99-Bend Road to Heaven is the most spectacular terrain located in central China, particularly in National Park Tianmen Mountain. As the name signifies, the road has 99 hazardous hairpin turns that are designed hundreds of feet above the ground. Do not dare to go off the 99-Bend road; otherwise, get ready for a fiery crash.
During bad weather, the chances of earthquakes increase. Just think about the ill-fated workers who died while working on this scary road.
According to Google Maps, detail of some of the Curviest Roads having maximum hairpin turns is given below:
| Road | Number of Switchbacks | Highest Elevation |
| China 99-Bend Road | 99 | 1100 Meters |
| Himalayas Three Level Zigzag Road | 100+ | 2759 meters |
| Chile Caracoles | 17 | 234 meters |
| Japan Tsugaru Iwaki Skyline | 69 | 708 meters |
| North Yungas Road | 200+ | 3500 meters |
8- Alaska to Chile Pan America Highway | Scary Roads
Length: 48000 KM
Location: South, Central and North America
Utmost Elevation: 3200 meters
Risks: Wild animals, cartels, terrible terrain, stormy weather
PAH, known as Pam America Highway, is not dangerous from beginning to end. It is similar to standard American Highways. While using the Pan America Highway, the freedom of people is often at risk. The dodgiest part of the highway winds through Central America and Mexico. These are the areas where drug-associated terrorists wander.
Travelers usually come across the FARC rebels while using the Panamanian part of the road. The rebels often imprison the people and hold them for payment. Sometimes, people are put in prison for years. Pan America Highway is 48000 km long, whereas the broken area is just 60 miles between Colombia and Panama, named Darien Gap.
7- China’s Sichuan Tibet Highway | Scary Roads
Length: 2140 Km
Utmost Elevation: 4700 meters
Risks: Cliffs, hairpin turns, avalanches, mudslides and rockslides
This is one of the longest highways, joining Lhasa in Tibet with Chengdu in Sichuan through the Kham area. The region is overwhelmed with avalanches and rockslides. No doubt, the Sichuan-Tibet highway is the switch-back and treacherous highway that moves through soaring peaks, usually causing vomit to altitude-sick travelers.
You can view various red-robed Buddhists, Buddhist monasteries, and yaks’ herds along the road. The construction of the Sichuan Tibet road started in 1950 and was completed in four years. Since that time, a significant number of travelers have died on this highway. According to a record, almost 7500 visitors out of 100,000 travelers died while crossing the highway.
6- Alaska’s James Dalton Highway | Scary Roads
Length: 666 Km
Utmost Elevation: 1444 meters
Risks: Wildlife, isolation, steep grades, terrible terrain, poor visibility and extreme weather
James Dalton Highway is also recognized as North Slope Hall Road. Truckers use this road frequently who move to and from the oil fields in Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope. This road is meant to make the visits effortless from Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.
James Dalton Highway has covered 414 miles distance. Some of the places are paved, yet three-fourths are unpaved. Unluckily, no medical facilities are provided along the road. As far as the population is concerned, there are just three towns along the road. It is required that travelers must keep survival gear as well as an abundance of supplies while covering this highway. Fascinatingly, the famous reality show, Ice Road Truckers, has dramatized many episodes on James Dalton’s deadly highway.
The Scariest Roads in America
| Road | Death/Mile |
| 1-4 FL to Daytona Beach | 1.25 |
| 1-45 TX to Galveston Dallas | 1.02 |
| 1-10 CA to Jacksonville, Santa Monica | 0.7 |
| 1-17 AZ to Phoenix Flagstaff | 0.84 |
| 1-95 FL to Weston, Miami | 0.73 |
| Four Corners, US 192 FL to Indialantic | 0.87 |
| US 175 TX to Corpus Christi, San Antonio | 0.65 |
| 1-4 FL to Daytona Beach | 1.25 |
5- The Road of Bones Kolyma Highway & Lena Highway | Scary Roads
Place: Russia
Utmost Elevation: Not Confirmed
Length: 3,080 km
Risks: Low visibility, mud, ice, unpaved roads and extreme weather
No doubt, it is challenging to travel through Siberia. This road is familiar as the Road of Bones. The road covers the coldest part of the world. Basically, the road is an amalgamation of two highways, A360 Lena highway, and R504 Kolyma Highway. Both roads are highly dangerous; nevertheless, the R504 is in improved condition.
Lena River Ice Road has joined these two highways. It is similar to a terrain across the river that gets opened on a yearly basis (December to April) when the ice is completely frozen to make it safe for driving purposes. Unluckily, the vehicles of dozens of people fell through the hoarfrost, and suddenly, people expired.
The right time to travel through the Road of Bones is the winter season since cold weather helps in freezing the water and makes it more suitable for traveling. Still, the drivers need to combat awfully low visibility, ice, and heavy snow.
During the months of July and August, it rains heavily, and the road looks like a monstrous marsh, causing severe traffic jams. Just the 4X4 vehicles are rugged enough to travel on this muddy beast. The condition gets worst when people suffering in traffic jams are also robbed.
4- China’s Guoliang Tunnel Road | Scary Roads
Utmost Elevation: 600 meters
Length: 1.2 Km
Risks: Rock falls, extreme fog, without guardrails and steep cliffs
Chinese government planned to design a road to make traveling easy just for 300 villagers. It seemed that the road would not be expensive and troublesome. Some villagers determined to design a tunnel (0.8 miles) from the solid rock on a vertical cliff. It was located in Henan province, Taihang Mountains. In order to get the way through the steep cliff, the villagers utilized explosives. Due to unsatisfactory experience in road building, some villagers lost their lives in this accident.
The width of the tunnel is 12 feet, whereas its height is 15 feet. The road is hard enough to drive two cars. It took 5 years to develop the route. In 1977, the road was kicked off for travelers. The road is highly risky when it is raining. It is captivating that two more cliff tunnel-based roads are present in the same area.
3- India’s Zoji La Pass | Scary Roads
Length: 9 KM
Elevation: 3528 meters
Risks: Unpaved, narrow, steep cliffs, severe weather and no guardrails
Similar to other roads that go through the roaring mountain in the world, this road is also dangerous for drivers. It is a dirt-based road without any guardrails. Unluckily, the traffic signals are not installed. Furthermore, the situation becomes worst when land sliding starts. The zigzag form of the road covers the weathered peaks above 11,000 feet.
In 1947, the Zoji pass was developed for military purposes. Now, it is open for public transport. The road is used to join the towns of Leh in Western Himalayan Indian Kashmir and the towns of Srinagar. During the winter, the Zoji pass remains closed due to snowdrifts (up to 50 feet), making it impassable for vehicles. Zoji pass has covered 9 kilometers area.
2- The Road of Death North Yungas Road | Scary Roads
Place: Bolivia
Elevation: 4650 meters
Length: 80 km
Risks: Without guardrails, cliffs, fog, narrow road, rock falls and landslides
This road is familiar as the Road of Death, so try to stay away from traveling as much as you can. The Road of Death leads from La Paz and joins Coroico. It covers approximately 50 miles distance. This one-lane dangerous road has vertical drops as high as 3000 feet. It is unbelievable that the Road of Death has more than 200 hairpin scary turns.
Till 1994, almost 300 travelers get expired on an annual basis. There are several memorials along the road where miserable people plunged and crashed down in the forest full of ravines. Luckily, the scariest part of the road has been developed into a two-lane cemented road. Therefore, traffic jam is no more an issue. The road is challenging for cyclists. By the way, the South Yungas Road is still as dangerous as the Road of Death.
1- India’s Killar to Pangi Road | Scary Roads
India’s Killar to Pangi Road
Maximum Elevation: 2524 meters
Length: 114 KM
Risks: Isolation, mud, unpaved, steep cliffs without guards
This is the most hazardous and hair-raising road, best for adventurers with iron nerves. This road opens in the summer season only. The length of a croaky and rocky road is almost 70 miles. Only the six miles area of this road is perilous. The overhang rocks give the impression as if the vehicles will fall down at any moment. Hundreds of years ago, the Killar to Pangi road was built. Unluckily, the repair work has not been done for the last many decades.
The width is enough for a single jeep to drive with caution as there is no guardrail. Gravel and dirt-based road are really petrifying and unstable as well. Even a single false move of an experienced driver will throw the vehicle 2000 feet down where a vertical cliff is present for taking the lives of passengers. The activities on this road are so terrorizing that most people are unable to watch the full videos of driving vehicles. If you have added this road to your adventure list, then make it certain you have stamina and experience enough to come back for more challenges.
The Sharpest Roads Worldwide
| Road | Location | Gradient |
| Waipio | Hawaii | 37% |
| Canton Avenue | USA | 37% |
| Eldred Street | Los Angeles, USA | 33% |
| Baldwin Street | New Zealand | 35% |
| Filbert Street | San Francisco, USA | 31.5% |
| Hard Knott Pass | UK | 33% |
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