Death Road
- Filed under: Uncategorized
- Date: May 16,2008
The North Yungas Road (also Grove’s Road, Coroico Road, Camino de las Yungas, El Camino de la Muerte, Road of Death, and Death Road) is a 61 to 69 km road (depending on source) leading from La Paz to Coroico, 56 km (35 miles) northeast of La Paz in the Yungas region of Bolivia. It is legendary for its extreme danger and in 1995 it was christened it as the “world’s most dangerous road”. One estimate is that 200-300 travellers were killed yearly along the road. The road includes crosses marking many of the spots where such vehicles have fallen. Upon leaving La Paz, the road first ascends to around 5 km, before descending to 330 m (1079 ft), transiting quickly from cool altiplano terrain to rain forest as it winds through very steep hillsides and atop cliffs.
It is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia, or Yungas, to its capital city. Because of the extreme dropoffs up to 2,000 feet, single-lane width, and lack of guardrails, the road is extremely dangerous. Further still, rain and fog can make visibility precarious, the road surface muddy, and loosen rocks from the hillsides above. One of the local road rules specifies that the downhill driver never has the right of way and must move to the outer edge of the road. This forces fast vehicles to stop so that passing can be negotiated safely. Also, vehicles drive on the left, as opposed to the right like the rest of Bolivia. This gives the driver in a left-hand-drive vehicle a better view over their outside wheel, making passing safer.
The danger of the road ironically made it a popular tourist destination starting in the 1990s. Mountain biker enthusiasts, in particular, have made it a favorite destination for downhill biking, since there is a 64 km stretch of continuous downhill riding. At least 13 of these cyclists have been killed on the ride as of 2008.