🇧🇴Roads in Bolivia
2 roads found in Bolivia, South America
Death Road (North Yungas Road)
🇧🇴 Bolivia
North Yungas Road, universally known as the "Death Road," is a 64-kilometer route connecting La Paz to Coroico in the Yungas region of Bolivia. Carved into the side of the Cordillera Oriental mountain range, the road descends from 4,650 meters at La Cumbre pass to around 1,200 meters in the subtropical Yungas, dropping through multiple climate zones in a single journey. The Inter-American Development Bank christened it "the world's most dangerous road" in 1995, when an estimated 200 to 300 travelers died annually along its length. The most dangerous section is a single-lane dirt track just 3.2 meters wide, with sheer cliff drops of up to 600 meters on one side and no guardrails. Vehicles traveling downhill are required to drive on the outside edge (the cliff side) to give uphill traffic better visibility, meaning the driver has no view of the road edge. Fog, rain, and mudslides are common, and the surface shifts from rock to mud without warning. Crosses and memorials mark the spots where buses and trucks have plunged into the abyss. Since 2006, a modern bypass road has diverted most vehicular traffic away from the old Death Road, and the route has been reborn as one of the world's most popular mountain biking experiences. Thousands of adventure tourists each year ride the 64-kilometer descent on bicycles, a thrilling journey that takes about three to four hours. While the road is far safer without heavy truck traffic, accidents still occur, and several cyclists have died on the route. The contrast between the freezing summit and the lush tropical vegetation at the bottom makes for an extraordinary sensory experience.
Salar de Uyuni Road
🇧🇴 Bolivia
The road across Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni is unlike any other driving experience on Earth. The Salar is the world's largest salt flat, covering 10,582 square kilometers at an elevation of 3,656 meters in the Altiplano of southwestern Bolivia. During the dry season (May-November), vehicles drive directly across the vast white expanse of hexagonally cracked salt crust that extends to the horizon in every direction, creating a surreal sense of infinite space. During the wet season (December-April), a thin layer of water transforms the flat into the world's largest natural mirror, perfectly reflecting the sky and clouds in a scene that blurs the boundary between earth and atmosphere. The route from the town of Uyuni typically crosses the salt flat to Isla Incahuasi (Fish Island), a rocky outcrop covered in giant cacti that rises from the white plain like a mirage. The journey often continues to the Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve, passing through a landscape of colored lagoons, geysers, and volcanic hot springs.