Serra do Rio do Rastro
🇧🇷 Brazil
The Serra do Rio do Rastro is an 8-kilometer mountain road in the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil that descends 1,460 meters through a series of over 250 tight curves and hairpin bends carved into the face of a dramatic escarpment. Often called the most beautiful road in Brazil, SC-438 connects the highland town of Bom Jardim da Serra to the lowlands below in a dizzying sequence of switchbacks that seems to defy engineering logic.
The road clings to the near-vertical face of the Serra Catarinense, and on clear days the views from the upper sections extend for over 100 kilometers across the coastal plain. Clouds frequently sit at mid-level on the escarpment, meaning drivers descend through a cloud layer and emerge into sunshine below. The microclimate at the top is cold enough for frost and occasional snow in winter, while the base is subtropical. A viewpoint platform near the summit offers one of the most photographed road panoramas in South America.