Crazy Roads You'll Want To Drive On

There’s nothing quite like a relaxing road trip, but not all journeys consist of endless, repetitive highway. There are wild roads all over the world that’ll give you an adrenaline rush with just one look! We’ve scoured the web to find the most exhilarating, awe inspiring, and downright amazing roads that you can actually take a trip down. So, buckle up because we’re about to set off on an adventure across some of the craziest roads in the world!

Atlanterhavsveien

If you look up the definition of scenic in the dictionary, there’s a good chance you’ll see a picture of Norway’s Atlanterhavsveien. Also known as the Atlantic Ocean Road, this 5.2-mile stretch of road winds over the Averøy islands, all thanks to the incredibly creative use of bridges! Linking the islands together like a chain, the bridges arch and twist with the scenery, following the coastline of the majestic Norwegian sea.

But while it may look like a dream to drive along in good weather, when a storm whips up it quickly becomes a nightmare! Waves roll over the road and smash against the islands with terrifying force, threatening to drag cars right off the road. But whether the ocean is calm or cascading over the tarmac, you can bet that driving along the Atlantic Road will get your heart racing!

The Stelvio Pass

Italy is known for its many great works of art, but none of them are quite as breath-taking as the country’s road through the Stelvio Pass. A stone’s throw from the steep Swiss boarder, the 48 hairpin turns of this road allow it to soar over 9000 ft above sea level, all in just 29 miles!

At these cloud-scraping heights, it’s one of the highest driving roads in the world, which allows for the most incredible views. It’s so high you can even see the vast length of it twisting along the mountain pass from a bird's eye view!

While there’s no question that it’s one of the most stunning roads in the world, you can’t help but wonder what the best way to experience each twist and turn must be. Would it be by car? Maybe on a motorbike? While it might be on a bicycle, just the thought of pedaling up those huge heights already has us sweating!

The Kolli Hills

If you thought 48 hairpin bends was a lot, just wait until you learn about this next entry. With an unfathomable 70 hairpin turns, the incredibly steep twists of Kolli Hills Road in Tamil Nadu, India, has, understandably, earned the nickname of "the Mountain of Death".

Surrounded by a dense tropical forest, the road looks deceptively like an emerald green paradise, particularly for petrolheads! But portions of the 29-mile road aren’t well maintained or even paved, and it gets so narrow that there’s barely enough space for two vehicles to make the same turn. So, as exhilarating as it may be to race down these death-defying turns, remember, you’re just one pothole away from flying over the edge!

The Trans-Sahara Highway

Like something plucked out of a Mad Max film, the almost 2800-mile road in the image below running through North Africa is a stretch of pure wasteland adventure.

Known as the Trans-Sahara Highway, this humbly paved freeway carves and curls through the heart of the Sahara Desert, connecting three north African countries: Nigeria, Niger, and Algiers. But while this landscape might look like the perfect place to live out your post-apocalyptic, car-crusading fantasy, it’s a lot more dangerous than it seems.

Only 85% of the mammoth motorway is paved, meaning miles of your journey rely on tracks left in the sand and the occasional ramshackle road marker! And like that wasn’t bad enough, sand drifts often sweep across the highway, burying vast portions of it from sight. So, if you get lost, or run out of fuel, your wasteland whimsy might just become a stark reality.

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

Standing on the shore of New Orleans’ Lake Pontchartrain, you might look out over the water and think you’re witnessing an optical illusion. Because the bridge that extends over the massive stretch of water simply doesn’t seem to end! While it does, it’s just very long. Close to 24 miles long, in fact, making it the second longest overwater road bridge in the world!

Perched 15 ft above the water on a series of 9500 concrete pillars, this bridge connects both sides of the massive lake, which measures in at a whopping 630 miles squared. This means if you ever find yourself travelling across this colossal causeway, you’ll reach the halfway point and discover that you’re so far out, you can’t see the land on either side! Though it looks like it’d be a watery dream to drive across, it’s probably an absolute nightmare to break down on.

Passo San Boldo

There’s something about the look of roads carved into vast mountain tunnels that sparks a sense of adventure deep inside you. And just taking a peek at the incredible Passo San Boldo turns that spark into a full-blown bonfire!

Winding through the rockface just over 2300 ft above sea level, this combination of 8 tunnels and 6 hairpin turns is a masterpiece of exhilarating engineering! It connects the Italian towns of Trichiana to Tóvena, which are separated by a sharp elevation of just over 1400 ft!

To connect the two, tunnels were blasted into the mountainous rock face to turn an otherwise treacherous trek into a gentle climb. That may sound like a lot of work, but the road was completed in record time back in 1945, leading to its nickname "The Road of 100 Days". But despite all the amazing history and engineering behind it, I can’t help but think that it looks more like a miniature golf course than a real-life road! Either way, it’s probably seriously fun to take a drive on.

Japan’s Snow Corridor

Despite being open for only a few months of the year, Japan’s Tateyama Snow Corridor is one of the most mind-blowing roads in the world. The freezing asphalt is flanked with colossal, snow-packed walls that reach almost 60 ft high.

Carving a route across the peak of Mount Tate, these mind-blowing barriers of snow block out everything except the mountain tops and the sky! But this jaw-dropping corridor doesn’t just appear overnight. Every year, a dedicated team of snow plough operators work together using rotary snowblowers to clear the path. These behemoth machines can spray the snow nearly 50 feet high and half a football field to the side, clearing a path for visitors to the area.

Surely, driving along that road is an unforgettable experience, but could you imagine doing it behind the wheel of one of these things in the clip below? It’d certainly give you chills and thrills!

EPIC Snow Blower Removal Machines at Massive Snow Wall Walk in Japan by Machinery Present

Guoliang Tunnel Road

It may be less than a mile long but taking the trip down the death-defying Guoliang Tunnel will feel like one of the longest drives of your life! This rocky tunnel was carved into China’s Taihang Mountains back in the 1970’s, after villagers from remote Guoliang were refused government aid to build a road. Instead of living a life of solitude, they decided to carve the road out of the mountain themselves.

With nothing more than hand tools, 13 of the villagers began steadily chipping away at the cliffside. Amazingly, over the course of 5 back-breaking years, they produced a 0.75-mile-long tunnel connecting their little village to the outside world. However, they only made it 16 ft tall and 13 ft wide, barely enough to fit two standard cars beside one another!

Not only that, but the tunnel was built on the path of least resistance, meaning it dips, dives, and swerves unexpectedly! Terrifying as the road itself may be, the windows knocked through the mountain sides offer an incredible view of the surrounding valley. But you can also take a heart-stopping look down, if you dare!

The Road Through A Building?

The high-rise skyline of Osaka, Japan, doesn’t have many stand out buildings, with the exception of one that, unbelievably, has a highway cut into it! Sacrificing its fifth, sixth and seventh floors, the Gate Tower building allows the Hanshin expressway to course through it, offering one of the strangest driving experiences in the world!

This small section of roadway was channeled through the building following some pretty poor communication back in the 1980’s. Redevelopments to the area and the extension to highway had both been agreed to separately, but their building layouts clashed with one another.

Following a five-year period of negotiations, along with some very innovative thinking, the go-ahead was given for the expressway to be built through the high-rise office building! It may look a little odd, but it’s proved to be the perfect solution to what would have otherwise been architectural anarchy. So, if you ever find yourself in Osaka, don’t forget to stop by or pass through!

Salar de Uyuni

The central south American country of Bolivia is famous for its many breath-taking sights, but none are quite as spectacular as its otherworldly salt flats. Known as the Salar De Uyuni, this great white expanse is over 4,000 square miles in area and reaches as far as the eye can see.

The huge salt crusts formed many years ago after a large body of water in the basin completely evaporated. The only things it left behind were salts and minerals, which solidified in massive pockets along the old lakebed. But to really appreciate just how big they are, you need to drive out onto them.

Though it’s not technically a road, it is a major transport link across the Bolivian Altiplano, and an utterly stunning one at that! If the area experiences even brief rainfall, the white basins transform into giant mirrors, blending the sky and ground together seamlessly! Looks like heaven really is a place on Earth.

The Makran Coastal Highway

You’d think the most amazing feature of a road running alongside the Arabian sea would be those incredible ocean views. But despite the astounding azure waves, the rock formations the road runs through steal the show! These staggering structures are part of the Makran coastal highway, also known as National Highway 10, that runs along most of Pakistan’s southern shoreline.

It’s just over 400 miles of smooth asphalt paving that has been worked into the gigantic, jutting rocks, made predominantly of limestone and sandstone, that litter the coastline. This range formed thanks to the area’s tectonic activity, where the Indian and Eurasian plates that make up the earth’s crust have pushed together.

Situated right underneath Pakistan’s coast, the force of the plates colliding buckled upwards, producing the jagged ridges that now line this jaw-dropping road. Taken at the right angle, and with a little help from a drone or two, a photo of this rocky road can look like it follows the mountains up into the sky!

The Karakoram Highway

You might not think a road would be capable of holding the prestigious title of "eighth wonder of the world", but one look at the Karakoram Highway might just change your mind.

As it winds through the rocky passes of Gilgit-Baltistan, this highway zigzags through some of the most amazing mountain scenes in the world. Extending over 800 miles, the road reaches a peak height of almost 15,500 feet above sea level, driving it into the heart of the Karakoram Mountains. These conical beauties eventually give way to more habitable sections of farmland and villages.

There’s no denying that these aren’t as impressive as the mountains. But through the twisted perspective of a drone shot, the highway can appear to make an impossible 90 degree turn up into the sky, along with all the scenery! Forget the seven wonders of the world, this unreal road looks like the steep drop of an exhilarating rollercoaster!

The Highway to Heaven

You may not be able to buy your way into heaven, but if you travel to Wyoming, USA, there’s a chance you could just drive up to the pearly gates! Because it’s here that you’ll find this section of the interstate 80 highway, which looks like it leads straight up into the heavens above!

But, and I hate to break it to all you sinners out there, this is just an optical illusion. It can be viewed off the highway’s turning to Fort Bridger, where the road begins to dip downwards. It’s here that the drivers perceived horizon dips along with the highway, making the elevated section of the road at the other end seem much higher! Add in some clouds in the distance, and roads like this are suddenly transformed into heaven-bound ramps!

Los Caracoles

Snaking its way up through the heart of the Andes mountains, this treacherous stretch of Route 60 in Chile was practically designed for motorists that love a challenge.

It’s known as Los Caracoles, which translates to "The Snails" for those of us not fluent in Spanish. That’s because it rises almost 8000 ft up the mountainside through a staggering 29 hairpins and switchbacks! So, unless you want to go careening off the edge, it’s best to take these curves at a snail’s pace!

But that slow uphill slalom is definitely worth the gas, as the road takes you over Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America! With pinnacles like this, it’s one undeniably tough drive. So, if you fancy taking on Los Caracoles yourself, make sure you’ve got supreme skills, plenty of patience, and really, really good brakes!

Yongwu Highway

China has many incredible roads, but there’s one in the countries southern reaches that really makes a splash. A particular section of the Yongwu Highway spans 3 miles across The Poyang, China’s largest freshwater lake. But it’s so close to the waterline that it feels like you’re riding over it in a boat rather than a car!

#AmazingChina: The road under the water by New China TV

Normally, this road is just high enough to separate the lake, cutting the water on either side into two different color tones. But as the water level of Poyang lake rises with the rainfall, the road is slowly flooded. It gradually submerges a few feet underwater, but is still safe to cross, allowing motorists to glide over the lake guided by the bright red barriers.

Eventually, seasonal downpours flood the road completely, but it re-appears several months later when the weather gets warmer! So, if you’ve ever dreamed of driving an amphibious super car, a trip down this road might just be the next best thing.

Passage du Gois

While the Yongwu Highway may disappear every few months, there’s one road in France that disappears twice a day! This risky road connects the French mainland to the stunning island of Noirmoutier, but stretching out into the sea means that it floods with the tides on a bi-daily basis.

When exposed, it provides an epic 2.5 mile drive across the French seabed. But the tides along this natural causeway rise rapidly, and if you don’t hurry across, you could be submerged under 13 ft of thrashing waves! Though if you find yourself without a paddle, don’t panic! There are raised outposts along the road which will save you from getting swept away, though your car might not be so lucky. In any case, if you see the water start to creep over the tarmac, you’re going to want to hit the gas!

Veluwemeer Aqueduct

If you're asked you to imagine a bridge, the first thing that comes to your mind is probably a road that passes over water. However, there’s one bridge in Denmark that’s the exact reverse, it’s water that crosses over a road. Not only that, but it’s been bizarrely built inside a lake!

This uniquely engineered bridge, called the Veluwemeer Aqueduct, was constructed back in 2002 as part of the incredibly busy N302 motorway. Seeing that both the river and road were heavy with traffic, traditional builds like drawbridges and ferry crossings would have resulted in crippling congestion. So, engineers created a 2000 ft roadway under the lake, allowing highway traffic and boat passengers to travel across freely all hours of the day!

The Øresund

Perched on the icy waters between Denmark and Sweden is a structure that’s not a road, nor a bridge, or even a tunnel, but a god-tier combination of all three!

Known as the Øresund, this incredible international structure starts with a cable stayed bridge that runs nearly 5 miles out into the ocean. Then, after taking in all that sea air, the bridge suddenly transitions into a road on an artificial island, which has been carved into a tunnel under the water. There, it runs for another 2.5 miles, combining the best under and over water experiences!

White the final result looks tremendous, why not just build a single bridge or tunnel all the way across? Well, the Danish engineers realized this crossing point shared its location with the Copenhagen airport and essential shipping lanes. So, to avoid interfering with air and sea traffic, engineers designed the road bridge to duck underwater.

Črni Kal Viaduct

All along the western coast of Slovenia, great waves of rolling fog engulf the landscape as the cool sea winds meet the hot inland air. But as they coat the land in a misty blanket, one road peaks out above them, like an impossible trail through the clouds!

This is the Črni Kal, Slovenia’s longest and highest viaduct concealed along the region’s awe-inspiring valleys. Sitting almost 330 ft above the valley bottom, the beginning of the highway is perched slightly higher than the rest of the road. This means drivers travelling across it are often met by a thick wall of fog that engulfs the entire road before their very eyes! It’s an eerie sight to behold, not to mention utterly terrifying!

Eshima Ohashi Bridge

From afar, and through the right camera lens, Japan’s Eshima Ohashi Bridge looks so steep it’s enough to fill even the most experienced drivers with dread. At almost 150 ft tall with an impossibly sharp gradient, it’s a miracle to see cars rolling up and down it without careering into one another!

But the incline of this bridge is much less terrifying up close. Even though it does have a steep gradient of 5.1 and 6.1% on either side, a telescopic lens compacts the length of the bridge’s ascension, making it appear a lot steeper than it really is. The result, from far away, makes the bridge look more like a roller coaster than a road!

Huangjuewan Flyover

At 21 stories high with 5 different levels and 20 highways, the Huangjuewan Flyover has more in common with a labyrinth than any road you’ve seen before! This monster of a megastructure is an interchange from hell, connecting the area’s airport and expressway to the sprawling city of Chongqing, in China.

But despite the concrete chaos, you can’t deny that it’s also thoroughly impressive! Reaching a gargantuan 236 ft in height, some of the roads run alongside the top floors of nearby high-rise buildings. That’s plenty of height to give drivers, and those poor office workers, a real adrenalin rush!

And though the height may seem to add to this navigational nightmare, it has turnaround points every half-mile to correct any inevitable mistakes. All you have to do is look for the signs, keep to the speed limit, and make sure to never, ever look down!

The 99 Bend Road

Snaking around the imposing Tianmen Mountain in China is a road that’s as amazing as it is deadly. Boasting a nerve-wracking 99 bends, this 6.8-mile, white-knuckle ride of a road fits every hair-pin turn and critical corner into a climb just over 3600 ft! That’s approximately 1 turn every 36 ft.

While that might fill some drivers with dread, brutal bends like this are a drifters dream! With incredible precision, and nerves of steel, these drivers can conquer the 99 corners at breakneck speeds by oversteering. The back end of their vehicles then perilously swings round the corner while the driver maintains total control! Move aside Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, it’s time for the much cooler Fast and Furious: Tianmen Drift!

Roller Coaster Roads

If you live in Oklahoma, you don’t need to travel to a theme park to ride a roller coaster, just head on over to County Road NS366! Just north of the town of Wewoka, this stretch of road has some huge undulations that are big and steep enough to make drivers nauseous!

But it’s not the only roller coaster highway in the US. On the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio, one daredevil found a roller coaster road with such steep hills, he and his buddies set up a street luge race down it! With nothing but their helmets and boards, they tore up the road, hurtling down at astonishing 60 mph speeds.

Roller Coaster Road Street Luge by StreetLugePunk

It's surprising that they were able to go that fast, considering that they must have been dragging those gigantic balls of steel behind them! If you were amazed at these crazy roads, you might want to read about dangerous roads that you might not want to drive on! Thanks for reading.