Most Harrowing Highways

[AsphaltPlanet]

I was driving along Utah SR-12 today and discovered the section where the highway runs along a narrow (and high) ridge between two deep canyons.  The road is narrow and completely lacks guiderail.  The lack of guiderail is typical for the western US, but it can still make for a harrowing driving experience.

Here is the google maps view of SR-12
http://goo.gl/maps/F2D1c

Any others?

[amroad17]

That looks safe.

[kurumi]

UT 12 is a fantastic road to drive. Going northbound along the knife-edge ridge, there's an upward grade where the driver's POV has nothing but road and sky. It's like the incline of a roller coaster, and for a moment you have doubts that there's anything on the other side.

We drove the road in dry conditions (snow would be completely different) and we all lived.

Trivia: Boulder was the last city in the US to stop receiving mail exclusively by horse. (This was 1941.)

[Alps]

Reminds me of part of HI 378, although I can't pinpoint where it does that on both sides.

http://goo.gl/maps/KK4E5 Don't look down!

[AsphaltPlanet]

UT 12 is a fantastic road to drive. Going northbound along the knife-edge ridge, there's an upward grade where the driver's POV has nothing but road and sky. It's like the incline of a roller coaster, and for a moment you have doubts that there's anything on the other side.

We drove the road in dry conditions (snow would be completely different) and we all lived.

Trivia: Boulder was the last city in the US to stop receiving mail exclusively by horse. (This was 1941.)

I drove over this at dusk last night.  I was happy it wasn't windy, and crawled across the divide.  I have a fair amount of mountain driving experience but I think this was the most white knuckled I have been while driving in a while.  I submitted over Boulder Mountain (El. 9800 ft) in the pitch dark.  It is eerie being on a mountain like that at night.  By moonlight you can see the valley below and there isn't a single light shinning at night.  I just about jumped for joy when I finally saw the lights of the village of Torrey across the Valley floor.  I literally jumped when the gas station pump didn't ask for my zip code when I inserted my credit card to buy gas.  The gas bar was closed, and generally my Canadian credit card is useless for pay at the pump transactions.  I didn't have enough gas to make it to the hotel I had booked for the night.

[kkt]

Reminds me a bit of the Sunrise Park Road in Mt. Rainier National Park.  Wide enough lanes, but steep drop from the edge of the pavement with no guard rail.  Safe enough, really -- how often to you run into the guard rail when there is a guard rail? -- but a little disconcerting.

http://goo.gl/maps/ASLgV

[cpzilliacus]

I-68 at night  in the mountains of West Virginia and Maryland, especially  when a cloud deck is low enough to cause dense fog at the higher elevations, but everything is clear at slightly lower levels.

[andrewkbrown]

I-68 at night  in the mountains of West Virginia and Maryland, especially  when a cloud deck is low enough to cause dense fog at the higher elevations, but everything is clear at slightly lower levels.

Not just at night. I was on I-68 at around 8-9 a.m. once, with the sun still low on the horizon. Brilliant sunlight through heavy fog meant not being able to see more than 20 feet ahead, while squinting or using sunglasses due to the brightness.

[oscar]

The most difficult road I've ever driven is the summer-only Canol Road (YT 6), from the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon to the YT/NT border.  About 280 miles of unpaved, narrow, pothole-strewn "highway", whose minimal maintenance is limited to occasional re-grading of the very worst sections, sticking orange flags in the potholes most likely to destroy wheels and suspensions, and also marking soft shoulders with more orange flags.   

Since its AADT is in the dozens, the Canol Road isn't a high maintenance priority to the Yukon government.  It was built during World War II for a pipeline serving oil wells in the Northwest Territories, but the pipeline is no longer in use.

I'm working on a photo collection to show how awful the road is, which I'll post in the forum when done.

[OracleUsr]

The road to Cape Enrage, NB, is pretty bad, a lot of steep curves and high cliffs.

[kphoger]

Having driven UT-12, I wholheartedly agree that it's a beautiful drive.  Interestingly enough, even though I was fairly young in my driving years, I don't remember it being all that harrowing.

The most difficult road I've ever driven is the summer-only Canol Road (YT 6), from the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon to the YT/NT border.  About 280 miles of unpaved, narrow, pothole-strewn "highway", whose minimal maintenance is limited to occasional re-grading of the very worst sections, sticking orange flags in the potholes most likely to destroy wheels and suspensions, and also marking soft shoulders with more orange flags.   

Since its AADT is in the dozens, the Canol Road isn't a high maintenance priority to the Yukon government.  It was built during World War II for a pipeline serving oil wells in the Northwest Territories, but the pipeline is no longer in use.

I'm working on a photo collection to show how awful the road is, which I'll post in the forum when done.

[agentsteel53]

CA-173 and AZ-88 are very narrow dirt roads.  AZ-88 has proper guardrails along the cliff wall, but has much more traffic.  I've always wondered what happens when two cars meet head-on.  one might have to back up as much as a mile and a half to a point where they can pass.  CA-173 is so rutted that I had to ride with one set of wheels on the high center, and one set of wheels about 6 inches from the cliff edge.

I've driven lots of random two-track roads in places like Iceland, but none of them were highways in the sense that they were a primary through route. 

Interstate 405 gets an honorable mention for the northbound section between I-10 and US-101.  the innermost lane is maybe 9.5 feet wide, and is filled with drainage debris, and who knows what else.  the traffic is maniacal. 

similarly, the Grapevine (I-5) during inclement weather.  SoCal drivers will not slow down for rain, even when they see, every mile or so, a police car parked by the side of the road, a huge break in the fence, and a CHP officer looking over the side. 

[agentsteel53]

The most difficult road I've ever driven is the summer-only Canol Road (YT 6), from the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon to the YT/NT border.  About 280 miles of unpaved, narrow, pothole-strewn "highway", whose minimal maintenance is limited to occasional re-grading of the very worst sections, sticking orange flags in the potholes most likely to destroy wheels and suspensions, and also marking soft shoulders with more orange flags.   

Since its AADT is in the dozens, the Canol Road isn't a high maintenance priority to the Yukon government.  It was built during World War II for a pipeline serving oil wells in the Northwest Territories, but the pipeline is no longer in use.

I'm working on a photo collection to show how awful the road is, which I'll post in the forum when done.

what vehicle did you use to drive that?  if you tell me a Corolla or something, I will build a shrine to you in my backyard.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

Before TN 128 near Savannah was aligned to it's current position in 2001, it used to be along winding roads leading directly into the city. My father, who lived in Savannah, knew the course of the road (or so he tells us) and whipped around the tight curves at 50 miles per hour. Mom and I made no comments, until we looked at an open spot in the wooded area and saw the Tennessee River lying right next to the road with no guardrails whatsoever. This is when Mom demanded that Dad slow down. He actually complied and went to a more manageable 35 mph. The road exists (as Clifton Road), but TN 128 is on safer terrain and was placed five miles east of the city. I couldn't get a street view, but this is the area where it was located.

[oscar]

The most difficult road I've ever driven is the summer-only Canol Road (YT 6), from the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon to the YT/NT border.  About 280 miles of unpaved, narrow, pothole-strewn "highway", whose minimal maintenance is limited to occasional re-grading of the very worst sections, sticking orange flags in the potholes most likely to destroy wheels and suspensions, and also marking soft shoulders with more orange flags.   

Since its AADT is in the dozens, the Canol Road isn't a high maintenance priority to the Yukon government.  It was built during World War II for a pipeline serving oil wells in the Northwest Territories, but the pipeline is no longer in use.

I'm working on a photo collection to show how awful the road is, which I'll post in the forum when done.

what vehicle did you use to drive that?  if you tell me a Corolla or something, I will build a shrine to you in my backyard.

Same Nissan Titan pickup truck I used to do the Dalton and Dempster. 

My instinct would be that the road would chew up and spit out an ordinary passenger car.  All the few other cars I saw on the road (except a few km around Ross River village, near the all-season Campbell Highway and the only community on Canol Road) were SUVs or pickups.  But near the north end are two places with the remains of several old passenger cars and other equipment used in the pipeline project (kept around by the Yukon government as historical relics).  Maybe the road was actually maintained back in the 1940s, and those cars wouldn't have made it that far on the present-day road.

[deathtopumpkins]

CA-173 and AZ-88 are very narrow dirt roads.  AZ-88 has proper guardrails along the cliff wall, but has much more traffic.  I've always wondered what happens when two cars meet head-on.  one might have to back up as much as a mile and a half to a point where they can pass.  CA-173 is so rutted that I had to ride with one set of wheels on the high center, and one set of wheels about 6 inches from the cliff edge.

You'll probably be happy to know that CA 173's been permanently closed to vehicles then: http://sv08data.dot.ca.gov/memos/files/comalert/021511.pdf

[mgk920]

The most 'white knuckled' that I ever remember being on a road in clear, dry weather was northbound on the narrow-median section of the Taconic Parkway at night during a roadtrip about 12 or so years ago.  Very little room, totally dark and maniacal soove drivers all around.

Mike

[djsinco]

Not the worst road I have driven, but an Honorable Mention goes to the road from Redway to Shelter Cove, CA. Many have never seen this beautiful, unspoiled part of California.

[cpzilliacus]

CA-173 and AZ-88 are very narrow dirt roads.  AZ-88 has proper guardrails along the cliff wall, but has much more traffic.  I've always wondered what happens when two cars meet head-on.  one might have to back up as much as a mile and a half to a point where they can pass.  CA-173 is so rutted that I had to ride with one set of wheels on the high center, and one set of wheels about 6 inches from the cliff edge.

You'll probably be happy to know that CA 173's been permanently closed to vehicles then: http://sv08data.dot.ca.gov/memos/files/comalert/021511.pdf

Are there any plans (or, perhaps more to the point, funding) to pave Ca. 173 and re-open it?

[jp the roadgeek]

One that I've driven is the US 6/202 eastern approach to the Bear Mountain Bridge west of Peekskill, NY.  Starts out as a steep climb in a wooded area, then it's a bunch of twist and turns along the eastern Palisades until you finally get to the bridge.  Surprised the Merritt Parkway hasn't made this list yet.

[agentsteel53]

Not the worst road I have driven, but an Honorable Mention goes to the road from Redway to Shelter Cove, CA. Many have never seen this beautiful, unspoiled part of California.

definitely a great road.  there are a lot of awesome winding roads in that corner of the world.  if you go the other way from Garberville, and head to Zenia, you will have some similar one-lane winding roads, and in downtown Zenia there is a set of 1929 white guide signs!

[hbelkins]

One that I've driven is the US 6/202 eastern approach to the Bear Mountain Bridge west of Peekskill, NY.  Starts out as a steep climb in a wooded area, then it's a bunch of twist and turns along the eastern Palisades until you finally get to the bridge.  Surprised the Merritt Parkway hasn't made this list yet.

I drove that going eastbound on US 6 in the dark a few years ago. Definitely interesting.

[kphoger]

Creel to Batopilas, Chihuahua, in the winter of 2001/2.  My dad and I did this road by bus.

At Creel, the bus was actually a Suburban, and they strapped everyone's luggage to the roof; the first part was a two-lane paved state highway, but we saw some piles of rubble from landslides.  At one point, the Suburban stopped, they had everyone get out and take their luggage off the top, and the vehicle drove away.  We all went inside for some homemade blue corn tortillas etc. for breakfast, and my dad and I really hoped another bus would come.

It did, and we reloaded.  That bus was a decades-old one recycled from the USA.  Some miles down the road, we stopped at a crossroads, and took the gravel road from there to Batopilas.  The bus was full, so some guys rode on top with the luggage.  It was a mountain road with barely enough room for two vehicles to pass; at some points, the driver slowed to a crawl and let one set of tires ride the loose gravel at the edge of the dropoff (no guardrails) so an oncoming vehicle could squeeze by on the inside.

Halfway down that road, we came upon an ancient International Scout that had broken down.  Our driver hooked it to the bus's rear bumper with a chain, and the owner and his son rode in the Scout.  On uphills, we towed it; on downhills, it coasted behind us as the chain fell off; at the bottom of hills, the driver had to stop and reattach the chain.  Repeat.  Eventually we reached the owner's house and dropped the Scout off.

The gravel road is a sinuous maze of switchbacks and mountainsides, with an occasional one-lane wood-decked bridge.  It's not for the queasy traveler, and in fact I helped one local mother throw a baggie of her daughter's vomit out the window.  All in all, the 85-mile trip took 5½ hours.  A week later, on New Year's Day, we went back north again, starting before dawn.  The driver was truly a master of the road, and instilled great confidence.

I really wish I had pictures, but I had left our camera on the bus seat back in Chihuahua City.  If I ever do this again, I would love to be one of the guys on the roof.

[texaskdog]

Mount Evans was way worse than driving up UT-12, Trail Ridge Road also, and then Fall River Road in RMNP, Texas 170 also. UT-12 is not in my top 5 scary roads. 

[djsinco]

The Cross-Bronx Expressway, when traffic was at a halt. The local entrepreneurs would descend to the depressed roadway, and all manner of products would be offered for sale. Some obviously stolen, some illegal, but always harrowing.