This South American Nation’s Treacherous Death Road Attracts Thrill-Seekers with Its Genuine Danger

Plummeting down narrow trails strewn with little loose rocks, bending around Andean peaks, and being unencumbered by safety barriers blocking the fall down to the forests below, riders on Bolivia’s “Death Road” are far from faint-hearted. With their vision occluded by mountainous mists and their breath thin from the throat-clenching altitude, these willing participants take part in a bicycle tour from the Andean trailhead that is as terrifying as travel gets.

The road twists 40 miles downwards from La Paz through the Yungas Valleys and into the Amazonian lowlands, plunging 11,000-feet through the mountains. Along its sides, you’ll see small crosses and flower arrangements, tributes to the fallen claimed by the road’s very real risks. There was a time — before the recent construction of a nearby highway — when trucks and other heavy vehicles shared the slim gravel trail with bikers and pedestrians. At this point in time, the road was claiming between 200 and 300 lives each year. Though those numbers have dropped in recent years, there are still around five people killed each year while tackling the trail.

Though you should always think carefully before visiting this dangerous South American destination, it’s straightforward to join the thousands of annual visitors who decide it is a good idea to take a bike tour down this infamous gravel trail in Bolivia. Book with a reliable tour operator in La Paz, a metropolis perched in head-spinning Andean heights. The city itself can be a little long-winded to access, with no direct flights connecting La Paz and the U.S. You’ll need to stopover in Santa Cruz de la Sierra or in another Latin capital, like Bogota or Santiago, to catch an onwards connection to the sky-high city.

Setting out from the steep sloping streets of La Paz in the early morning, you’ll be huddled in a van with your fellow thrill seekers for the part of your Death Road tour. It typically takes just under 2 hours to reach the starting point for most of the tours taking to the lengthy gravel pass that tears through the forest-coated peaks of the Bolivian interior.

Soon, your trusty tour guides will reach the trailhead, where you’ll strap on your very essential protective gear (because skimping on safety is something you should never do in the rainforest, let alone on its most dangerous trail). At this point, most guides will say a small prayer to Pachamama and offer you a shot of high-proof local moonshine — it’s a spiritual tradition in Bolivia, an offering to Mother Earth, but perhaps also a little something to calm the nerves.

Setting out over the loose gravel under-wheel, you’ll face steady trails interceded by occasional steep drops, all forewarned by your experienced guide. Keep a constant eye on the left side of the road, as vehicles are required to drive on the outside so that cyclists and pedestrians can see them as they turn around the almost entirely blind corners that veer through the crag. The road can drop up to 1,950-feet in one fell swoop, descending down a slippery surface, so you should always keep a cautious speed and heed your guide’s instructions carefully. Keep an eye, too, on the precarious edge of the narrow ledge on which you’ll be snaking past the astonishing landscapes of the Andes.