Would you drive on these dangerous and unusual highways?

Highways are usually built to connect places, but in some parts of the world, they do far more than that: they challenge geography, test human endurance, and blur the line between engineering and sheer audacity. Extreme adventurers embark on journeys that involve roads literally hand-carved into vertical cliffs, tracks that cut across frozen wilderness, or routes that stretch across two continents. In short, is it even an adventure if you don’t stop and question your life’s choices at least once during the journey? Here are five of the most unusual, uncommon, and almost unbelievable highways on Earth.

It’s the world’s longest highway system in the world. The Pan-American Highway stretches for nearly 30,000 kilometres, linking Alaska in North America to Argentina in South America. What makes it truly unbelievable is its many features, not just its length. The highway passes all major climate zones on Earth – from Arctic tundra in Alaska, hot tropical jungles in Central America, arid deserts in the Atacama, cold Andean highlands, and the icy steppes of Patagonia. The highway passes through 14 countries, and there’s a common belief that there are no U-turns on the highway. One of the highway’s most unusual features is the Darién Gap, a dense stretch of jungle between Panama and Colombia where the highway abruptly breaks. There’s just no continuous road there.

Stretching over 660 km from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, the Dalton Highway is one of the most isolated highways on the planet. It is less of a touristy road and more of a maintenance and support road for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. This road passes through vast Arctic wilderness where civilisation nearly disappears. It’s hard to believe, but for long stretches, there are no towns, no fuel stations, and no mobile signal. It's just you. During the winter season, temperatures can plunge below –40 degrees Celsius, and snowstorms can completely erase the road from view. Truckers always carry survival kits in case they break down. That’s because, on this road, help may be hours or days away. But believe it or not, extreme adventurers or daredevils do take on this “impossible” challenge.

Yes, you read that right. This highway was carved by hand. Guoliang Tunnel Road is one of the world’s most jaw-dropping highways, as it is carved directly into a vertical cliff face in China’s Henan province. In the 1970s, due to the absence of proper road building tools and materials, villagers carved this tunnel using hand tools after their village was cut off from the outside world. The road has uneven surfaces, narrow widths, sharp turns, and “windows” that are carved out of rock that open straight into deep mountain valleys. What’s alarming is that there are no guardrails, and falling rocks are quite common.

Few highways have earned a reputation as terrifying as Bolivia’s Yungas Road. Nicknamed the “Road of Death,” this narrow mountain route descends from the Andes into the Amazon rainforest. This highway has sheer drops of over 600 metres, is known for frequent landslides, dense fog, and waterfalls spill directly onto the road. There is space for only one vehicle at many points, and the highway has claimed thousands of lives over the decades. Now thankfully, there’s a safer alternative, but for the longest time, this was the main route connecting La Paz to the Yungas region.

Twisting dramatically through Romania’s Carpathian Mountains, the Transfăgărășan Highway looks like something pulled straight from a fantasy film. When it was built, the highway acted as a strategic military route. Located at an altitude of over 2,000 metres, this highway features countless and tightly placed hairpin bends. And not to forget tunnels and viaducts too. But what makes it unusual is its scale and drama. The steep switchbacks stacked on top of one another, sudden weather changes, and breathtaking drops are the reasons why even experienced drivers think twice before traversing this road.