Death Road (Camino de la Muerte)

The Yungas Road from La Cumbre to Coroico — the Camino de la Muerte — is the famous "World's Most Dangerous Road." It descends 3,500 metres in 64 kilometres from the high Andean pass at 4,650m down to the subtropical valley of Coroico at 1,200m, clinging in places to cliff edges with vertical drops of several hundred metres on one side.

A new paved highway replaced it for through traffic in 2006, leaving the old road almost entirely to mountain bikers. The descent — typically four to five hours from La Cumbre — is now one of the iconic Bolivian traveller experiences. Several La Paz agencies (Gravity, Madness Adventures, Vertigo) run it daily with full safety gear, support vehicles, and lunch at the end in Coroico. Choose a reputable operator; some still cut corners. The road is genuinely dangerous, but the views are extraordinary.

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Until the paved replacement opened in 2006, the old road carried all traffic between La Paz and the Yungas, and an estimated 200–300 vehicles plunged off the cliffs each year. The road is so narrow that uphill traffic was given right of way and downhill traffic was required to drive on the left — the only road in Bolivia where this rule applies — so drivers could see their wheels along the precipice.

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