Passage de la Grande Clue, a balcony road in France

Passage de la Grande Clue is a short balcony road located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. It was bypassed by a tunnel and totally closed to motor vehicles.

Passage de la Grande Clue

Part of the old D-28 road, the road through Gorges du Cians, this narrow piece of asphalt was bypassed by a tunnel, called Tunnel de La Grande Clue (230m long). Located in the Mercantour national park, the road is very narrow, totally impassable for 2 cars at the same time. Along its way, it’s possible to admire the landscape with the colors and forms carved in the red-blood rock: the stream below and its small waterfalls and natural sculptures.

The asphalted road starts on the parking just before the tunnel. It's 500 meters long. The deep gorge carved through the mountains by the River Cians is made all the more spectacular by the deep red of the exposed rock. Landslides, rock falls and mudslides can occur anytime and can sometimes block some sections of the road. Fallen rocks are found at the road. It's one of the famous French balcony roads. A balcony road is a hair-raising lane cut into the sides of sheer cliffs. It’s a kind of road not for those who fear heights. There is little room for error on these roads. It’s normal for your palms to sweat looking at those photos, imagine what it must have been like before the barriers.
Pic: Martin Klein
Video: Les baroudeurs en vadrouille

 

Drive Us to Your Road!

With over 13,000 roads cataloged, we're always on the lookout for unique routes. Know of a road that deserves to be featured? Click here to share your suggestion, and we may add it to dangerousroads.org.