Tarija-Villamontes Road

The Tarija-Villamontes road is an amazing journey in the mountains of south-eastern Bolivia. Part of the Ruta Nacional 11, the road links Tarija (or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa) and Villamontes. It’s said to be the most dangerous road in the country.

Carretera Tarija-Villamontes

Truly spectacular and really hairy journey, this mountain road is the main passage across southern Bolivia and traffic coming from Paraguay and the chaco of Argentina have to take this route to access Tarija and points westward of there. It’s 224 km long with heavy traffic and lots of trucks and some mountain passes. Expect dust, bumps, stones, tight bends with big drops off to the side and a fair amount of lorries and coaches.

The road was built in 1929. The area is famous due its oil exploitations.The road is gravel. It’s in good condition, being hard-packed gravel with a fine layer of sand on top.Pretty narrow in parts has no protections and dangerous dropoffs. Along this section there have been hundreds of fatalities, as well as material losses valued at many millions. Expect fog and rain often and snow on winters. The drive is difficult and dangerous due to the driving through the steep mountain passes on serpentine.
Pic: Yamil Osmar Medina Cordero

 

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