Sumbilca-Pacaybamba Road

Located in the province Huaral in Peru, Carretera Sumbilca-Pacaybamba is one of the most extreme roads of the country. Drivers must remain cautious as the journey has been known to claim the lives of careless drivers. Drive with care as this is a mountain road with hairpin curves and dangerous dropoffs.

Carretera Sumbilca-Pacaybamba

The road links the villages of Sumbilca and Pacaybamba. It’s gravel and impassable for 2 cars at the same time. It’s called via 568. Bordered by a drop of hundreds of meters (many hundreds of feet) unprotected by guardrails, the route demands 100% concentration. It’s 39 km long. It still remains an adrenaline-pumping journey and is definitely not for the faint of lungs, heart, or legs. Words can’t describe the road and pictures don’t do it justice. 

Located in the Andes mountain range, the drive is certainly breathtaking and it has a fearsome reputation, with 100 turns (half of them switchbacks). It’s definitely not for anyone suffering from vertigo or a fear of landslides. You might want to take this into consideration if you have passengers that don't like heights. One mistake and it's a free fall to your death. The drive is pretty steep. Starting from Sumbilca (at 1.385masl), the elevation gain is 1.988 meters. The average gradient is 5.09%.

 

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