Don’t glance down at your phone on the road to Uspallata Pass in the Andes
Argentina, south-america
17 km
3,810 m
hard
Year-round
Okay, adventure seekers, buckle up for Paso Uspallata, an epic mountain pass sitting way up high at 3,810m (12,500ft) in the Chilean Valparaíso Region.
You might also hear it called Bermejo Pass or Cumbre Pass. It's not far from the famous Paso Internacional de los Libertadores, north of Santiago and pretty close to the Argentinian border.
Forget smooth tarmac; this is a 17km (10.56 miles) stretch of pure, unadulterated dirt road known as E-773, or Camino Cristo Redentor. Nowadays, it's more of a scenic route to see the Christ the Redeemer of the Andes statue.
But don’t let the pretty statue fool you. This road is STEEP – we're talking gradients over 15% – and packed with 65 hairpin turns that will seriously test your driving skills. If you get queasy easily or are scared of landslides, maybe skip this one. A tunnel took over as the main route back in 1980 for a reason!
Nestled high in the Andes, the views are insane, but Mother Nature calls the shots here. Only tackle this road in the summer when the snow is gone. Winter temps can plummet to -30°C, and heavy snowfall and rockfalls can shut things down in a heartbeat.
Where is it?
Don’t glance down at your phone on the road to Uspallata Pass in the Andes is located in Argentina (south-america). Coordinates: -40.0888, -60.7901
Road Details
- Country
- Argentina
- Continent
- south-america
- Length
- 17 km
- Max Elevation
- 3,810 m
- Difficulty
- hard
- Coordinates
- -40.0888, -60.7901
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