How long is Cruz de Linares?

How long is Cruz de Linares?

Spain, europe

Length

8.6 km

Elevation

842 m

Difficulty

hard

Best Season

Year-round

Okay, picture this: you're cruising through the gorgeous Asturias region of Spain, ready to tackle a mountain pass called Puerto Cruz de Linares. This baby sits at 842 meters (that's 2,762 feet!) above sea level and the views? Unreal.

The road itself? Totally paved, though you'll find some quirky concrete sections. Just a heads up, it gets super narrow. You'll hop off the AS-228 and then it's an 8.6 km (5.34 miles) climb to the top.

Speaking of climb, this isn't a gentle stroll. We're talking about a seriously steep grade. There are sections where you'll be facing a 16% gradient and the whole thing averages out at a leg-burning 8.8%. No wonder it's been featured in the Vuelta a España! Once you reach the summit, you're rewarded with panoramic views overlooking Proaza and the Valles del Oso. Trust me, the stunning scenery is worth the effort!

Share this road

Road Details

Country
Spain
Continent
europe
Length
8.6 km
Max Elevation
842 m
Difficulty
hard

Related Roads in europe

Genova-Schlüterhütte Refugehard

Genova-Schlüterhütte Refuge

🇮🇹 Italy

Okay, picture this: you're in the Italian Dolomites, near San Pietro, ready for an adventure. You're heading up to Rifugio Genova-Schlüterhütte, a cozy mountain hut perched way up at 2,304 meters (7,559 feet!). The road? Well, it's not exactly a smooth ride. It's a 19.9 km unpaved route winding through the forest. Think steep climbs and tight squeezes! You'll gain a whopping 1,207 meters in elevation, so get ready for an average gradient of around 6%. This hut, built way back in 1898, is your reward for braving the road. It's open from June to October, and the views within the Puez-Geisler Nature Park in the Northern Dolomites are seriously epic. Just take it slow and steady, and you'll be enjoying that mountain air in no time!

Where is Avoriaz located?hard

Where is Avoriaz located?

🇫🇷 France

Avoriaz is a world-renowned ski resort located in the heart of the Portes du Soleil, within the commune of Morzine, in France. Perched on a cliff at an elevation of above sea level, the station is famous for its avant-garde architecture and its legendary status in professional cycling. Where is Avoriaz located? The resort is situated in the Haute-Savoie department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the south-eastern part of the country, near the Swiss border. It was built in the 1960s on a former mountain pasture. Unlike most Alpine stations, Avoriaz was designed to be fully integrated into the landscape, with wood-clad buildings that mimic the surrounding rock formations. Morzine (Haute-Savoie) D338 (Route d'Avoriaz) Note: Avoriaz is a car-free resort. Mandatory winter equipment required from November to April. How challenging is the climb to Avoriaz? The road leading to the resort is fully paved. It’s called Starting from Morzine, the ascent—known as the —is 11.7km (7.2 miles) long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 795 meters, with an average gradient of 6.85% . However, don't let the average fool you; several sections reach , especially through the series of hairpin bends that overlook the valley. The Tour de France Heritage Avoriaz holds a special place in cycling history. It was the very first ski resort to host a Tour de France stage finish in 1975 (won by Vicente López Carril). Since then, it has appeared in the race numerous times, serving as a battleground for legends. The climb is often used as a final test for the "GC contenders" due to its steady but demanding rhythm. Morzine (Haute-Savoie) D338 (Route d'Avoriaz) Note: Avoriaz is a car-free resort. Mandatory winter equipment required from November to April. Driving to a Car-Free Resort If you are planning to drive to Avoriaz, keep in mind that the resort itself is entirely . Visitors must leave their vehicles in the large indoor or outdoor parking lots at the entrance (known as ). From there, horse-drawn sleighs or electric shuttles transport guests to their accommodation, making it a unique destination in the Alps. Can I drive to Avoriaz year-round? The road is well-maintained as it serves a major ski hub, but during winter, snow chains or winter tires are mandatory. The D338 is a wide, safe road, but the descent can be fast and technical, requiring good braking skills and caution due to the frequent mountain traffic and cyclists. A gravel road to Lac de Plan d'Amont Embark on a journey like never before! Navigate through our to discover the most spectacular roads of the world 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  to share your suggestion, and we may add it to dangerousroads.org.

Can I drive through Col de Rosael?hard

Can I drive through Col de Rosael?

🇫🇷 France

Okay, thrill-seekers, listen up! If you're hunting for an epic high-altitude adventure in the French Alps, Col de Rosael is calling your name. We're talking seriously high – 2,993 meters (that's 9,819 feet!) – making it one of Europe's loftiest drives. Find it nestled in the Vanoise massif, connecting the ski paradise of Val Thorens with the charming village of Orelle. Forget smooth sailing, though. This is a rugged, unpaved road, a ski-lift service route that'll test your mettle. Clocking in at 28.3 km (17.58 miles), prepare for a wild ride with 55 hairpin turns – each one helpfully signed and numbered, so you know exactly what you're getting into! The climb is relentless, averaging a 10.4% gradient, but punching up to a butt-clenching 17-18% in those corners. The views? Absolutely mind-blowing. Imagine panoramas stretching across the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps, a sea of summits as far as the eye can see. Heads up: this beast is strictly for 4x4 vehicles. The road tends to shadow the chairlift, passing beneath it at times. And plan your trip wisely – Col de Rosael is typically only open in July and August, so time it right for an unforgettable summer adventure!

Driving the Treacherous Kolyma Highway: Russia's Road of Bones Adventureextreme

Driving the Treacherous Kolyma Highway: Russia's Road of Bones Adventure

🌍 Russia

# The Kolyma Highway: Russia's Most Haunting Road Trip Ready for one of the most intense road trips on the planet? Welcome to the Kolyma Highway, a 1,868km (1,160 miles) monster of a route stretching from Nizhny Bestyakh—near Yakutsk, where some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded outside Antarctica have been measured—all the way east to Magadan on the Sea of Okhotsk. Fair warning: this isn't your typical scenic drive. The road, officially called R504 and locally known simply as "Trassa" (The Route), is the only way in and out of this brutally remote corner of the Russian Far East. It's almost entirely unpaved, dotted with sharp rocks, treacherous mud sections, and sudden sand traps that'll catch you off guard. Most travelers tackle this beast in 4-5 days, but conditions can stretch that timeline dramatically. The landscape shifts constantly—forests, mountains, tundra, and everything in between—creating views that'll haunt you long after you've left. Here's the thing: this road is genuinely dangerous. Summer rains transform the clay surface into an impassable mud nightmare, sometimes creating hundred-kilometer traffic jams. Winter? Even worse. Ten months of brutal conditions—heavy snow, black ice, and visibility so poor you can barely see the hood of your car. Your only real window is the dry summer months or when winter freeze makes things negotiable. Thrown into the mix are massive trucks kicking up dust clouds, wildlife hazards, outdated maps, and plenty of solo drivers making questionable decisions. But the real weight of the Kolyma Highway comes from its history. It's nicknamed the "Road of Bones" for a devastatingly tragic reason. Built starting in the 1930s by Stalin's political prisoners using nothing but shovels and wheelbarrows, this road came at an unimaginable human cost. Hundreds of thousands of inmates from gulags were forced to construct it under brutal conditions—extreme cold, starvation, and cruelty. Thousands were shot for not working fast enough. Many simply didn't survive. Legend has it that the road cost one life per meter built. An estimated 250,000 to 1,000,000 people died during its construction, with many buried beneath or alongside the very road you'd be driving on. Today, you can still see the ruins of that dark era. The abandoned Old Summer Road—a 200km sector bypassed after a 2008 upgrade—sits frozen in time with collapsed bridges, flooded sections, and crumbling buildings slowly being reclaimed by the Siberian wilderness. This isn't just a drive. It's a journey over hallowed ground, through one of Earth's most unforgiving landscapes, in a place where history's weight is as heavy as the permafrost beneath your wheels.