
Oulles
France, europe
6.5 km
1,483 m
extreme
Year-round
Ever heard of Oulles? It's this tiny mountain village clinging to the Taillefer massif in the French Alps, and with only a handful of residents, it's officially the smallest in the area! Getting there is an adventure in itself.
Forget highways, you'll be snaking up 6.5 kilometers of the D221, a crazy road carved into the rockface. Imagine hairpin after hairpin – twelve in total! This road wasn't even around until the '60s; before that, it was just mule trails. Talk about remote!
Be prepared for a workout – this climb gains a whopping 767 meters in elevation. We're talking an average gradient of almost 12%, with some sections hitting over 13%. But trust me, the views are worth it. Picture this: smooth asphalt, switchbacks hugging a cliff edge, and hardly any other cars around. It's an incredible drive to a village that time forgot, a place where they mined silver lead for centuries!
Road Details
- Country
- France
- Continent
- europe
- Length
- 6.5 km
- Max Elevation
- 1,483 m
- Difficulty
- extreme
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