North Yungas Road

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. La Paz

   La Paz sits in a canyon, and that is the first strange thing about it. The city is the seat of Bolivia's government, and it lies at around three thousand six hundred metres, with the poorer and larger city of El Alto perched on the rim above at over four thousand. From the rim you look down into a bowl of red-brown buildings spilling down the slopes, with the great snowy peak of Illimani, over six thousand four hundred metres, standing over the southern edge like a guardian. The air is thin, so arrive early, rest a day and drink coca tea, which locals swear by and which really does help a little.

   Read the complete La Paz write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   La Paz is where the day begins. Next is La Cumbre.

2. 2. La Cumbre

   La Cumbre is the top of the world's most famous bad road. At about 4,650 metres, on a windswept pass in the Cordillera Real a short ride from La Paz, the tarmac gives way to the old North Yungas Road, which drops from this bare, cold, grey landscape to the steamy green jungle valleys about three and a half thousand metres below. The air is thin enough that a short walk from the bike leaves you breathless, and small roadside shrines hold the offerings that drivers leave for a safe descent.

   Read the complete La Cumbre write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   La Cumbre comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Nothing on this route is higher. Next is Yolosa, mostly downhill.

3. 3. Yolosa

   Yolosa is the bottom of the Death Road, and the first place where you notice that you have stopped being cold. After hours of descent from the freezing pass, your jacket suddenly feels absurd. The air is warm and wet, the vegetation is thick and loud with insects, and the village sits at the junction where the old road meets the new highway, at about 1,200 metres in the lower Yungas. It is a small, dusty and unpretentious place, and it exists mainly as a crossroads.

   Read the complete Yolosa write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 102 km into the recorded legs you reach Yolosa. Next is Coroico.

4. 4. Coroico

   Coroico hangs on a green ridge in the Yungas, the steep, cloud-wrapped country where the Bolivian Andes fall away toward the Amazon basin. The town sits at about 1,700 metres, which is warm and humid after the thin air of La Paz, and the whole landscape smells of wet earth, coffee and citrus. For a rider arriving from the capital, it is the end of one of the most famous roads in the world, a place where you can finally breathe, sit in the shade and watch the clouds roll up the valley.

   Read the complete Coroico write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Coroico closes the day.