Country guide
The best driving roads in New Zealand
13 hand-picked driving roads in New Zealand, every one mapped from real geometry and fact-checked, including 3 world icons.
The five to build a trip around
Our ranking, icons first, with the reasoning on the table. All 13 roads follow below.
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1
10 mi22 minArthur's Pass
The highest of the three roads over the Southern Alps, cresting at about 920 m before the main event: a 16 percent drop down the Otira Gorge on a 440-metre viaduct built because the old road kept sliding away.
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2
1,080 msummitCrown Range Road
New Zealand’s highest sealed through road between Queenstown and Wanaka.
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3
72 mi2 h 18 minMilford Road
Some 119 km from Te Anau through the glacier-carved Eglinton Valley, into the single-lane Homer Tunnel and down a 1-in-10 plunge to the fiord beneath Mitre Peak.
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4
32 mi1 h 10 minDanseys Pass Road
Remote tussock gravel pass over the Kakanui Mountains linking Naseby and the Waitaki.
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5
13 mi27 minThe 309 Road
Twisting gravel crossing of the Coromandel Range famed for its many bends and kauri grove.
The roads
Danseys Pass Road32 mi · 1 h 10 min · 916.6 m summitView the roadbook ›
Arthur's Pass
Crown Range Road
Milford Road
The 309 Road
Lewis Pass
Coromandel Coast Road
Forgotten World Highway
Skippers Canyon Road
Takaka Hill
The Remarkables Ski Road
Lindis Pass
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