Data study
The hairpin census
4,012 hairpins across 713 verified roads, every one counted from the road’s real mapped geometry. The legends round up; we measure. Free to cite with a link.
| # | Road | Country | Hairpins | Per mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spiti Valley Road |  India | 109 | 0.6 |
| 2 | Leh–Manali Highway | India | 100 | 0.4 |
| 3 | Tribhuvan Highway |  Nepal | 81 | 1.2 |
| 4 | Stelvio Pass |  Italy | 75 | 2.6 |
| 5 | Punta Olímpica |  Peru | 60 | 1.1 |
| 6 | Coll de Sóller (Ma-11A) |  Spain | 50 | 7.8 |
| 7 | Col de la Lombarde |  France | 44 | 2.1 |
| 8 | Sichuan–Tibet Highway |  China | 41 | 0.2 |
| 9 | Babusar Pass |  Pakistan | 41 | 0.6 |
| 10 | Tsugaru Iwaki Skyline |  Japan | 40 | 7.1 |
| 11 | Siddhartha Highway | Nepal | 39 | 0.4 |
| 12 | Col de Braus | France | 38 | 2.9 |
| 13 | Abano Pass |  Georgia | 38 | 0.7 |
| 14 | Vršič Pass |  Slovenia | 36 | 2.9 |
| 15 | Langada Pass |  Greece | 36 | 1.1 |
| 16 | Duku Highway | China | 36 | 0.1 |
| 17 | Khardung La | India | 35 | 0.5 |
| 18 | Passo delle Erbe (Würzjoch) | Italy | 33 | 1.1 |
| 19 | Passo di Croce Domini | Italy | 33 | 1.3 |
| 20 | Tongtian Avenue | China | 33 | 4.7 |
| 21 | Passo Giau | Italy | 32 | 2.6 |
| 22 | San Bernardino Pass |  Switzerland | 32 | 3.4 |
| 23 | Col de la Bonette | France | 31 | 1.1 |
| 24 | Route de Cilaos | France | 31 | 1.4 |
| 25 | Thrumshing La Road |  Bhutan | 31 | 0.3 |
Method
Every road in the catalogue is traced from real road geometry (© OpenStreetMap contributors). The line is walked bend by bend and a hairpin is registered when the road folds back past a threshold angle, the same measurement the corner counts and tightness scores use across this site and the Routes app. Where our measured figure disagrees with a road's legend, we publish the measurement. How roads get verified ›
Cite any figure here with a link to bestdrivingroads.com. For the full dataset terms, see using this data.
Census questions
Which road has the most hairpins in the world?
Of the 713 verified roads in our catalogue, Spiti Valley Road leads with 109 measured hairpins. Every count comes from the road’s mapped geometry (a hairpin is a bend tighter than a threshold angle), not from tourist-board copy.
Which road packs hairpins tightest?
Coll de Sóller (Ma-11A): 50 hairpins in 6.4 miles, about 7.8 per mile. The famous names are longer, so the density crown often surprises people.
How are hairpins counted?
From the mapped line of each road: the geometry is walked bend by bend and a hairpin is registered when the road folds back past a threshold angle. That is why our figures sometimes disagree with the legend, and when they do, we publish the measurement.