Guide
The steepest roads you can drive
Steepness changes a road completely: first gear, a hot clutch and a windscreen full of sky. These are the steepest roads in our catalogue, ranked by the sharpest pitch measured in each road’s own elevation profile. The numbers are taken from the data, not the warning signs, which have a habit of exaggerating.
Hardknott & Wrynose Passes7 mi · 18 min · 35 cornersView the roadbook ›
Max gradient
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1
33%≈ 1-in-3
Hardknott & Wrynose Passes
Among England’s steepest roads, back-to-back passes of 1-in-3 hairpins.
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2
33%≈ 1-in-3Rosedale Chimney Bank
One of England’s steepest roads on the moors.
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3
28%≈ 1-in-4Winnats Pass
Dramatic limestone gorge climb above Castleton.
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4
25%≈ 1-in-4Porlock Hill
One of the steepest A-roads in England, climbing Exmoor’s coast in tight hairpins.
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5
25%≈ 1-in-4Sutton Bank
A dramatic escarpment climb with one of the great views in England.
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6
25%≈ 1-in-4Honister Pass
A steep, spectacular Lake District pass through Borrowdale.
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7
25%≈ 1-in-4Abergwesyn Pass
Drovers road over the Devil’s Staircase hairpins.
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8
25%≈ 1-in-4Bwlch Penbarras
Brutally steep hairpin climb over the Clwydian Range below Moel Famau.
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9
24%≈ 1-in-4Sonora Pass
A steep, narrow crossing of the Sierra Nevada with sharp gradients.
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10
22%≈ 1-in-5Mount Washington Auto Road
Private toll road to the Northeast’s highest summit.
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11
22%≈ 1-in-5Newlands Pass
Narrow Lakeland pass over Newlands Hause linking Buttermere to the Newlands Valley.
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12
20%≈ 1-in-5Bealach na Bà
Britain’s most dramatic mountain pass, Alpine hairpins climbing from sea loch to a 626-metre summit.
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13
20%≈ 1-in-5Buttertubs Pass
A quiet single-track climb between two of the Yorkshire Dales, past its namesake potholes.
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14
20%≈ 1-in-5Kirkstone Pass
The highest pass open to traffic in the Lake District, between Windermere and Ullswater.
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15
20%≈ 1-in-5Bain's Kloof Pass
Tarred 1850s convict-built pass above the Witte River.
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16
20%≈ 1-in-5Cregennan and the Mawddach
Steep narrow road above the Mawddach estuary.
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17
20%≈ 1-in-5Mangart Saddle Road
Slovenia’s highest road through rock-cut tunnels.
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18
20%≈ 1-in-5The Burway over the Long Mynd
Shropshire’s highest road, a single-track shelf onto the Long Mynd plateau.
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19
20%≈ 1-in-5Mamore Gap
A steep hairpin notch through the Urris Hills on Donegal’s Inishowen peninsula.
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20
20%≈ 1-in-5Penser Joch (Passo Pennes)
Long high South Tyrol pass on the most direct Bolzano to Sterzing road.
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21
20%≈ 1-in-5Oxi Pass
Route 939, the steep gravel Oxi Pass over the Oxi heath, a white-knuckle shortcut across the mountains in east Iceland.
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22
20%≈ 1-in-5Fleet Moss
The highest surfaced road in the Yorkshire Dales, an unclassified switchback over Fleet Moss linking Wensleydale at Hawes with upper Wharfedale at Kettlewell.
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23
18%≈ 1-in-6Passo del Mortirolo
Cycling’s most feared climb, brutally steep and narrow.
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24
18%≈ 1-in-6Gospel Pass
Highest road in Wales over the Black Mountains.
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25
18%≈ 1-in-6Solčava Panoramic Road
High panoramic route above three Alpine valleys.
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26
18%≈ 1-in-6Wurzen Pass (Wurzenpass)
Short, steep border pass to Slovenia with sustained 18 percent ramps near Villach.
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27
18%≈ 1-in-6Torr Head Scenic Road
A narrow clifftop alternative to the Causeway Coast, with Scotland in view.
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28
18%≈ 1-in-6Pragel Pass
Steep, narrow link between Muotathal and the Klontal, gradients up to 18 percent.
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29
17%≈ 1-in-6Trough of Bowland
Winding moorland pass between Lancaster and Dunsop Bridge.
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30
17%≈ 1-in-6Cairngorm Mountain Road
Steep ski-centre climb from Glenmore up the flank of Cairn Gorm above Loch Morlich.
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