Ancash · Peru
Cañón del Pato
PE-3NCaraz to Huallanca
A road hacked from sheer Andean canyon walls, threading 35 one-lane unlit tunnels through solid rock above a 1,000 m drop to the Santa River, one of Peru’s most dramatic drives.
Heading north from Caraz, the rough PE-3N enters the Cañón del Pato where the walls close in and the road clings to a ledge above the Río Santa. The 35 hand-cut tunnels, each one-lane and unlit, are the centrepiece: you emerge from each into another section of sheer cliff and sky. The road carries bus and truck traffic so patience at tunnel mouths is essential; the walls rise over 1,000 m above the river.
Scenery
Best seasons
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Cañón del Pato on the map23.9 mi · point to point
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Character
Higher than 9 in 10 roads in the catalogue.
Corners
busiest around mile 3Elevation
under 4%4–8%over 8%1,861.4 – 3,181 mPoints of interest3 stops
- ChoquechacaViewpoint11 mi in
- Cañón del PatoLandmark24 mi in
- Bocatoma Cañón del PatoLandmark23 mi in
Hazards
- 35 unlit one-lane tunnels
- No passing points in the tunnels
- Falling rocks
- Narrow ledge road
- Oncoming trucks
- Rainy-season closures
See the typical season and live conditions for the high passes ›
Sources
“With 35 tunnels in a one-way length of just under 8 miles (12 km), that's about four tunnels for each mile.”
Verified route: mapped from real road geometry and fact-checked by a human editor. How roads get checked
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