The Steepest Roads in the World
On By
Not all roads are the same, some are so steep that they're a struggle to drive up, let alone walk up!
The Guinness World Record for the steepest road has changed hands a couple of times over the past 5 years and is a hotly contested debate between communities.
Despite the Guinness World Record’s guidelines, gradient steepness is often disputed online. In this article, we’ve done our best to give an updated list of the 6 steepest streets in the world.
6. Ffordd Pen Llech
(Jonathan Deamer / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0)
Having once boasted a record 37.5% gradient, Ffordd Pen Llech in Harlech, Wales has since been downgraded to an official 28.6% gradient following an appeal.
The winding Welsh street is a public road and historic landmark that partly surrounds Harlech Castle.
5. Vale Street
(Jaggery / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Vale Street is the steepest street in England. With a reported 35% gradient at its steepest sections.
Cars parked down the road are required to do so at an angle to ensure their vehicle doesn’t roll. Some residents have also been known to tie their parked cars to lampposts when it’s icy.
Every easter, locals take part in an event which involves rolling eggs down the road to see who can get theirs the furthest.
4. Canton Avenue
(Lildobe / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0)
Often reported as having a 37% gradient, Canton Avenue isn’t officially accredited as the world’s steepest street.
Located in the hilly city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Canton Avenue acts as the centrepiece for many daring cyclists wanting to push themselves to the limit.
3. Bradford Street
(Phil Dokas / Flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Bradford Street is one of many steep streets situated in San Francisco. Much of the road climbs steadily before sloping into a 41% gradient.
Climbing to the top of the street gives tourists a view of the San Francisco skyline.
2. Waipio Valley Road
(Wasif Malik / Flickr / CC BY 2.0)
Sometimes labelled as the steepest road in the United States, Waipio Valley Road is situated in the Hamakua District of Hawaii.
The narrow winding road has a reported average gradient of around 25%, increasing to 45% in certain sections. Due to its steepness, the slope is only open to 4-wheel-drive vehicles.
1. Baldwin Street
(Mike Thurston / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)
In 2020, Guinness World Records reinstated Baldwin Street as the steepest road in the world.
Located in Dunedin, New Zealand, Baldwin Street had held the record for more than a decade until June 2019, when Ffordd Pen Llech in Harlech, Wales, claimed the title.
The Baldwin Street community issued an appeal and following an extensive review, the street was reinstated as the world’s steepest street with a 35% gradient. The appeal led to a change in the guidelines which now means that a street’s gradient must be measured using the centreline of the road.
Baldwin Street, which dead-ends in a cul-de-sac on Signal Hill, has become a hotspot for tourists and holds unique events such as the Baldwin Street Gutbuster where participants see how fast they can run up to the top of the road and back. The record stands at 1 minute and 56 seconds.
Another event is the charity Cadbury Jaffa Race which involves rolling 75,000 individually sponsored Jaffa Cakes down the hill.
See our list of the world’s longest roads here.