Most Dangerous Roads in Pakistan and How to Drive Them

The most dangerous roads in Pakistan are almost all in the north: narrow jeep tracks cut into cliffs, high passes with hairpin bends, and stretches of the Karakoram Highway exposed to landslides. None of them need to be a serious risk if you use the right vehicle, the right driver and the right season. This guide covers the roads that come up most often, what actually makes each one dangerous, and how to reduce the risk if you're driving them.

The Fairy Meadows jeep track

The 16-kilometre track from Raikot Bridge to Tato village, the only way up to Fairy Meadows by vehicle, is unpaved, narrow and cut into a steep hillside with no guard rail and long drops below. Only union-registered jeeps and drivers are permitted on it, and thousands of visitors use it safely each season, but the risk is real: a jeep went off the road into the Tattu Nala in June 2026, killing the driver and six tourists on board.

• Book through your guesthouse or a registered operator; don't hire an unlicensed jeep to save money.
• Ask locally about conditions before you go up, especially after rain, since the surface changes fast.
• Keep the vehicle's weight within what the driver says is safe, and don't push for one more passenger to save a second trip.

Babusar Pass and the Kaghan–Chilas road

Babusar Pass, at 4,173 metres, connects the top of the Kaghan valley to Chilas on the Karakoram Highway. It is one of the most hairpinned roads in the country, and brake failure on the long descent is the most commonly cited cause of accidents. The road beyond Naran is open only in summer, roughly mid-July to the end of September, and is closed by snow the rest of the year.

• Check your brakes and use a lower gear on the descent rather than riding the brakes continuously.
• Don't attempt it outside the summer season; ask locally in Naran whether the pass is open before committing.
• If you are travelling with a driver, a low gear and a slow, steady pace matter more than the vehicle itself.

The Karakoram Highway through Kohistan (Mansehra to Chilas)

This stretch of the KKH, through Battagram, Besham, Dasu and Sazin, has narrow sections exposed to rockfall and landslides, and it is also the stretch the UK government currently advises against travelling on at all. Taking the Babusar route in summer avoids it entirely, which is one reason most tour itineraries and experienced drivers prefer Babusar over Kohistan for the Islamabad–Hunza leg between roughly July and September. If you are a foreign passport holder, check your own government's current travel advice before choosing this route, since it can affect your travel insurance. Our guide to driving at night on the KKH and to whether the Karakoram Highway is safe go into both the road conditions and the security picture in more detail.

The Jaglot–Skardu road, then and now

Older articles still describe the Gilgit–Skardu road as one of the most dangerous in the world, based on how it used to be: a single-lane track 3.6 metres wide, hugging cliffs above the Indus with no barriers. That description is now out of date. The road, officially the S-1 Strategic Highway, was widened to 7.3 metres and resurfaced under a project completed in 2021, cutting the Gilgit–Skardu drive from around ten hours to about four. It is a normal paved highway for most of its length today.

It is not risk-free. Flash floods and landslides still close sections periodically, including a stretch near Sassi Haramosh, and monsoon rain brings repeated landslide alerts. Drive it in daylight, check locally before setting out in the monsoon months, and don't assume a paved road removes the need for caution on a mountain route.

The Shimshal road

The 56-kilometre jeep track from the Karakoram Highway at Passu to Shimshal village remains an unpaved, narrow track with no guard rails, cut into scree slopes with drops of several hundred metres to the river below. Unlike the Skardu road, it has not been upgraded, and the four- to six-hour drive is genuinely demanding on both vehicle and driver.

• Use an experienced local driver who knows the road; this is not a route to self-drive in a rented car.
• Allow a full day each way and don't try to rush it to fit a tighter itinerary.
• Expect it to close temporarily after heavy rain, as with any unpaved mountain track.

How to reduce the risk on any of these roads

A few habits apply across all of them:

• Travel in daylight, when these roads are far easier to judge.
• Use a local, experienced driver rather than a rental car and an unfamiliar driver.
• Ask locally before you set out, since conditions on unpaved tracks change faster than any website reports them.
• Don't overload the vehicle; extra weight affects braking on steep descents.
• Build in a spare day for routes with a real chance of a weather closure.

Is any of this a reason not to go?

No, for most visitors. Large numbers of people drive these roads safely every year, and the reputation comes from occasional, serious incidents rather than routine risk on every trip. The exception is the Kohistan stretch of the KKH, which carries a specific current travel advisory rather than a road-condition risk, and which most itineraries simply route around using Babusar in season. On the unpaved tracks, a registered driver and a check on the day's conditions removes most of the risk within your control.

Frequently asked questions