The longest highway in the world is also one of the worlds deadliest. It travels about 700 miles right through the middle of Texas and it swings through El Paso too.
Not all of it is passable and some of it is downright deadly but the Texas portion is safe.
The Pan American highway is 19,000 miles long and travels from Alaska to the continental USA via Canada, then enters Mexico and travels across South America all the way to its tip somewhere near Cape Horn.
The Pan American Highway, traveling south to north, enters Texas near Laredo and continues to San Antonio. There it splits with one link heading west toward El Paso and entering New Mexico at Las Cruces while the other goes north to the Texas/Oklahoma state line via Dallas.
I say “link” because, apparently, the Texas segment is an “unofficial” part of the Pan Am highway … even though, there is no other way for it to get on to Canada and Alaska. Weird because the entire thing is made up of different highway segments.
Why Is The Pan Am Highway Dangerous?Among other things, you’ll to have to negotiate extreme temperatures – from arctic winds to scorching deserts – and significant altitude changes.You’ll also encounter long sections that are either poorly maintained or unpaved.Lastly, the highway includes territories that most countries’ travel advisories ‘warn against all but essential travel’.
READ MORE:Â Texas’ Longest Highway Takes 11 Hours To DriveÂ
The Pan Am Highway Isn’t Complete
There’s also a big gap … about 66 miles long … that you can’t drive across. It’s in a dense, jungle area with lots of swampy areas and rivers to cross. You could hike through it but you probably don’t want to as loads of criminal gangs and paramilitary groups hang out there.
LOOK: The longest highways in America
Gallery Credit: Hannah Lang