No! How about now? NO! how about now/ NO!!!!

[notalwaysright]

People around here are pretty complacent. They drive too fast in the rain, 'cause hey it rains all the time and they think they know what they're doing. Hydroplaning is a thing, people. They also seem to think that just because something is paved, that it's safe. In the winter many people try to cross various passes (Snoqualmie, for example) only to forget something... Chains! Though bridges are starting to freak me out... I grew up driving over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and it never scared me. But last year I drove over a bridge just minutes before it collapsed.

[AccountingDrone]

I'll see your Hardknott Pass and raise you Marshall Pass.

This started as the D&RGW's narrow gauge main line crossing of the Continental Divide. They removed the rails and ties in 1955 and graded the dirt, but no further improvement was done on the line (e.g. paving, widening). Not to mention, the State of Colorado doesn't believe in guard rails (they make it hard to bulldoze the snow off the cliffs). I drove this west to east back in 1996, and it scared the crap out of me. Though not as bad as the Alpine Tunnel road...

and yes, I drove both of those in an S10 Blazer, not the ATV these guys were using. I still have it, and you can still see the dents in the steering wheel from the latter road.

I did Skyline Drive in a tractor with 40 foot trailer. It wasn't my idea, I was napping, and I felt a bump and woke up, and was looking down though the little window in the bottom of the door out into *space*. We were going around a mountain and I was on the outside of the curve. I *never ever ever* want to do Skyline Drive again unless it is in a microsmall car. [This was back in the mid 1970s] I have no freaking idea what possessed Craig to go that way, but I was never so freaking glad to get the hell off the road. When we stopped for him to check the tires, I got out and went back to my dad who was following in a CAR and got in with him and drove the rest of the way in a vehicle better sized for the curves, dips and hairpin turns.

I did enjoy driving RT 1 in California from San Jose to LA a few years back - but again, I was in a car that could fit the roads dips, hairpin curves and whatnot. I can't imagine doing it in an RV of any great size, probably the largest thing I would take on RT 1 or Skyline Drive would be something like a full sized Sprinter.

[Chromatix]

I'll see your Hardknott Pass and raise you Marshall Pass.

This started as the D&RGW's narrow gauge main line crossing of the Continental Divide.

That's the widest narrow-gauge trackbed I've seen for a while. I'd say it's about twice as wide on average as the Hardknott Pass road. And, unless it was a rack railway, it must be at most a sixth of the gradient (which in itself would be an exceptionally steep railway).

So no, I'm not impressed by Marshall Pass at all.

It's generally accepted that the Hardknott Pass road was built by the Roman Army to support a fort built on the western slope of the pass. It was considered a very difficult road even then, as laden horses were scarcely able to climb it. The resurfacing in tarmac was done after WW2, since the old road had been destroyed by tank training exercises conducted there. The tarmac has worn smooth in many places, making it dangerous in freezing conditions. And while there are drystone walls visible in places, these are virtually useless at containing wayward vehicles, and are only there to keep sheep in the correct territory.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Here is a video of the Kishwar Kailash Road in the Himalayans.

And the Road of Death in Bolivia.

[Chromatix]

Yeah, those are definitely "proper" mountain roads. A very distinct "nope" factor.