# Where is this precipitous road? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2018, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672 "2018-09-03T04:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/1 "2018-09-03T04:56:30Z")
It has a vertical drop only a few feet off the side of the road. Doesn’t seem to have guard rails, just some rocks. Spotted in a Cadillac “Made to Move” commercial: Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/2 "2018-09-03T05:41:58Z")
No clue where it is but, if you pause it at 14 seconds in, you can see that the distance between road and cliff is closer to 15-20 feet (using the car for scale) and there is a guard rail. It’s obscured by the vegetation but you can see it in the [upper right hand](https://d2z1w4aiblvrwu.cloudfront.net/ad/dOKO/cadillac-made-to-move-sales-event-2018-ct6-large-6.jpg) part of the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/3 "2018-09-03T16:14:58Z")
Looks to me like the Hudson River Palisades, but there’s not a ton to go on and I’m having trouble finding the spot on google maps. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/4 "2018-09-03T17:13:37Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Looks to me like the Hudson River Palisades, but there’s not a ton to go on and I’m having trouble finding the spot on google maps. That was my thought as well. Certainly it appears that the Palisades Interstate Parkway approaches the edge of the cliff that closely in some places. The form of the rocks, the guard rails, stone wall along the road in one shot, view of the river below, and vegetation all appear to be consistent with that area. However, it may be difficult to pinpoint an exact location. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/5 "2018-09-03T17:45:11Z")
That road is nothing to some of the roads I’ve been on in northern India, China and northern Philippines. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ir-ZcNePWk4/maxresdefault.jpg "Most Dangerous Roads In The World") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir-ZcNePWk4) ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/6 "2018-09-03T17:54:33Z")
Seriously, northern India. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/7 "2018-09-03T20:12:28Z")
I did not enjoy the trip from down in the Rift Valley in Uganda, up to Fort Portal. Narrow dirt road steep high drop. Large vehicles going both ways. I had the added pleasure of constantly nudging the barrel of our armed gaurd’s AK out of my face as we bumped along. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/8 "2018-09-03T20:44:45Z")
The kids in our high school all learned to [drive the front road](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbfv_7_cOtI) aka Rt 502. It does have guard rails, although visitors say they don’t find them sufficiently reassuring. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/9 "2018-09-03T21:01:01Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > That road is nothing to some of the roads I’ve been on in northern India, China and northern Philippines. When I opened this thread I was expecting it to be about the Death Road, aka the Yungas Road in Bolivia. [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bolivia_Yunga_Road.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bolivia_Yunga_Road.jpg) Seriously, when your road has earned the nickname the Death Road you know there’s something a little unsafe about it. Whatever roads they picked for Ice Road Truckers when they went to India weren’t much better. Sorry, no clue about the road in the OP. I was thinking maybe somewhere along the Pacific Coast Highway since that does have some cliffs and would be cheap and easy to film since numerous production companies are based in California, but that’s just a wild guess. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/10 "2018-09-03T21:20:58Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Sorry, no clue about the road in the OP. I was thinking maybe somewhere along the Pacific Coast Highway since that does have some cliffs and would be cheap and easy to film since numerous production companies are based in California, but that’s just a wild guess. I think the vegetation pretty much precludes anywhere in the western US. AFAIK, the Pacific Coast Highway mostly goes through chapparal or maybe junipers or pines. Also, I don’t know anyplace that has columnar basalt like that. That sure looks like eastern deciduous woodland to me. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/11 "2018-09-03T21:21:02Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > That road is nothing to some of the roads I’ve been on in northern India, China and northern Philippines. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir-ZcNePWk4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir-ZcNePWk4) I gave up on the video when they over-hyped the Dalton Highway in Alaska. I drove that highway in an RV, for cripes sake. The statement that “if you break down on this highway, it could be days or even weeks before help arrives” is total bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/12 "2018-09-03T21:52:57Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > That road is nothing to some of the roads I’ve been on in northern India, China and northern Philippines. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir-ZcNePWk4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir-ZcNePWk4) > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > When I opened this thread I was expecting it to be about the Death Road, aka the Yungas Road in Bolivia. I’ve been on similar roads in Peru like the [Manu Road.](http://perubirds.org/img/rutas/manu_road_a.jpg) I was on a road like that once in a minibus when we came around a blind curve in the road when we found a dead cow blocking our way. We thought we would have to drag the rotting carcass over the cliff but we were able to build a ramp around it out of loose rocks. Still, we waited until the bus driver got around it before we got back on the bus. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/13 "2018-09-03T22:19:55Z")
I agree that it has the right look & feel to be the Palisades Parkway - perhaps just south of the NY-NJ line. My entry in the “most daunting road I’ve driven” category would be the [Skippers Canyon Road](https://www.newzealand.com/us/feature/skippers-road/), near Queenstown, New Zealand. YouTube has videos, but they don’t really do it justice. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/14 "2018-09-04T01:15:53Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > When I opened this thread I was expecting it to be about the Death Road, aka the Yungas Road in Bolivia. > > [File:Bolivia Yunga Road.jpg - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bolivia_Yunga_Road.jpg) > > Seriously, when your road has earned the nickname the Death Road you know there’s something a little unsafe about it. Top Gear featured that road in [one episode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Gear:_Bolivia_Special). As for the Palisades Parkway, I used to have a job that moved from Westchester County, New York to Secaucus, New Jersey, so I used to cross the Tappan Zee Bridge and then go down the Palisades Parkway to the New Jersey Turnpike at Fort Lee. It was a fun drive. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/15 "2018-09-04T08:15:09Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > That road is nothing to some of the roads I’ve been on in northern India, China and northern Philippines. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir-ZcNePWk4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir-ZcNePWk4) > [@Chefguy](#): > > I gave up on the video when they over-hyped the Dalton Highway in Alaska. I drove that highway in an RV, for cripes sake. The statement that “if you break down on this highway, it could be days or even weeks before help arrives” is total bullshit. A poor choice indeed. To represent several tidal causeways which are closed when the tide comes in a “highly dangerous” is wild over-hype for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/16 "2018-09-04T17:15:03Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Seriously, northern India. Crazy roads in Mizoram province of India. The folks seem to like building their cities and towns on the tops of the mountains. A real 3D puzzle to drive around in them. The roads between them are all scary. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-this-precipitous-road/820672/17 "2018-09-04T17:52:01Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Looks to me like the Hudson River Palisades, but there’s not a ton to go on and I’m having trouble finding the spot on google maps. If you have Google Earth installed, go to: Lat: 40.986532° Long: -73.906642° Even the markings on the cliff walls match, so I would call it a hit.