If You Want To Road Trip The World's Longest Highway, You'll Have To Plan For The Darién Gap

Car enthusiasts and adventurous travelers alike love a good road trip, and for those who have ticked off various bucket-list road trips and fancy something a little more involving, the Pan-American highway stands out as the ultimate road trip challenge. At roughly 19,000 miles long, it pinches the number one spot of the world's longest highways, stretching from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska across Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, to end up in Ushuaia, Argentina. The trouble for travelers, however, is that this iconic stretch of road is interrupted by something known as the Darién Gap.

The Darién Gap is located on the border between Panama and Colombia. It's a roughly 60-mile dense stretch of jungle, mountains, and swampland that's virtually impossible to pass in a vehicle. This isn't where the Pan-American Highway stops, though, so those who are dedicated to venturing its full length will have to find a way to bypass the daunting wilderness. Typically, this involves shipping the vehicle, and either traveling with it or catching a flight and reuniting at the other end.

While it would be physically possible to have a highway laced through the Darién Gap, various security, environmental, and political concerns have stopped this from ever happening, even though it was originally planned.

The Darién Gap has been described as "impassable" by travelers, so driving through is a complete no-go, regardless of how great your rig's all-terrain tires are. There's even a Chevy Corvair sitting abandoned in the Darién Gap's deep jungle, serving as a stark reminder of just how inhospitable the area is, even for the boldest of motorists. While it is technically possible to pass it on foot, the stretch is notoriously dangerous, laced with both deadly wildlife and indeed drug-smugglers, guerrilla groups, and the like.

So, the wise thing to do instead is to "cross" it by bypassing the jungle entirely. Typically, this involves shipping the vehicle by either a RoRo (roll-on, roll-off) ship or a container ship, while the adventurers themselves take a flight. Port cities such as Panama City are popular drop-off points, with the Colombian city of Cartagena often playing the role of collection point.

It's not a cheap day out, crossing the Darién Gap, with experienced travelers who have been there and done it providing detailed breakdowns that show the total cost to be uncomfortably close to $4,000, not accounting for food and other smaller expenses. The largest costs come from shipping and port fees, coming in at around $2,500. Flights and accommodation tally up to around $1,250 as a rough guide, with other smaller expenses such as paperwork and taxi rides making up the remainder of the bill.

The highway's history is also long, kicking off in 1923, when the idea of a single route of this nature was first introduced. Things progressed somewhat in 1937, when the Convention of the Pan-American Highway was signed by no fewer than 14 separate countries. Come the early 1960s, and the highway in its entirety was first opened for continuous traffic, meaning no major interruptions could be expected along the way. With the Darién Gap standing as one major exception, of course. Concerns about continuing the highway through the Darién Gap meant construction was halted in 1975, with environmentalists rightfully flagging the damage that would be introduced both to the natural area and the indigenous people who inhabited it.

This ban on construction was lifted in 1992, but still, work on the highway never continued. The environmental issues surrounding the Darién Gap still exist, and concerns about the safety of those who would travel through there are very real too. People have lost their lives traveling through the Darién Gap, and there are political issues too. Colombia was keen to establish a highway there, but the Panamanians were less so, fearing it would simply provide easier passage for criminals. This continuing combination of complications means it's unlikely that the Pan-American Highway will ever make its way through the Darién Gap, so for any budding travelers out there, be sure to make suitable arrangements.