Guide to Driving the Pan-American Highway

Road trips are a great way to see the world on your own schedule. I’ve made road trips around Bulgaria and Argentina, and they’ve allowed me to visit destinations that I otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to. If you love spending time in the car racing toward a new spot, you’ll love the Pan-American Highway, also known as the longest drivable road in the world. The journey starts in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and ends in Ushuaia, Argentina, covering about 19,000 miles, depending on your route.

The idea for the Pan-American Highway originated in the 1920s. It was conceived as a way to connect the Americas, increase tourism and fellowship between countries, and, according to some accounts, help the emerging American auto industry sell its U.S.-made cars. In 1937, the plan became official when 14 countries signed the Convention of the Pan-American Highway, promising that each country would quickly complete its portions of the highway. Those countries were Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and the United States.

After a few decades, the highway was mostly completed except for a section at the border of Panama and Colombia known as the Darien Gap, an area known for treacherous conditions. Construction of this section of the road was shut down in 1975 over environmental and health concerns, and the governments involved didn’t authorize a resumption of the work until 1992. By that time, though, the desire to finish the road was low, so this area was never developed. Travelers wanting to drive the Pan-American Highway must ship their car from Panama to Colombia and fly or take a boat to avoid this section of land.

To learn more about the highway, I spoke with someone who completed the journey. Dan Grec, author of “The Road Chose Me Volume 1: Two Years and 40,000 Miles from Alaska to Argentina” and a worldwide road tripper, gave invaluable insights to anyone wanting to take the journey themselves. “The Pan-American Highway is the longest drivable road in the world, and as such, you can expect to encounter basically everything,” says Grec. “From deserts to glaciers, active volcanoes to stunning beaches, tropical paradise and big cities packed with culture and delicious street food.”

If this sounds like your dream, here’s everything you need to know about the Pan-American Highway.

Route Overview 

As mentioned, the drive totals around 19,000 miles, with termini in northern Alaska and the southern tip of Argentina. Like with other long-distance drives, you can decide for yourself (within reason) how quickly you want to complete it.

“I recommend slowing down and enjoying the journey. If you try to complete the length of the highway in anything less than six months, you will just be sitting behind the wheel for 10 hours a day,” says Grec. “Due to road hazards, it’s not a good idea to drive at night, and I always take the advice of locals and other travelers about places to visit or places to avoid.”

Travelers typically start at the road’s northern end, in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. From there, you’ll drive to Edmonton, Canada, then choose between two routes across the rest of Canada and the U.S. Whether you pick the Winnipeg-Minneapolis-Dallas route or the Calgary-Billings-Denver-Albuquerque route, you’ll end up in San Antonio, Texas, to cross into Mexico. You’ll then go through Monterrey and Mexico City and follow the western portion of Central America along the Pacific Ocean. Once you bypass the Darien Gap, you will drive along the west coast of South America through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Once you hit Valparaiso, Chile, head east to cut across Chile and Argentina, making your way to Buenos Aires before heading south to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world.

Planning Your Journey 

A journey down the Pan-American Highway will take a good chunk of time, so you’ll want to plan your seasons well. There’s heavy snowfall to avoid near each end of the route (October to April are the snowiest months in Alaska and Northern Canada, while June to October are the snowiest in Ushuaia) and rainy seasons to plan around in Central and South America. Luckily, you’re on your own schedule, so you can move intentionally to build your ideal journey.

“Because the trip includes so much, it’s important to think about what you want to get out of such an adventure,” explains Grec. “Do you want to taste all the delicious street food and learn to dance the salsa, or do you want to be in the wilderness as far from people as possible? The trip is up to you, and you can get out of it whatever you want.”

The political and social systems in Central and South America can change quickly, so it’s essential to stay informed about the news in each destination you visit. That said, I’ve traveled throughout each country on the South American portion of the Pan-American Highway and can attest that common sense will generally keep you safe.

“While plenty of people will make overly hyped videos for YouTube or tell third or fifth-hand stories about how dangerous it is or how horrible the border crossings are, the reality on the ground is vastly different,” explains Grec. “Treating people with respect and a smile goes a very long way, even when there is a language barrier.” Assuming you’ve done some traveling before driving the Pan-American Highway, you’ll know how to keep yourself safe and avoid trouble.

“In terms of vehicle choice, I recommend something reliable and well maintained with quality tires,” says Grec. “It’s much easier to get spares or parts replaced before you enter Mexico, so be sure to do a thorough service on the vehicle and replace anything that won’t last.” The last thing you want is to be broken down on the side of the highway in an unfamiliar location. 

Places to Stop 

“It’s impossible to distill a two-year journey through 17 countries into a couple of dot points, but for me, the highlights were the times I got really remote and saw places I had only dreamed about,” says Grec. If you aren’t in a time crunch, you can venture off the route as he did to experience all that’s on offer in the country you’re in and parts of countries nearby. For example, although the Pan-American Highway technically follows the coast in Peru, you can head inland to visit Cusco and Machu Picchu, one of the New Wonders of the World.

“I hiked up an active volcano in Guatemala where I roasted marshmallows and poked the lava with a stick, and I climbed a 20,000-foot mountain with a glacier on top in Ecuador,” shares Grec. “In Bolivia, I crossed the world-famous salt flats of Uyuni, and in Patagonia, I camped out wild in my tent in the mountains for five months straight, never once sleeping in a real bed.”

The natural beauty found along the route is almost unmatched among driving routes around the world, and the cultural opportunities are excellent, too. “In Mexico, I ate my fill of five-cent tacos, and in Peru, a heaping plate of delicious food was 50 cents,” Grec continues. “Throughout Central America, I visited Mayan ruins, and in the altiplano of South America, I met plenty of isolated farmers who didn’t speak Spanish, only their native Quechua.”

When you take your time, you’ll see that there are hundreds of places to stop along the route, each more exciting than the last.

Accommodations 

Some travelers who drive the Pan-American Highway choose to live out of the van they’re driving in. Others opt for hostels or vacation rentals, camping, or a mixture of all the above. “I personally much prefer to camp along the way, either out in the wild or at campsites that have the benefit of a hot shower, kitchen facilities, and people to chat to,” says Grec. “It certainly is possible now to make the trip based on Airbnb, staying inside every single night, or going full van or camping life.” It’s up to each person to figure out which path is most comfortable for them.

Travel Tips and Recommendations 

“There is a lot of misinformation and fear around travel in Central and South America, especially unguided and with your own vehicle,” says Grec. “My No. 1 piece of advice is to seek out other people who have made the trip and get their advice and input. They will tell you the reality of travel in those parts of the world, how safe they felt, and if they recommend the trip.”

As someone who spends around eight months out of the year in South America, I can confirm that misinformation runs wild. Any destination will have safety concerns, whether you’re in the U.S., Australia, or somewhere in Asia. This holds for Central and South America, but that doesn’t mean it’s somewhere to avoid. “Spoiler alert: I’ve never talked to a single Pan-American traveler that did not have the time of their life,” says Grec.

His other piece of advice is to learn the language. “Learning even basic Spanish will increase your enjoyment tenfold, and once you can really converse with locals, you’ll be able to learn about the real hidden gems that are worth the effort to explore,” he explains. “With your own vehicle, you won’t be stuck with wherever the bus will take you, and instead, you can go wherever you please, on whatever timeline you choose.”

The Pan-American Highway is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it’s certainly not for everyone. If you don’t enjoy time in the car, you’re better off flying from destination to destination. However, if road trips are your thing, this could be a fantastic opportunity to join a network of like-minded people and experience continents’ worth of new cultures.