A lot of us like to hit the trail on the weekends, but these places are for full-time daredevils willing to risk their life for a good hike.
Indonesia’s Mount Rinjani has deadly sulfur in the air and a chance you could slip and fall into a literal volcano. The Maze in Utah is appropriately named, because two people got lost in the winding rock pathways last year, and never made it out. Drakensberg Traverse in South Africa has thirty miles of clinging onto a vertical chain to close out the peaceful hike.
These hikes are dangerous and brutal, but perfect for nature lovers and adrenaline junkies alike.
1
Mount Rinjani
Indonesia’s second-highest volcano has hikes with sulfur gas in the air and edges that drop into the volcano crater.
2
Kokoda Track
A hike through the jungles of Papua New Guinea, that features rickety wooden bridges over dangerous rapids.
3
Huayna Picchu
This mountain in Peru features steep stone stairs for hikers to descend.
4
Mount Washington
Mount Washington in New Hampshire gets brutal weather, especially in winter. Last February, two hikers were rescued after being trapped in waist-deep snow.
5
Half Dome Cables Route
The Half-Dome in Yosemite National Park is a slick, granite mountain equipped with narrow cables for hikers.
6
Mount Everest
Even at the lower peaks, Everest has extreme cold and low oxygen levels.
7
Dolomite Mountains
These mountains in northern Italy have chains, cables and hook ladders for hikers to hold onto at heights of 9,000 feet.
8
Angels Landing
A narrow mountain Utah’s Zion National Park that features one “safety chain” for hikers to hold onto.
9
Maroon Bells
These mountains in Colorado are also called “the Deadly Bells”, since the unstable rock has resulted in many deadly falls.
10
The Maze, Canyonlands
A maze-like sandstone path in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park. A father and daughter got lost in it and died in 2024.
11
Aonach Eagach Ridge
A mountain in the Scottish Highlands with a narrow walkway and strong winds.
12
Kalalau Trail
Along Hawaii’s Na Pali Coast, a deadly path skirts unstable cliffs and crashing waves.
13
Drakensberg Traverse
A South African trail that ends with thirty miles of chain ladder up a mountain.
14
El Caminito del Rey
A mountain in southern Spain that’s four miles of suspended bridges and planks attached to the cliffside.
15
Pico da Tijuca
A path in Tijuca National Park, Brazil has incredibly steep stairs etched into the mountainside.
16
Mount Hua Shan
A mountain in Weinan, China, over one-hundred people fall to their death every year on the narrow plank walk.
