Friday 15 February 2013

World's Longest Driveway?

A search in Google for the world's longest driveway turns up the Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road in the United Arab Emirates.

Stretching for 7.3 miles and climbing nearly 4,000 feet it is no doubt a long mountain road, but is it a driveway?

Possibly Not!


The road itself ends in a car park and passes a luxury hotel (the Mercure Grand Jebel Hafeet Al Ain Hotel), a radar station and the Palace of Jebel Hefeet (belonging to the country's rulers) along the way.

Can a 3 lane road that doesn't lead to a single property be classed as a driveway? It has several shorter roads (or driveways) leading off it to the above properties, but it ends in a car park.

The road is tarmac, rather than a dirt track, so perhaps when it was first constructed, the palace (nearest the summit) was the only building and therefore the epitaph of driveway was more deserving?

The Greatest Drive


Regardless of its driveway status, the road is also regarded as one of the world's greatest drives.

Featuring 21 corners, three lanes (two climbing and one descending) and an immaculate surface, it has featured in a number of films and is frequently used by car manufacturers and owners to demonstrate and test their vehicles.

It is also used by cyclists as a gruelling challenge whilst training and is home to an annual road cycling competition.

Want to see what we're talking about? The following YouTube clip shows the British TV Show Fifth Gear putting a car through its paces on the road.


If you fancy having a go yourself, it is just a 2 hour drive from Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The Real World's Longest Driveway?


So, if the Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road isn't the world's longest driveway, what is?

Well, the Guiness World Records website doesn't seem to have the answer, but our guess would be that some farm dirt road in Canada, America, Australia, Brazil or perhaps Africa would win the title.

Any thoughts? And do they want us to pattern imprinted concrete it?

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