The road to Salambar Pass: a deep abyss to the right hand
Salambar Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 3.204m (10,511ft) above the sea level, located in the Elburz Mountains Range in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. The road to the summit is a narrow dirt road, a steep serpentine, with a deep abyss to the right hand. It's one of the highest roads of the country.
Located in the Alamut Valley, famous for the Castle of the Assassins, the road to the summit is gravel. The zone is prone to heavy mist and can be dangerous in low visibility conditions. 4x4 recommended. Drive with care as this is a mountain road with hairpin curves and dangerous dropoffs. Do not travel this road in severe weather conditions. Avalanches, heavy snowfalls and landslides can occur anytime, being extremely dangerous due to frequent patches of ice.
It is subject to winter snowfalls with such a high summit altitude, and the road can be impassable anytime when the access is not cleared of snow. On the pass, on a small crag looking north-east, lies Pichebon caravanserei. It’s abandoned building, in the past used by Silk Road traders, shepherds and travellers to rest and take refreshment. The small Safavid-era carvansaray built on the pass indicates that the road from Alamut to the sea was regularly used even in the times when the road was viable only on muleback indeed.
The drive is definitely worth it. A drive not to be missed! There are many excellent photo opportunities. The Pichebon caravanserei is well preserved and hosts a magnificent view of the surrounding mountains. Don't forget your camera with lots of film/memory, fully charged batteries and an empty memory card!
The road to the summit is very narrow, with severe drops, bordered by a drop of hundreds of meters (many hundreds of feet) unprotected by guardrails. Starting from Maran, a village in Seh Hezar Rural District at an elevation of 2.003m above the sea level, the ascent is 15.2 km long. Over this distance the elevation gain is 1.201 meters. The average gradient is 7.91% with sections up to 14%.
Pic: yasaman ranjbaran