Road M5: a narrow former railway through the Prača Canyon

M5 is a challenging mountain road located on eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina running along the former Bosnian Eastern Railway ("Ostbahn") through the Prača Canyon. It’s definitely not for anyone suffering from vertigo or fear of landslides.

The unpaved road is very narrow (totally impassable for 2 cars at the same time) as it runs along the former Bosnian Eastern Railway, which was once a single track. It’s 21.2km (13,17mi) long running west-east from the village of Hrenovica towards Mesići.
Located within the Praca valley, the single-lane unpaved road runs through the scenic Prača canyon. The road is in bad conditions and features 20 unlit, single-lane railway tunnels and 3 bridges. One of them was destroyed by an overloaded truck in 2017. The other two bridges are made of concrete and are in good condition.

A bypass road has been built around the bridge which was destroyed in 2017. The road is just a simple river crossing consisting of several concrete pipes in the river bed covered with gravel. This enables the water to pass through the pipes. It is now easily passable for any vehicle. However, that kind of pass is highly vulnerable to river floods / torrents and probably will not survive after the first major river flooding (tends to happen during spring time).
Every few hundred meters there are bombed-out ruins of houses. Very clear remnants of the Bosnian War. Part of the terrain surrounding the road is mined, but the road is 100% clear. Mobile phone signal reception is very poor. Driving along this route is a unique experience next to steep cliffs and through pitch-black tunnels several hundred meters in length, always winding along the river. The road is very lightly traveled.
Road suggested by: Shred Bosanek
Pic: Shred Bosanek