Cirque de Cilaos
Cirque de Cilaos is a large rock amphitheater, at an elevation of 1.586m (5,203ft) above the sea level, located on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The sometimes nail-biting drive is well worth it!
Located within the Forêt Domaniale des Makes, the road to the summit is called D 20 (Route Forestière 11 des Makes). Due its steepness, the surface of the road is asphalted and concrete. Snaking steeply around more than 400 twists turns (18 hairpin turns) along the way up into the amphitheatre, it provides an endless stream of stunning vista-points.
Starting from Le Gol (D3 Road), the ascent, is 16.6km long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 1.214m. The average gradient is 7.31%, with sections up to 10%. The road is extremely narrow, totally impassable for 2 cars at the same time. At the summit there’s a small parking and a few communication towers.