O Quy Ho Pass
Two thousand metres at the top by Sa Pa, then sixteen kilometres of hairpins down towards Lai Chau.
17.1 km over the pass
What to ride
Three classes of machine actually rented in Sapa. Each shows the model offered by the most rental shops - the one you are most likely to find free.
The road covers 964 m between its lowest and highest points. Nothing extreme, but engine size does make itself felt on a road like this.
What the road is like
From Sa Pa the road only goes down, and its high point — 1999 m — sits almost at the start. In all, 16.3 km of descent and 964 m down, at an average 5.9%. There is no straightening it out: 17.1 km of road cover 7.3 km in a straight line, and 30 turns sharper than 60° come one after another.
Measured 2026-09-07 from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and SRTM elevation data.
Where to stop
Places marked on OpenStreetMap by people who have been there. The numbers match the diagram and the elevation profile above.
- 1Heaven's Gateviewpoint · 1 km from the start of the passright by the road
- 2Tram Ton passviewpoint · 1.5 km from the start of the pass38 m off the road
- 3Rong May Glass Bridgelandmark · 4 km from the start of the pass38 m off the road
Know before you go
The high point is right by Sa Pa, so from town the road only goes down. Coming back means climbing the same 960 m: allow more time and fuel for the return than for the way out.
Elevation profile from SRTM data
There is no fuel on the pass. The nearest station is 4.7 km away from the road - fill up in Sa Pa before you set off.
OpenStreetMap data, may be incomplete
When to ride
Sa Pa sits at 1,500 m in the far north, and it is wet almost all year: even the driest months bring 65-70 mm, and July alone brings 461. Fog on the pass is the ordinary state of things, not the exception.
Monthly rainfall in mm. July gets 461 mm — 7 times more than December with its 65 mm.
Long-term monthly averages for Sa Pa, Vietnam Institute for Building Science and Technology.
Where to get one in Sapa
More about the road
Photos: Dansapa (CC BY-SA 4.0), uncropped · Kiếm Anh (CC BY-SA 4.0), uncropped · Liftold (CC BY 3.0), uncropped, Wikimedia Commons.