Picture a quiet residential street lined with houses. Now tilt it until walking up feels like climbing stairs. That's Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, which Guinness World Records calls the steepest street in the world. It's often described as too steep to drive. That's not quite true.
Here's the honest answer. Baldwin Street is open to cars, and people live on it. It's a dead end for vehicles, and the steepest stretch is tough, but it can be driven. What makes it famous is its slope: at its steepest point, about 70 meters from the top, it rises roughly 1 meter for every 2.86 meters forward, a grade of about 35%.
Steep by Accident
Nobody set out to build the world's steepest street. Like many parts of early Dunedin and New Zealand, the streets were laid out in a neat grid with no thought for the hills, usually by planners in London. Baldwin Street's layout was surveyed by Charles Kettle in the mid-1800s.
The result is a street that runs about 1,150 feet up the side of Signal Hill, climbing from about 98 feet above sea level to about 330 feet at the top. The lower part is only moderately steep and paved with asphalt. The upper part is much steeper and surfaced with concrete, for easier maintenance and safety during Dunedin's frosty winters.
The street is named after William Baldwin, a provincial councillor and newspaper founder who subdivided the area. The neighbors aren't much gentler. The streets running alongside Baldwin are all steep, too, so the whole hillside keeps drivers in low gear.
The Battle for the Title
Baldwin Street earned its world record in 1987, after a two-year campaign by broadcaster Jim Mora. At the time, it beat out two San Francisco streets that had held the title of steepest in the world.
Then came a challenger. On July 16, 2019, the title went to Ffordd Pen Llech, a street in Wales. Dunedin residents, led by a local surveyor, appealed. In April 2020, Guinness decided steepness must be measured along the center of the street. Under that rule, Baldwin Street measured 34.8% to Wales's 28.6%, and the title came home.
Running, Rolling, and Racing
A street this steep invites fun. Every summer since 1988, athletes have run the Baldwin Street Gutbuster, racing from the bottom to the top and back down. Several hundred people take part, and the record of 1 minute and 56 seconds was set in 1998.
Since 2002, a charity event each July has sent more than 30,000 Jaffas, small round chocolate candies with an orange coating, rolling down the hill. Each candy is sponsored, and the money goes to charity. The tradition grew from a 1998 event that released 2,000 tennis balls to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.
Life on a Famous Hill
Fame has its ups and downs, so to speak. Tourist buses now stop there, and social media has made it even more popular. Some residents enjoy the buzz. Others report visitors walking through their gardens, lying down in the street, or getting stuck when they can't turn their cars around.
So no, Baldwin Street isn't too steep to drive. But it is steep enough to make your calves ache and your car's engine work hard. If you ever visit Dunedin, wear good shoes and bring your sense of humor.
