The Steepest Street in the World Is in the Guinness Book of Records with an Impressive 35% Incline, but a Woman from Minas Gerais Disagrees: “Why Isn’t It in BH?”

Written by Romário Pereira de Carvalho

Published on 19/11/2025 at 12:11

Imagem: Ilustração artística

22 people reacted to this.

Comparison Between Baldwin Street and Streets of Belo Horizonte Came Back to the Center of Discussions by Revealing Distinct Methods of Calculating Inclination Used in Each Place

The discussion about the steepest street on the planet resurfaced because a woman from Minas Gerais recently visited Baldwin Street and compared it to slopes in Minas Gerais. The visitor stated that the New Zealand street is steep, of course, but still falls short of some sections found in cities in Minas Gerais. Her remarks reignited the debate over measurements, criteria, and differences between methods of calculation.

Baldwin Street is located in Dunedin and is about 350 meters long. The street maintains a maximum gradient close to 35%.

This incline means that for every 2.86 meters traveled, there is a vertical gain of one meter. Therefore, it is a structure that has impressed tourists and curious observers for many years.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

The Criteria Used by Guinness

The Guinness World Records recognized Baldwin Street in 1987. The announcement came after two years of campaigning promoted by broadcaster Jim Mora.

At that time, the street surpassed two competitors located in San Francisco. In addition, the record placed Dunedin on the map as a curious and different destination.

In 2019, however, the title changed hands. Guinness named Ffordd Pen Llech in Harlech as the new champion.

The reason was an initial measurement indicating an incline of 37.45 percent. The decision generated surprise because it contradicted decades of recognition of Baldwin Street.

Months later, everything changed again. Guinness reviewed the rule and determined that the calculation should only consider the centerline of the street.

With the new criterion, Ffordd Pen Llech dropped to 28.6 percent. Therefore, Baldwin Street regained its title with its official 34.8 percent.

Street, World's Steepest Street — Mineira visits the steepest slope in the world but claims those in BH are steeper
credit: Reproduction / Instagram

The Comparison with Belo Horizonte

In Belo Horizonte, the geoprocessing sector of Prodabel does different measurements. The methodology uses the total incline divided by the length of the street.

The technicians do not analyze just the centerline. Therefore, the numbers found in the mining capital comfortably surpass the value recorded in New Zealand.

The visitor even mentioned a report from Estado de Minas. For her, Belo Horizonte was once again unjustly treated.

The Steepest Streets in the Mining Capital

The ranking starts with the fifth place. The Guimarães Rosa Street, in the Nossa Senhora de Fátima neighborhood, has a 49 percent incline.

In fourth place is Street 2637, in the São Bento neighborhood, with 50 percent.
Just above is São Benedito Street, in the São Marcos neighborhood, reaching 51 percent.

The runner-up is the Copérnico Pinto Coelho Street. It is located in the Santo Antônio neighborhood and also registers 50 percent.

At the top is Expedicionários Street, in the Taquaril complex. This location reaches a 57 percent incline and leaves all others behind.

This set of data explains why many miners question the validity of the international title.

Moreover, it reinforces how the adopted criteria can turn a simple measurement into a long, curious, and even fun debate.

The information is from Estado de Minas.

4 Comments

most recent

older Most voted

Romulo

#195159

20/11/2025 23:26

Tem ruas em Ouro Preto que deve dar uns 70%

Respond

Celia Regina

#195013

20/11/2025 18:23

Eu. acho mesmo a rua joaqim Zenir no bairro Paraiso BH. A gente sobe e certo ponto o corpo volta p tras de tao ingreme.

Respond

Helbert

#194796

20/11/2025 05:09

Ruas 11 e 12 no Bairro Vista do Sol, em Belo Horizonte, na Região Nordeste da Capital Mineira. A Rua 11 tem 39⁰ de inclinação, nem caminhão 🚛🚚 ousa descer por ela, quanto mais subir. 🤷🏼🤦🏼

Respond

The Steepest Street in the World Is in the Guinness Book of Records with an Impressive 35% Incline, but a Woman from Minas Gerais Disagrees: “Why Isn’t It in BH?”

Comparison Between Baldwin Street and Streets of Belo Horizonte Came Back to the Center of Discussions by Revealing Distinct Methods of Calculating Inclination Used in Each Place

The Criteria Used by Guinness

The Comparison with Belo Horizonte

The Steepest Streets in the Mining Capital

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The Steepest Street in the World Is in the Guinness Book of Records with an Impressive 35% Incline, but a Woman from Minas Gerais Disagrees: “Why Isn’t It in BH?”

Comparison Between Baldwin Street and Streets of Belo Horizonte Came Back to the Center of Discussions by Revealing Distinct Methods of Calculating Inclination Used in Each Place

The Criteria Used by Guinness

The Comparison with Belo Horizonte

The Steepest Streets in the Mining Capital

In the cold desert of Ladakh, where it hardly rains, engineer Sonam Wangchuk created the ice stupa, a tower that freezes winter water and stores it for irrigating crops in the spring, a simple engineering feat that mimics nature.

Libya built over 4,000 kilometers of underground pipelines to bring water from the Sahara to coastal cities in a project that the government itself called the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Almost 6,000 residents live concentrated along a single street nearly 9 km long in the interior of Poland. Houses form a continuous row, and behind them, narrow agricultural strips emerge, creating one of the most unusual rural patterns in Europe.

Chinese woman planted trees for decades while sand buried part of her house, received $5,000 from an American in 1999, and helped transform the desert into a forest of 8 million trees in China.

Desert sand, previously discarded for being too smooth for concrete, becomes an ecological brick in the United Arab Emirates, dispensing with Portland cement, curing at room temperature, and attempting to transform dunes useless for construction into raw material for a new arid engineering.

Described by astronauts as one of the most unlikely natural phenomena on Earth, the Okavango Delta spreads over up to 15,000 square kilometers in the middle of the desert and transforms Botswana into a living labyrinth of channels, islands, and flooded areas.

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