Well somewhere in a state near you, there's a "Road Less Traveled" for you to investigate. At least according to this interactive online map. https://www.geotab.com/americas-quietest-routes/
Thanks , for the link ! Last August my wife and I drove from our home near Lincoln , Nebraska to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania on secondary roads almost no time on Interstate , a really relaxing drive with very good roads and light traffic .
Of course it's on the other side of the state from me......length wise . I'll just keep driving at night.
I drove the rt2 in New Hampshire and it was awesome. Need to check out the ride in Main. Thanks for posting.
Cool link. By sheer coincidence I was just looking through some books my son gave me and this one caught my attention. It had some interesting facts and this neat fold out map glued to the last page.
Hello, My wife and I drove this whole distance from the Oregon border with a stop in Tulelake itself. The city of Newell which is just adjoining the big government property was for snacks and goodies for the rest of the long drive to Susanville to the South. We wanted to reach Highway 395, as we were going through Reno to Lake Tahoe as the last Northern Cal stopover location. The empty forested roads were new to us, but, we did not run into any traffic at all. We barely saw an oncoming car or truck for many miles and forested roads. The quiet and emptiness was eerie. This is California countryside driving. But it happens to be all the way in the upper Northeast corner of California. It is dry and hot in the Summer, and freezing cold in the winter. Our mom hated the place as it was always cold. We were there in Tulelake from 1943 to 1946. My wife and I were there what seemed like a zillion years later, in on one of our Summer road trips and it was blazing hot. The A/C worked well and the highway noise was drummed out with some nice road worthy music, in between conversations. Would we live there? NAAAH!!! Jnaki Tulelake, CA is where I was born and it is a desolate place. The nearest city is a small town and then the long drive South begins through some of the nicest areas we have seen for an inland area. That area is some of the most desolate areas in So Cal, unless you live in the far Southeast California areas, past the Salton Sea area. YRMV
I don't need roads with no other traffic, but I sure like the roads with fewer cars, good road surfaces, and friendly little towns to travel through. Those are so much better the the current interstate system. You may get someplace faster on the interstate, but it sure is a more relaxing drive on roads with less traffic that is such a hurry.
Easy Peasy. If everyone is going east/west go north/south or reverse that. Don't follow the herd. I was heading to South Dakota one day and didn't see another vehicle for 30+ miles. Had thoughts for a minute I had entered the Twilight Zone.
Driving to boneville in 2021 was a great experience..I was on my own for long stretches..it was a nice quiet drive on a smoky day.
I used this map from https://www.byways.org/ for many years on several cross country motorcycle trips. It was helpful planning less hurried, stress free, off the beaten path road trips. Contact them and they will mail one out. My copy is over 10 years old now but I bet the routes are basically the same today. edit: Maybe not, could just be online now?
The road in front of my house (US 97) is two lane but is not among roads less traveled as it is one of the three north/south routes in the state. It's a great drive from here to the Columbia river though. That said there are a ton of great roads in this state that don't have that much traffic that a road trip can be done on.
I've experienced that feeling on desolate roads more than a few times in my life. You begin to wonder if you were the only one out there that didn't receive the memo. It's kinda eery, huh?
Too Cool! I've never seen one of these books before! I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled for some copies of them now. I wonder how recently they were published? Some interesting maps and charts in there too. In the Traffic Flow Chart I like how they defined "foreign cars" as vehicles with out-of-state license plates!
I only have two 40 and 41, only the first one has the maps. 1940 states that it is the 22nd edition and i have no idea how long they continued. There are some very interesting figures and charts. Production, taxes, defense and use among others. The use section is interesting, % of vehicles for “necessity driving” which is broken down by the age of the vehicle and city population. Trucking usage for farming and defense etc. The Officers and Board of Directors are executives from Gm, Chrysler, Packard, Studebacker, White, DeSoto, Nash, Hudson, Mack and International. I thought it was strange that Ford was not part of the mix. A few pages:
Big fan of road less traveled. It is a rule with me, to use the roads that if there is a wreck you can turn and keep going. The bad wrecks usually take place on the limited access roads. Trend around here on the big road is to run at 75-80,,, na , thank you.
I pull out a map when I`m going somewhere. I`ve been marking on roads on an atlas I`ve traveled on now for 30 years. Always try to find a different road to venture on. For Iowa on the site above. I was on the the road from Panora to Fort Dodge a few weeks ago for a show. Took a different way home. Had to pull off the road as not to hit a truck in my lane as he was passing somebody.
Hoping some day to travel some of these less traveled roads. Watching for more info! Thanks to everyone for these tips!
Sort of a balance for us. If limited time, use the Interstate to get there, otherwise, 2 lanes are great. Made the trip to Iola a couple of years back, great drive, and used mom and pop restaurants and motels. Drove across the top of US using US-2, not super quiet. but nice.
I did use the interstate going from MD to western IN but I did it at night. Pretty peaceful with very little traffic. The only draw back was a few weirdos at the gas and food stops. Then again they might of thought the same about me. ClayMart, Sorry about the hi-jack earlier, cool thread.
I try to take the back roads as much as possible. Sometimes it's a tough sell to some of my friends who like to get there quicker.
Can't two lanes be interstates too ? US 20 goes from Boston, MA to Newport, OR at 3,365 miles. More than two lanes are Interstate freeways? [90, 80]
Who could that be? I just hate traffic lights especially on hot days. If they were eliminated it would go a long way to solving the air quality problem….not to mention the over population problem.
One Odark thirty, I popped into The Denny's in Norman OK. The air held more than the smell of T-backy smoke. Could almost see the moisture of sweat. As I approached the counter all eyes ( in silence ) were on me. It struck me that this was the aftermath of an after the bar brawl. Reaching the end of the counter I held up my thermos asking for coffee. It got filled, handed back and I was wished Goodbye, " It's free tonight"
I have friends and family that totally will only drive on a GPS route. I tell them they’re missing some beautiful scenery just to take the main road. oh. it may save 10 minutes. and that’s what the GPS says. GPS knows all.
The Jalopy Journal
