Best Rock/Classic Rock stations to listen to while on the road (FM/AM)

[TMETSJETSYT]

Hey guys, so I am currently trying to make a map of the best rock/classic rock/alternative stations for interstates or popular roads. I have most of the East Coast done, because I have traveled most of it, but if anyone has any good stations for the west, or pacific coast, or any stations in general, please let me know. Thanks!

[TMETSJETSYT]

I am starting with doing I 95 because I have traveled almost all of it, but you guys can do some other interstates. Just put a textbox and put the station name and the call signal (example: KROQ,WFOX)
link to map: https://www.scribblemaps.com/create#/lat=40.9118964&lng=-73.99980359&z=8&t=custom_style

[skluth]

KSHE in St Louis is still one of the best. 94.7
St Louis also has the Point, KPNT, for those into "Alternative." 105.7

[Flint1979]

I don't generally listen to regular radio as much since I have a SirusXM account. But I can give you some stations for I-75 in the northern part of the route.

Actually starting around the Mackinac Bridge and continuing quite a distance south you can pick up 98.5 WUPS which is more of a classic hits station than classic rock but it's a very powerful station with a 100,000 watt signal near Houghton Lake. You can listen to that station from the bridge to the Tri-Cities.

Saginaw/Bay City is 104.5 WILZ which is a classic rock station with it's signal based in Saginaw.

Flint is 103.9 "The Fox" WRSR which is another classic rock station. They are more local to the Flint area though and bill themselves as Flint's Classic Rock Authority.

Detroit is 94.7 WCSX also classic rock. Once you lose 103.9 you can pull this station in all the way to the other side of Detroit. If your bypassing Detroit on US-23 this station comes in pretty good along US-23 as well.

Toledo is 94.5 WXKR. Classic rock after you lose 94.7 in Detroit you just have to go backwards one station to get this station in. You can keep this station until you get to about Findlay.

After Findlay I-75 starts to run on a diagonal running NE and SW until Lima. In this area after you lose 94.5 in Toledo you can pick up 98.9 WBYR The Bear in Fort Wayne, Indiana for awhile.

Dayton you can run with 104.7 WTUE. You will pass their transmit tower on I-75 at Mile Marker 50 in the Dayton suburb of Moraine.

Cincinnati is 92.5 WOFX The Fox. This one will keep you from turning the station again until almost Lexington.

After you lose 92.5 go with 92.1 WBVX in Lexington.

Perhaps someone can finish off I-75 for me after this point.

[SectorZ]

Mine for traveling in southern New England used to be WAAF (107.3) in Worcester/Boston and WCCC (106.9) in Hartford. Both are dead now, I believe both subsumed by religious music.

[bandit957]

Unfortunately this isn't 1983 when we had decent radio.

[Molandfreak]

Perhaps someone can finish off I-75 for me after this point.

This is the other end of the route, but in the Sault Ste. Marie area, WNBY 93.9 is good.

Minneapolis/St. Paul has KQRS 92.5, which has a top-notch morning show. There's also KOOL 108 at 107.9, but it's also the Christmas music station and seems to change up the lineup every year, so it's unrecognizable from what it was before about 2019.

Duluth has KQDS 94.9, which also has a top-notch morning show and a great afternoon show on weekdays, too. If you're not into the shows, there's also Sasquatch WWPE at 92.1.

There's quite a gap in coverage from about Tettegouche State Park to Grand Portage, but the border areas will be able to pick up CJSD 94.3 from Thunder Bay, and coverage from there continues until around Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Unfortunately, I don't think the topography is good for broadcasting a signal very far in that area.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

There's quite a gap in coverage from about Tettegouche State Park to Grand Portage, but the border areas will be able to pick up CJSD 94.3 from Thunder Bay, and coverage from there continues until around Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Unfortunately, I don't think the topography is good for broadcasting a signal very far in that area.

This gap came into existence when KQDS dropped their Grand Marais/Ashland translator a few years back.

To get you the rest of the way into Iowa going south, you can pick up Power 96 from Albert Lea.

[flan]

103.3 out of Fergus Falls, MN usually has a pretty good selection.

[Flint1979]

Perhaps someone can finish off I-75 for me after this point.

This is the other end of the route, but in the Sault Ste. Marie area, WNBY 93.9 is good.

Minneapolis/St. Paul has KQRS 92.5, which has a top-notch morning show. There's also KOOL 108 at 107.9, but it's also the Christmas music station and seems to change up the lineup every year, so it's unrecognizable from what it was before about 2019.

Duluth has KQDS 94.9, which also has a top-notch morning show and a great afternoon show on weekdays, too. If you're not into the shows, there's also Sasquatch WWPE at 92.1.

There's quite a gap in coverage from about Tettegouche State Park to Grand Portage, but the border areas will be able to pick up CJSD 94.3 from Thunder Bay, and coverage from there continues until around Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Unfortunately, I don't think the topography is good for broadcasting a signal very far in that area.

I stopped at Lexington because there is a lack of bigger cities until you get to Knoxville and I wasn't sure what station I would tune into after that.  The thing with WNBY is they are one of those stations that play Christmas music for an entire month.

[Big John]

The thing with WNBY is they are one of those stations that play Christmas music for an entire month.

Off-theme but a NIMBY station?

[Flint1979]

The thing with WNBY is they are one of those stations that play Christmas music for an entire month.

Off-theme but a NIMBY station?

It's called WNBY after Newberry, Michigan. It's transmit tower is on get ready for the name of this road (Stop Sign Road) which is off M-123 on the way to Paradise.

[abefroman329]

Classic rock is a dying genre in nearly all markets.  If you want to be able to listen to it coast-to-coast, you're better off investing in a SiriusXM account.

[hbelkins]

Perhaps someone can finish off I-75 for me after this point.

This is the other end of the route, but in the Sault Ste. Marie area, WNBY 93.9 is good.

Minneapolis/St. Paul has KQRS 92.5, which has a top-notch morning show. There's also KOOL 108 at 107.9, but it's also the Christmas music station and seems to change up the lineup every year, so it's unrecognizable from what it was before about 2019.

Duluth has KQDS 94.9, which also has a top-notch morning show and a great afternoon show on weekdays, too. If you're not into the shows, there's also Sasquatch WWPE at 92.1.

There's quite a gap in coverage from about Tettegouche State Park to Grand Portage, but the border areas will be able to pick up CJSD 94.3 from Thunder Bay, and coverage from there continues until around Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Unfortunately, I don't think the topography is good for broadcasting a signal very far in that area.

I stopped at Lexington because there is a lack of bigger cities until you get to Knoxville and I wasn't sure what station I would tune into after that.  The thing with WNBY is they are one of those stations that play Christmas music for an entire month.

There's a radio group based in London that might have decent reception between Lexington and Knoxville, but I don't know if one of their stations is classic rock or AOR, as I don't listen to over-the-air radio very often.

The go-to in Lexington years ago was WKQQ (then 98.1, now 100.1) but I always liked being able to pick up WEBN from Cincinnati or WQMF from Louisville, as they played more hard rock than Double-Q did.

On my home stereo, when conditions were right, I could pick up rock stations from Oak Ridge and the Kingsport-Johnson City area that I enjoyed listening to. My bedroom window faced south and that's where I had my FM antenna hung up.

[Flint1979]

Classic rock is a dying genre in nearly all markets.  If you want to be able to listen to it coast-to-coast, you're better off investing in a SiriusXM account.

I mentioned I have a SirusXM account up thread. Some stations I would suggest are Ozzy's Boneyard, Hair Nation, Classic Rewind and Classic Vinyl.

[Takumi]

Classic rock is a dying genre in nearly all markets.  If you want to be able to listen to it coast-to-coast, you're better off investing in a SiriusXM account.

Doesn't help that a lot of stations have just played the same 100 or so songs every day in a different order for the past 30 years, except when they started to add in an occasional Pearl Jam or Nirvana song about a decade ago.

[XamotCGC]

Waky 103.5 FM if you're travelling close to Elizabethtown or Louisville

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Classic rock is a dying genre in nearly all markets.  If you want to be able to listen to it coast-to-coast, you're better off investing in a SiriusXM account.

Not denying, but in terms of getting across the largest swaths of rural America classic rock/classic hits are still going to be your best bets for terrestrial radio consistency beyond NPR and Christian talk radio. 30 yeas from now when the boomers and a large swath of older Gen X are gone will likely be different.

[vdeane]

It's not my first choice of genre when seeking out radio stations, but there are a couple on my preset system - 96.9 WOUR from Utica, NY and Rock 102.1 (WAQY) from Springfield, MA.

[bandit957]

Back in the '90s, I was a diehard fan of the M Street Radio Directory. It's a shame they don't still publish these.

[Henry]

Classic rock is a dying genre in nearly all markets.  If you want to be able to listen to it coast-to-coast, you're better off investing in a SiriusXM account.

I mentioned I have a SirusXM account up thread. Some stations I would suggest are Ozzy's Boneyard, Hair Nation, Classic Rewind and Classic Vinyl.

Well, not everyone would be willing to blow hundreds of dollars in subscriptions to SiriusXM, so another way to go would be Pandora.

I'll do I-5, and I think these selections would be pretty much straightforward (with info pulled from Radio-Locator.com):

San Diego--KGB 101.5
Los Angeles--KLOS 95.5
Bakersfield (not on the actual route, but very close)--KDFO 98.5
Fresno (ditto)--KJFX 96.7, KKBZ 105.1
Visalia/Tulare--KIOO 99.7
Sacramento--KYRV 93.7, KSEG 96.9
Redding--KHRD 103.1
Mt. Shasta--KZRO 100.1
Medford--KBOY 95.7
Eugene--KZEL 96.1
Portland--KLOO 106.3
Seattle--KZOK 102.5
Bellingham--KISM 92.9

[Flint1979]

SirusXM costs less than a dollar a day.

[Rothman]

SirusXM costs less than a dollar a day.

And...?

[Flint1979]

SirusXM costs less than a dollar a day.

And...?

And in the post above mine Henry mentioned blowing hundreds of dollars on a SirusXM account. It's not that massively expensive, it costs $27.99 a month and for the first year I had it it cost $10 a month.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

28x12 is well over $300 a year. That's not exactly pocket change for a good number of people.