location in the lower 48 farthest from an interstate highway

[agentsteel53]

it must be on a public road - and we have to count by driving distance, not as the crow flies, to account for a general lack of infrastructure.

I am thinking it's either eastern Montana along the Canadian border, or somewhere in inner Nevada.

I've got:

end US 191 at Alberta 4, to I-15 in Great Falls, MT: 252 miles
a point on NV-376 which is 256 miles to either the south end of I-580 in Carson City, or I-15 at the US-93 junction never mind; this point is only 181mi from I-80.  Forgot about the existence of NV-305.

but there may be shorter routes from each of those points, especially if you navigate over dirt roads.

anyone have any ideas?

[NE2]

The end of the Keweenaw Peninsula gets pretty close to those (242 mi to Wausau, more to Duluth or Green Bay).

[agentsteel53]

didn't think of that one!  243 to Wausau from Schlatter Lake, which is accessed by a narrow dirt road.

[mgk920]

didn't think of that one!  243 to Wausau from Schlatter Lake, which is accessed by a narrow dirt road.

How far is that from I-75?

Mike

[Brandon]

didn't think of that one!  243 to Wausau from Schlatter Lake, which is accessed by a narrow dirt road.

How far is that from I-75?

Mike

As the crow flies, about the same distance.  As one can actually drive on roads, on land, much further.  Yes, Virginia, the western UP is closer to the freeway system of Wisconsin than that of Michigan.

[Alps]

So how do we deal with ferries? You can drive all day long and never get from Nantucket to I-495.

[deathtopumpkins]

Pales in comparsion to some of the western examples, but in up in Allagash, ME you can drive more than 130 miles away from I-95, which is impressive for New England.

[tdindy88]

A longer East Coast example would be Key West, FL, about 160 miles from the nearest interstate at I-95.

[vdeane]

Pales in comparsion to some of the western examples, but in up in Allagash, ME you can drive more than 130 miles away from I-95, which is impressive for New England.

Estcourt Junction is even further, accessible via logging roads in the US or via provincial highways in Quebec.

[ChoralScholar]

Key West is a pretty good ways from I-95, 180+ I think, but it's not the farthest I'm sure.

[froggie]

Jake:  coincidentally, a GIS analysis "as the crow flies" coincides with the two farthest you came up with:  at/just east of the US 191 Canadian border crossing, and the north end of US 41 on the Keweenaw Peninsula.

[Molandfreak]

Using a random point on U.S. 395 in Oregon, the closest route to any interstate I could find was to I-84 in Ontario, at 221 miles.
http://goo.gl/maps/qlwo1

[doorknob60]

Using a random point on U.S. 395 in Oregon, the closest route to any interstate I could find was to I-84 in Ontario, at 221 miles.
http://goo.gl/maps/qlwo1

That point is a bit closer (204 miles) to I-5 in Ashland: http://goo.gl/maps/snJOX

So, go a few miles up the road and you'd be about 212.5 miles from each interstate.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Don't forget Alaska! According to Google Maps, Deadhorse is 496 miles away from unsigned I-A2/I-A4 (AK-2/AK-3) junction in Fairbanks.

[Scott5114]

Don't forget Alaska! According to Google Maps, Deadhorse is 496 miles away from unsigned I-A2/I-A4 (AK-2/AK-3) junction in Fairbanks.

Alaska was intentionally forgotten–it's not in the lower 48!

[NWI_Irish96]

The Morgan, MT border crossing is 245 miles from I-15.

[Molandfreak]

Using a random point on U.S. 395 in Oregon, the closest route to any interstate I could find was to I-84 in Ontario, at 221 miles.
http://goo.gl/maps/qlwo1

That point is a bit closer (204 miles) to I-5 in Ashland: http://goo.gl/maps/snJOX

So, go a few miles up the road and you'd be about 212.5 miles from each interstate.

Ah, I forgot to check I-5 in Ashland!

[1995hoo]

The end of the Keweenaw Peninsula gets pretty close to those (242 mi to Wausau, more to Duluth or Green Bay).

Since the OP said the distance is via road and other transportation, and not as the crow flies, your comment prompted me to think that somewhere on Isle Royale might be the answer given that you have to take a ferry. But then I remembered that the ferries from Copper Harbor (which is how I went on my lone trip to the island) are not the only ones–there are also ferries from Houghton and, more importantly for this thread, from Grand Portage, Minnesota. It's only about 140 miles from the end of I-35 in Duluth to Grand Portage, so via that route the distance is substantially shorter.

[mgk920]

didn't think of that one!  243 to Wausau from Schlatter Lake, which is accessed by a narrow dirt road.

How far is that from I-75?

As the crow flies, about the same distance.  As one can actually drive on roads, on land, much further.  Yes, Virginia, the western UP is closer to the freeway system of Wisconsin than that of Michigan.

Checking the area on Google maps and aerial images, they show a narrow dirt road (High Rock Bay Rd) that goes around the north side of Schlatter Lake to end at the very tip of the peninsula, several km farther away from I-39 at Rothschild, WI than Mandan Rd mentioned above (remember that I-39 ends at the southeast WI 29 split interchange - the Rothschild interchange).

Mike

[Molandfreak]

The end of the Keweenaw Peninsula gets pretty close to those (242 mi to Wausau, more to Duluth or Green Bay).

Since the OP said the distance is via road and other transportation, and not as the crow flies, your comment prompted me to think that somewhere on Isle Royale might be the answer given that you have to take a ferry. But then I remembered that the ferries from Copper Harbor (which is how I went on my lone trip to the island) are not the only ones–there are also ferries from Houghton and, more importantly for this thread, from Grand Portage, Minnesota. It's only about 140 miles from the end of I-35 in Duluth to Grand Portage, so via that route the distance is substantially shorter.

Isle Royale doesn't allow vehicular traffic; therefore it doesn't meet the requirements given that it has no public roads.

[rte66man]

Not a winner (but darn impressive anyway) would be SW Kansas.  I do know Liberal to Shamrock, TX is about 150 miles (so is Liberal to Oakley and I-70), so anywhere west and north would be more.

rte66man

[1995hoo]

The end of the Keweenaw Peninsula gets pretty close to those (242 mi to Wausau, more to Duluth or Green Bay).

Since the OP said the distance is via road and other transportation, and not as the crow flies, your comment prompted me to think that somewhere on Isle Royale might be the answer given that you have to take a ferry. But then I remembered that the ferries from Copper Harbor (which is how I went on my lone trip to the island) are not the only ones–there are also ferries from Houghton and, more importantly for this thread, from Grand Portage, Minnesota. It's only about 140 miles from the end of I-35 in Duluth to Grand Portage, so via that route the distance is substantially shorter.

Isle Royale doesn't allow vehicular traffic; therefore it doesn't meet the requirements given that it has no public roads.

Somehow I overlooked the very first sentence of the original post. D'oh. 

[agentsteel53]

The Morgan, MT border crossing is 245 miles from I-15.

along what routing?  I actually get 256 via the Google default routing of 191 to Malta, 2 to Havre, 87 to Great Falls and then west on Central Ave. to exit 280 of I-15.

[Molandfreak]

The Morgan, MT border crossing is 245 miles from I-15.

along what routing?  I actually get 256 via the Google default routing of 191 to Malta, 2 to Havre, 87 to Great Falls and then west on Central Ave. to exit 280 of I-15.

Via dirt roads make it shorter.

http://goo.gl/maps/SDiFk

[agentsteel53]

I got it down to 380km, which is 235 miles.

http://goo.gl/maps/za8X5

(good job idiot google maps switching to kilometers when the start point is within ~5 miles of Canada, despite the fact that the entire route is in the US.)