The Most Boring Stretches of Highway

[kirbykart]

I-71 from Cleveland to Columbus
The NY Thruway from Buffalo to Albany, particularly the stretch from Syracuse to Rochester

I disagree on the I-71 stretch through Ohio.  It's rolling hills north of Us‐36.  Yeah, it's flat thru Columbus to US-68, but at least there are exits every 5-10 miles at the very least.  It's not like you are blowing past 20-30 straight miles of corn/wheat fields with no diversions.

Rolling hills does not equal interesting. There is nothing to look at on that road, it is boring as hell. I unironically think the section from Columbus to Cincinnati is slightly more tolerable, though it could be because it is shorter.

I-71 from Cleveland to Columbus
The NY Thruway from Buffalo to Albany, particularly the stretch from Syracuse to Rochester

Buffalo to Utica is boring.  Utica to Albany, not so much.  Quite scenic around Fort Plain and Little Falls.

Where is Fort Plain? I do think the rock cuts near Little Falls are kinda neat, but the rest of it from Buffalo to Albany is boring as hell. Well, Syracuse is a tad interesting.


I would also like to mention 2 I forgot: The Ohio Turnpike and I-65 from Gary to Indianapolis.

[Rothman]

I-71 from Cleveland to Columbus
The NY Thruway from Buffalo to Albany, particularly the stretch from Syracuse to Rochester

I disagree on the I-71 stretch through Ohio.  It's rolling hills north of Us‐36.  Yeah, it's flat thru Columbus to US-68, but at least there are exits every 5-10 miles at the very least.  It's not like you are blowing past 20-30 straight miles of corn/wheat fields with no diversions.

Rolling hills does not equal interesting. There is nothing to look at on that road, it is boring as hell. I unironically think the section from Columbus to Cincinnati is slightly more tolerable, though it could be because it is shorter.

I-71 from Cleveland to Columbus
The NY Thruway from Buffalo to Albany, particularly the stretch from Syracuse to Rochester

Buffalo to Utica is boring.  Utica to Albany, not so much.  Quite scenic around Fort Plain and Little Falls.

Where is Fort Plain? I do think the rock cuts near Little Falls are kinda neat, but the rest of it from Buffalo to Albany is boring as hell. Well, Syracuse is a tad interesting.


I would also like to mention 2 I forgot: The Ohio Turnpike and I-65 from Gary to Indianapolis.

If you don't know where Fort Plain is, I don't think you've traveled this route often enough for your judgment to be trusted.

Also...kind of weird to ask that.  What's my answer supposed to be? "Between Utica and Schenectady"?  I mean, lmgtfy...

[vdeane]

Where is Fort Plain? I do think the rock cuts near Little Falls are kinda neat, but the rest of it from Buffalo to Albany is boring as hell. Well, Syracuse is a tad interesting.

Roughly 10 miles east of there.  And you don't find the Mohawk River and the hills in the area even a little interesting?  Sure, that portion drags for me too, but I at least have the excuse that I drive it fairly frequently.

Oddly enough, the Rochester-Syracuse portion doesn't drag much for me.  Or Rochester-Buffalo. Utica-Syracuse and west of Buffalo, however, are dull, dull, dull (literally the only interesting things I can think of between the reservation and PA border are the correctional facilities sign and the brief views of Lake Erie to the north near Ripley).

[kirbykart]

^Hmmm... Yeah, Rochester to Syracuse is definitely the most boring for me. We'll have to agree to disagree on that.

Oddly enough, I've never actually traveled the closest part of the Thruway to where I live (Exit 57A to PA border), because it really doesn't line up with any potential, sensical driving paths.

So Fort Plain is pretty close to Canajoharie, okay. The Mohawk River and Erie Canal are not interesting really because, well it's not like they're outstanding bridges. They seem like pretty run-of-the-mill Interstate bridges to me.

Alright, I guess I will admit that the stretch through the Mohawk Valley is the tiniest bit more interesting than say, the area around Junius Ponds. But that doesn't make it an interesting road.

[vdeane]

^Hmmm... Yeah, Rochester to Syracuse is definitely the most boring for me. We'll have to agree to disagree on that.

Oddly enough, I've never actually traveled the closest part of the Thruway to where I live (Exit 57A to PA border), because it really doesn't line up with any potential, sensical driving paths.

So Fort Plain is pretty close to Canajoharie, okay. The Mohawk River and Erie Canal are not interesting really because, well it's not like they're outstanding bridges. They seem like pretty run-of-the-mill Interstate bridges to me.

Alright, I guess I will admit that the stretch through the Mohawk Valley is the tiniest bit more interesting than say, the area around Junius Ponds. But that doesn't make it an interesting road.

I take it you're not interested in the scenery?  Rock faces?  Hilly farms?  Although I guess I had more of a tunnel vision to the road features at your age too.

Regarding Rochester-Syracuse, my parents hate it, and I did when I was younger, so I get it at least.  I think the reason I find that part more interesting is that it has stuff happen fairly frequently (39-40 has the Syracuse approach EB, the gantry, the smile farm silo with Snoopy next to it, the cow farm silo, and the tree farms; 40-41 has Port Byron, the canal lock, Cayuga-Seneca Canal, and Montezuma, including the bald eagle statue; 41-42 is short and has Junius Ponds and the Waterloo Premium Outlets in the middle; 42-43 has the "false Geneva" hill, but does drag in spots; 43-44 is somewhat short and has a couple interesting overpasses; 44-45 has fun concrete, more lanes, the service area, and a lot going on in a very short space, plus it marks the start/end of nearly every Thruway trip in the area).  Regarding Rochester/Buffalo, I think it's more novelty factor (growing up, we went east FAR more often than west), but there are landmarks too (47-48 has the "big shift" with the curves and going up/down the hill to get from one side of NY 33 and the railroad tracks to the other; 48-48A doesn't have much but there's some Batavia scenery and the handover from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie watersheds, and it thankfully isn't the biggest gap in the world; 48A-49 is quite boring on the east end but the west end has the Buffalo approach WB and the quarry view EB; 49-50 has more of the Buffalo approach and the airport, and has gotten more boring since the toll barrier was removed, but at least traffic no longer has to stop; it's also very short).

With the Thruway, it's all about knowing your landmarks and where they are.  I also have the approximate mile markers memorized for most interchanges from 15-50 (missing the Syracuse local exits, mainly), as well as the relative location of county boundaries and other landmarks.  Of course, I've been traveling 45-36 multiple times a year since I started college, 36-33 since 2013, 33-24 since 2014, and I also pick up 47-50, 15-24, and even 8-15 for roadgeeking reasons fairly regularly.

[kirbykart]

I already mentioned that the rock cuts near Little Falls are neat. But farms? I see farms every day. Farms are not interesting.

I have failed to actually see any ponds from the Thruway in the Junius Ponds area. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

I've been both ways on the Thruway from Buffalo to Albany several times in my life. I can still confidently say it is the second-most boring road I have ever been on, only surpassed by the Ohio Turnpike or maybe I-65 in Indiana.

[kphoger]

I already mentioned that the rock cuts near Little Falls are neat. But farms? I see farms every day. Farms are not interesting.

They're something to look at.  Farmhouses and barns are definitely more visually engaging than a never-ending wall of trees on each side of the highway.  Huge swaths of wide-open, flat-as-a-pancake, exactly-one-section fields in the Great Plains do get tedious, but the smaller-parcel farms east of the Mississippi don't deserve the title of 'most boring'.

[StogieGuy7]

I already mentioned that the rock cuts near Little Falls are neat. But farms? I see farms every day. Farms are not interesting.

They're something to look at.  Farmhouses and barns are definitely more visually engaging than a never-ending wall of trees on each side of the highway.  Huge swaths of wide-open, flat-as-a-pancake, exactly-one-section fields in the Great Plains do get tedious, but the smaller-parcel farms east of the Mississippi don't deserve the title of 'most boring'.

I-55 in Illinois begs to differ with you.

[kphoger]

I-55 in Illinois begs to differ with you.

And that's exactly where the 'flat as a pancake' part comes in.  As I said in the now-locked thread...

Yeah, when I think of "flat" and "Illinois" in the same thought, I-55 is what immediately comes to mind.

[Rothman]

I already mentioned that the rock cuts near Little Falls are neat. But farms? I see farms every day. Farms are not interesting.

I have failed to actually see any ponds from the Thruway in the Junius Ponds area. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

I've been both ways on the Thruway from Buffalo to Albany several times in my life. I can still confidently say it is the second-most boring road I have ever been on, only surpassed by the Ohio Turnpike or maybe I-65 in Indiana.

You're just revealing that you aren't widely traveled yet with that assessment.

But yeah, Syracuse to Buffalo...yawn.

[Quillz]

CA-14 between Mojave and the 395 junction. It has one kind of interesting segment through Red Rocks, the rest is boring and desolate. It's the same desert scenery you'll see on almost any other highway in the area. But frankly, most of CA-14 in general is kind of boring once you leave the Transverse Range.

[kirbykart]

You're just revealing that you aren't widely traveled yet with that assessment.

But yeah, Syracuse to Buffalo...yawn.

1. (Not really talking specifically to you) I forgot another really boring one which is I-55 from around I-80 to Bloomington-Normal. BN to Springfield is boring but not as boring. Springfield to ESTL is considerably more interesting IMO despite the similar landscape.

2. (Response to your first sentence) Right below my avatar you can see a magical number known as my age.

[Max Rockatansky]

CA-14 between Mojave and the 395 junction. It has one kind of interesting segment through Red Rocks, the rest is boring and desolate. It's the same desert scenery you'll see on almost any other highway in the area. But frankly, most of CA-14 in general is kind of boring once you leave the Transverse Range.

CA 58 east of CA 14 is a snooze fest to look at now that the Kramer Junction Bypass and Hinkley Bypass are complete. 

[Rothman]

You're just revealing that you aren't widely traveled yet with that assessment.

But yeah, Syracuse to Buffalo...yawn.

1. (Not really talking specifically to you) I forgot another really boring one which is I-55 from around I-80 to Bloomington-Normal. BN to Springfield is boring but not as boring. Springfield to ESTL is considerably more interesting IMO despite the similar landscape.

2. (Response to your first sentence) Right below my avatar you can see a magical number known as my age.

Thanks for agreeing with me.

[vdeane]

I already mentioned that the rock cuts near Little Falls are neat. But farms? I see farms every day. Farms are not interesting.

I have failed to actually see any ponds from the Thruway in the Junius Ponds area. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

I've been both ways on the Thruway from Buffalo to Albany several times in my life. I can still confidently say it is the second-most boring road I have ever been on, only surpassed by the Ohio Turnpike or maybe I-65 in Indiana.

I was also thinking of things like this (note the rock on the ledge) (the other side is really nice too).

As for the farms on rolling hills, I guess there's a fair bit of truth to the saying "familiarity breeds contempt".  Note that you live in what most would consider to be a fairly scenic part of the state.

[Rothman]

I already mentioned that the rock cuts near Little Falls are neat. But farms? I see farms every day. Farms are not interesting.

I have failed to actually see any ponds from the Thruway in the Junius Ponds area. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

I've been both ways on the Thruway from Buffalo to Albany several times in my life. I can still confidently say it is the second-most boring road I have ever been on, only surpassed by the Ohio Turnpike or maybe I-65 in Indiana.

I was also thinking of things like this (note the rock on the ledge) (the other side is really nice too).

Yep, my wife and I love the drive through that gap.

[cl94]

Please, the Utica-Albany stretch of the Thruway isn't even among the worst stretches of the Thruway. I drove it very frequently for several years and there's enough to look at and keep you interested. West of Utica and especially west of Buffalo becomes a snoozefest.

But if you want really boring, I-70 east of Denver. Eastern Colorado gets old very quickly. Also, almost anything in the rural California Central Valley is boring AF, comparable to what you'd see on the flattest parts of the Plains. Those roads get old very quickly. For a state that as a whole is among the most scenic in the country, that region has some of the dullest scenery in the country unless it's an unusually clear day. And I'll concur with the above that a decent amount of the Mojave Desert (such as stretches of 15 and 58) is quite boring.

Having driven all of Vermont's freeway mileage, I agree that it's relatively dull compared to the surrounding 2-lane roads. It has a few moments, but much of it looks the same. I-95 north of Bangor is shockingly boring, too, apart from the Katahdin viewpoint.

[Quillz]

Also, almost anything in the rural California Central Valley is boring AF, comparable to what you'd see on the flattest parts of the Plains. Those roads get old very quickly. For a state that as a whole is among the most scenic in the country, that region has some of the dullest scenery in the country unless it's an unusually clear day. And I'll concur with the above that a decent amount of the Mojave Desert (such as stretches of 15 and 58) is quite boring.

I completely forgot about the 5! Thankfully it improves a lot once you get north of Redding. Specifically, the stretch from Redding, CA to Eugene, OR is arguably my favorite drive anywhere. Mountainous region, you follow Shasta Lake for a while, views of Mt. Shasta, junctions with some very scenic highways. In particular the final couple miles in California north of the CA-96 junction, you're pretty high up and then cross into Oregon, I just love that part of the drive. Makes up for the Wheeler Ridge-Redding slog that is indeed pretty flat and boring for the most part.

[Quillz]

CA-14 between Mojave and the 395 junction. It has one kind of interesting segment through Red Rocks, the rest is boring and desolate. It's the same desert scenery you'll see on almost any other highway in the area. But frankly, most of CA-14 in general is kind of boring once you leave the Transverse Range.

CA 58 east of CA 14 is a snooze fest to look at now that the Kramer Junction Bypass and Hinkley Bypass are complete. 

I would expand on this and say that I also find the 395 drive itself is a bit boring between the 14 junction and Bishop. Yes, you've got the Sierra on one side and the Inyo/White Mountains on the other side, but the actual drive is still relatively flat and boring. But I think a lot of this is my having good memories of going to Mammoth with my dad. So the anticipation of getting there is what made me dread the 14-395 stretch. But then it gets really good past Bishop.

However, driving it (as opposed to being a passenger) made me realize that the 14 slog isn't actually all that long (under 50 miles IIRC), and I find the 395 stretch more interesting behind the wheel. But in recent years I've also taken some side tours like Horseshoe Meadows Road.

[kirbykart]

Please, the Utica-Albany stretch of the Thruway isn't even among the worst stretches of the Thruway. I drove it very frequently for several years and there's enough to look at and keep you interested. West of Utica and especially west of Buffalo becomes a snoozefest.

I've literally been saying that bit is a bit more interesting than Buffalo-Utica.

[GaryV]

is boring AF

You must not be doing it right. I never thought F was boring.

[StogieGuy7]

is boring AF

You must not be doing it right. I never thought F was boring.

Priceless! 

[Gnutella]

Boring stretches? Maybe it's because I was in the back of a hot car with a broken A/C when I was young, or I took these routes once too often, but here are my selections:

• I-80 between Auburn and Fairfield. I swear, going home to Sacramento feels LONGER than getting away from Sacramento.
  
• I-5 between Tracy and the Grapevine (please, sirs, may I take CA-99?)
  
• I-680 between Fairfield and Benicia
  
• I-205 near Tracy
  
• I-580 east of Livermore and the I-5
  
• US-50 between Placerville and Folsom
  

That's when I'm glad I have a working audio system in my car and some good audiobooks in my smartphone.

I know that people like to condemn I-5 between Redding and the Grapevine, but I found the drive between Tracy and Sacramento halfway interesting, and I enjoy the farmland between Sacramento and Redding.

Well the only time a boring highway becomes interesting is when you have to smell manure in your car.  I 680 at the Lake Herman rd exit is interesting. LAke Herman rd is when you have an underated scenic road within Benicia and Vallejo city limits.

There are plenty of manure smells along I-78/US 22 in PA! yeow.

I blame Shartlesville.

[pderocco]

I would expand on this and say that I also find the 395 drive itself is a bit boring between the 14 junction and Bishop. Yes, you've got the Sierra on one side and the Inyo/White Mountains on the other side, but the actual drive is still relatively flat and boring. But I think a lot of this is my having good memories of going to Mammoth with my dad. So the anticipation of getting there is what made me dread the 14-395 stretch. But then it gets really good past Bishop.

However, driving it (as opposed to being a passenger) made me realize that the 14 slog isn't actually all that long (under 50 miles IIRC), and I find the 395 stretch more interesting behind the wheel. But in recent years I've also taken some side tours like Horseshoe Meadows Road.

The "drive" may be boring because it's flat and straight, but I think the mountains, once you get past Olancha, are beautiful. And so are the many ranches. And there are lots of old 395 alignments that you can drive, once you get past Lone Pine. The boring part of 395 is the southernmost 50 miles or so.

[Dough4872]

I-85 across southern Virginia is quite bad, nothing but a wall of trees in your direction, can't even see the other side of the road.