Most Boring Drive Between Two Major Cities?

[webny99]

That reminds me of another good candidate - I-35 between Minneapolis and Des Moines. Over 220 miles with exceptionally little of interest to see along the way.

[bugo]

St. Louis-Memphis: Apart from the spooky stretch of I-55 in NE Arkansas, there's really nothing on 55 to make the drive interesting.

What is this notable for?

[Flint1979]

St. Louis-Memphis: Apart from the spooky stretch of I-55 in NE Arkansas, there's really nothing on 55 to make the drive interesting.

What is this notable for?

All the exits and towns through that stretch and the farm fields in the area just seem strange. Most of the towns are run down, lots of abandoned places and poverty. I know I'm not the one that made the original comment regarding this but that's how I feel about I-55 between Sikeston and Memphis. Memphis is a creepy town too.

[JayhawkCO]

That reminds me of another good candidate - I-35 between Minneapolis and Des Moines. Over 220 miles with exceptionally little of interest to see along the way.

As a native Minnesotan, probably biased, but I kind of like when you hit the MN border northbound and immediately the amount of woodlands changes in composition and quantity.

[webny99]

Can't believe Des Moines-Denver hasn't been mentioned. Nebraska I-80 is a      fest

For the purposes of this thread, it would be Lincoln to Denver, though that doesn't change much I'm sure.

That reminds me of another good candidate - I-35 between Minneapolis and Des Moines. Over 220 miles with exceptionally little of interest to see along the way.

As a native Minnesotan, probably biased, but I kind of like when you hit the MN border northbound and immediately the amount of woodlands changes in composition and quantity.

To be honest I never really thought of there being "woodlands" in southern MN. I suppose there's slightly more trees and slightly less cornfields than Iowa, but that is an exceptionally low bar to clear.    To me the difference between northern MN and southern MN is much greater than the difference between southern MN and Iowa.

[Road Hog]

Eastern Nebraska to me would seem like an extension of Eastern Kansas, where the terrain is rolling, and trees grow down in the draws while the hilltops are grassy and bare. I'm more familiar with that part of Kansas because it looks a lot like North Texas when you can find it in the wild these days.

[Rick Powell]

I haven't done it in one go, but Chicago to Memphis looks pretty boring. You get the endless cornfields of I-57 in Illinois followed by a fairly dull stretch of I-55 between Sikeston and Memphis. At least the bit of I-57 that goes through the Shawnee National Forest in the southern tip of Illinois is nice.

2 Mississippi River crossings though.

[Rothman]

Anyone say SLC to Boise?

Tremonton to I-82 is pretty boring.

[JayhawkCO]

Anyone say SLC to Boise?

Tremonton to I-82 is pretty boring.

I was going to mention this one too. There are a lot of really pretty places in Idaho. The places where I-15, I-84, and I-86 run are not those.

[doorknob60]

Anyone say SLC to Boise?

Tremonton to I-82 is pretty boring.

I actually quite like the stretch of I-84 from Tremonton to I-86 (maybe that's what you meant, not 82?). Probably my favorite stretch of the Boise to SLC drive. It's more desolate than the rest of the drive (including less traffic), and there's some mountains/hills to keep it interesting. Not my favorite stretch of highway overall, by any means, but it's at least average. I can see why some people wouldn't like it though.

That said, part of the drive is quite boring. From I-86 to Bliss (past Burley, Twin Falls, and Jerome) is all pretty boring. Just farmland the whole way, and not close enough to the mountains to have any good views in the distance. The traffic is also a bit heavier (by Idaho standards) in this stretch, and lately there's been some road work too. Bliss to Mountain Home is alright. But Mountain Home to Boise is dreadful.

As a whole, definitely pretty boring by western standards, though I'd take it over stuff like I-5 in the CA Central Valley.

[Scott5114]

It's weirdly creepy to see a piece of Earth that has been completely taken over by humans (read: cornfields), except no human activity is in sight besides the other cars on the road.

Being in the middle of a sea of wind turbines at night is similarly creepy, when when all of the warning lights flash in unison.

[TheCatalyst31]

That reminds me of another good candidate - I-35 between Minneapolis and Des Moines. Over 220 miles with exceptionally little of interest to see along the way.

As a native Minnesotan, probably biased, but I kind of like when you hit the MN border northbound and immediately the amount of woodlands changes in composition and quantity.

I actually did this drive yesterday. The Iowa section is a slog, but I agree that the Minnesota part isn't so bad.

[Molandfreak]

Especially if you know what you're looking for, there are multiple scenic sites along I-35 through southern Minnesota:

• Albert Lea Lake/Myre-Big Island State Park
• Kaplan's Woods/Lake Kohlmeier
• Wells Lake/King Mill Dam

Between Faribault and Lakeville, yeah, there isn't much but at least it isn't intolerably boring. I'd even call I-35 south of the cities a better drive than I-35 from Forest Lake to Hinckley.

[Rothman]

Especially if you know what you're looking for, there are multiple scenic sites along I-35 through southern Minnesota:

• Albert Lea Lake/Myre-Big Island State Park
• Kaplan's Woods/Lake Kohlmeier
• Wells Lake/King Mill Dam

Between Faribault and Lakeville, yeah, there isn't much but at least it isn't intolerably boring. I'd even call I-35 south of the cities a better drive than I-35 from Forest Lake to Hinckley.

Yeah, the drive between the Cities and Duluth is strangely dull, but I haven't done the drive south on I-35 yet from the Cities into Iowa.

[JayhawkCO]

Especially if you know what you're looking for, there are multiple scenic sites along I-35 through southern Minnesota:

• Albert Lea Lake/Myre-Big Island State Park
• Kaplan's Woods/Lake Kohlmeier
• Wells Lake/King Mill Dam

Between Faribault and Lakeville, yeah, there isn't much but at least it isn't intolerably boring. I'd even call I-35 south of the cities a better drive than I-35 from Forest Lake to Hinckley.

Yeah, the drive between the Cities and Duluth is strangely dull, but I haven't done the drive south on I-35 yet from the Cities into Iowa.

From the Cities to Duluth, once you get to Cloquet or so, then it's pretty, but you only have about 10 miles left. The drive down the hill into Duluth is one of my favorites.

[webny99]

Just wanted to re-up my previous reply since it is relevant to the current discussion, particularly the bolded portion.

To be honest I never really thought of there being "woodlands" in southern MN. I suppose there's slightly more trees and slightly less cornfields than Iowa, but that is an exceptionally low bar to clear.    To me the difference between northern MN and southern MN is much greater than the difference between southern MN and Iowa.

... and I would add, Forest Lake to Duluth isn't particularly exciting either, but it's still very different than southern MN in terms of the presence of "woodlands". It really comes down to personal preference as to which is more boring.

[Rothman]

Especially if you know what you're looking for, there are multiple scenic sites along I-35 through southern Minnesota:

• Albert Lea Lake/Myre-Big Island State Park
• Kaplan's Woods/Lake Kohlmeier
• Wells Lake/King Mill Dam

Between Faribault and Lakeville, yeah, there isn't much but at least it isn't intolerably boring. I'd even call I-35 south of the cities a better drive than I-35 from Forest Lake to Hinckley.

Yeah, the drive between the Cities and Duluth is strangely dull, but I haven't done the drive south on I-35 yet from the Cities into Iowa.

From the Cities to Duluth, once you get to Cloquet or so, then it's pretty, but you only have about 10 miles left. The drive down the hill into Duluth is one of my favorites.

I hereby agree with this observation.

[roadman65]

The entire 46 mile drive north of Lusk, WY on the US 18/85 concurrency is boring.😴   I know it don't count, but it is truly a bad drive.

Plus Lusk is a major settlement in the very rural Wyoming anyway.😊

[Max Rockatansky]

The entire 46 mile drive north of Lusk, WY on the US 18/85 concurrency is boring.😴   I know it don't count, but it is truly a bad drive.

Plus Lusk is a major settlement in the very rural Wyoming anyway.😊

Spice it up by taking WY 270 instead.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Especially if you know what you're looking for, there are multiple scenic sites along I-35 through southern Minnesota:

• Albert Lea Lake/Myre-Big Island State Park
• Kaplan's Woods/Lake Kohlmeier
• Wells Lake/King Mill Dam

Between Faribault and Lakeville, yeah, there isn't much but at least it isn't intolerably boring. I'd even call I-35 south of the cities a better drive than I-35 from Forest Lake to Hinckley.

Yeah, the drive between the Cities and Duluth is strangely dull, but I haven't done the drive south on I-35 yet from the Cities into Iowa.

From the Cities to Duluth, once you get to Cloquet or so, then it's pretty, but you only have about 10 miles left. The drive down the hill into Duluth is one of my favorites.

For that fleeting couple weeks in late September through the first week and a half of October, I-35 is maybe an actually underrated drive from about Carlton CSAH 4 or TH 210 into Duluth as the leaves change.

[Rothman]

Especially if you know what you're looking for, there are multiple scenic sites along I-35 through southern Minnesota:

• Albert Lea Lake/Myre-Big Island State Park
• Kaplan's Woods/Lake Kohlmeier
• Wells Lake/King Mill Dam

Between Faribault and Lakeville, yeah, there isn't much but at least it isn't intolerably boring. I'd even call I-35 south of the cities a better drive than I-35 from Forest Lake to Hinckley.

Yeah, the drive between the Cities and Duluth is strangely dull, but I haven't done the drive south on I-35 yet from the Cities into Iowa.

From the Cities to Duluth, once you get to Cloquet or so, then it's pretty, but you only have about 10 miles left. The drive down the hill into Duluth is one of my favorites.

For that fleeting couple weeks in late September through the first week and a half of October, I-35 is maybe an actually underrated drive from about Carlton CSAH 4 or TH 210 into Duluth as the leaves change.

Nah.

[Robinsml]

I-20 from Ft Worth to Odessa/Midland has never done a lot for me.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

For that fleeting couple weeks in late September through the first week and a half of October, I-35 is maybe an actually underrated drive from about Carlton CSAH 4 or TH 210 into Duluth as the leaves change.

Nah.

Yah.

[Michael]

For the most part, I agree with the discussion in the beginning of the thread about the Thruway being boring.  As a passenger, I find it boring outside of Exits 34A-44 since that's the section I most traveled on growing up and am most familiar with.  Outside of exits 36-42 is a little bit boring, since I'm less familiar with those sections because we didn't go on them as often.  As a kid, I always thought the wide median section just east of exit 43 was interesting, and it was also a landmark meaning we were close to our exit since we'd use either Exit 43 or 44 to go to Canandaigua.  Another interesting part, but somewhat less of a landmark is the rock cut near Phelps.  I always thought it was interesting that the guardrail was "wide" (I didn't know what "thrie beam" was as a kid), and this was the only place I'd ever seen it used.  I never realized until the past several years that it was also used on some bridge rails.  I've always assumed the rail near Phelps was used to prevent rocks from rolling into the road.  Knowing what a clear zone is now, it may be for that, but why haven't I seen it used for that anywhere else?

After my first few trips to Darien Lake, the section between exits 44 and 48A has gotten boring.  I always thought being near Rochester meant that we were almost there, but it's only halfway.  A few years ago, I went on a trip with some friends to Erie, PA, and I went on the Buffalo-PA line section for the second (or technically 3rd and 4th, since it was my second round trip) time in my life.  I thought it would be exciting since it was only my second trip on that section, but I was extremely bored.  I always thought that section is shorter than it actually is.

As a driver, I've only driven the Thruway between exits 33 and 41 (or possibly 42), and even that section has gotten boring as I've gotten older.  Unless it doesn't make sense, I avoid the Thruway, and now that it's switched to AET, I avoid it altogether since I only use cash, and paying at a Moneygram location would have a fee possibly more than the toll itself.
I-81 heading south is another extremely boring road for me, especially in PA.  I've only been on this section as a passenger.  Growing up, I never realized how far apart Syracuse, Cortland, and Binghamton were.  It's gotten better as I've gotten older and more familiar with that section, but it's still pretty boring.  Once you get to the PA line, I've always thought "Oh, not too far until Clarks Summit", but I never realized that it's another 40 minutes away.  South of Scranton/Wilkes Barre to Harrisburg is even worse.  It's just hills with nothing, or hills with lights off in the distance at night.  I much prefer US 15 through the mountains south of Corning to central PA, and US 11/15 from there along the Susquehanna River to Harrisburg.

[SSOWorld]

55 and 57 through Illinois caould be the definition of Illinois... Flat.

I-39 is one of the most boring drives known to man.