Most Boring Drive Between Two Major Cities?

[MikieTimT]

Wilmington to Clayton on I-40 in North Carolina. Yawn.

Oh, the segment of I-40 that should be something else anyway.

[achilles765]

I-10 between Los Angeles and Phoenix doesn't do a whole lot. 

Is it desert? Because I would love that. I haven't been to the desert since I was 2 or 3 years old, and I hope to see it again one day. It's those endless pine groves in the Deep South that bore me to tears. I-20 in Mississippi and I-16 in Georgia are two good examples.

I agree. I did the desert drive this week and I never got bored once. The desert and the hills. It was an austere beauty.

[NWI_Irish96]

I-10 between Los Angeles and Phoenix doesn't do a whole lot. 

Is it desert? Because I would love that. I haven't been to the desert since I was 2 or 3 years old, and I hope to see it again one day. It's those endless pine groves in the Deep South that bore me to tears. I-20 in Mississippi and I-16 in Georgia are two good examples.

I agree. I did the desert drive this week and I never got bored once. The desert and the hills. It was an austere beauty.

It's a matter of what you're used to. I thought the drive on I-8 from LA to Tucson was fascinating because there's nothing like it near me. People who drive it often are probably bored to tears.

[Max Rockatansky]

There certainly much going on with I-8 east of Yuma. 

[JREwing78]

I-55 in NW Arkansas definitely makes the grade, It's absurdly flat, nothing but fields and short stubby trees along fence rows. It makes other roads like I-39 in Illinois seem interesting to drive by comparison. The trees along I-55 south of Memphis to New Orleans are an improvement.

I-96 between Grand Rapids and Lansing in Michigan never struck me as boring - traffic is too hectic. It's nothing special to look at - only approaching M-6 from the east and driving through Portland has any real visual interest. |

I liked the hills and trees along I-90 east of Cleveland v.s the Turnpike west of Cleveland. I got so bored with that section of turnpike that I started driving out of my way to avoid it. I once dropped down to US-30, took it to Fort Wayne, then came into Lansing via I-69, just to give me something different to drive. Ditto US-20 in central Ohio, which I could charitably say has an identity crisis. It can't decide whether it's a rural 4-lane divided highway, a freeway, or a narrow small-town street.

I-76/I-80 between Denver and Lincoln is pretty boring to look at - and it smells, at least in Nebraska.

[pderocco]

I-10 between Los Angeles and Phoenix doesn't do a whole lot. 

Is it desert? Because I would love that. I haven't been to the desert since I was 2 or 3 years old, and I hope to see it again one day. It's those endless pine groves in the Deep South that bore me to tears. I-20 in Mississippi and I-16 in Georgia are two good examples.

I agree. I did the desert drive this week and I never got bored once. The desert and the hills. It was an austere beauty.

Well, there's desert and there's desert. I find I-10 in western AZ rather boring. I-8 is a little better, although I'd rather drive the old US-80 parallel to it where it exists. But I'd say the desert between Vegas and Reno, usually driven on US-95, has a lot of visual interest. Phoenix to Salt Lake can be spectacular.

[Flint1979]

I-55 in NW Arkansas definitely makes the grade, It's absurdly flat, nothing but fields and short stubby trees along fence rows. It makes other roads like I-39 in Illinois seem interesting to drive by comparison. The trees along I-55 south of Memphis to New Orleans are an improvement.

I-96 between Grand Rapids and Lansing in Michigan never struck me as boring - traffic is too hectic. It's nothing special to look at - only approaching M-6 from the east and driving through Portland has any real visual interest. |

I liked the hills and trees along I-90 east of Cleveland v.s the Turnpike west of Cleveland. I got so bored with that section of turnpike that I started driving out of my way to avoid it. I once dropped down to US-30, took it to Fort Wayne, then came into Lansing via I-69, just to give me something different to drive. Ditto US-20 in central Ohio, which I could charitably say has an identity crisis. It can't decide whether it's a rural 4-lane divided highway, a freeway, or a narrow small-town street.

I-76/I-80 between Denver and Lincoln is pretty boring to look at - and it smells, at least in Nebraska.

I-96 between GR and Lansing has perhaps the longest straight section of Interstate in Michigan. It's not exactly straight as an arrow but it's 16 miles of straight highway. There are two curves one near the Saranac Rest Area and another one between Hastings Road and the Nash Highway exit. But I would say that's a boring section of I-96.

[Scott5114]

I'd nominate US 93 between Phoenix and Las Vegas. Especially the portion of US 93 between Kingman, AZ and Las Vegas.

The area around Hoover Dam is awesome and makes up for anything else on that segment in my opinion.

Nevada makes a hell of a first impression if that's your first contact with it, as it was for me.

Well, there's desert and there's desert. I find I-10 in western AZ rather boring. I-8 is a little better, although I'd rather drive the old US-80 parallel to it where it exists. But I'd say the desert between Vegas and Reno, usually driven on US-95, has a lot of visual interest. Phoenix to Salt Lake can be spectacular.

So what I'm hearing is that the Mojave Desert is interesting and the Sonoran Desert is boring.

[pderocco]

So what I'm hearing is that the Mojave Desert is interesting and the Sonoran Desert is boring.

On the average, yes. There are exceptions here and there, certainly.

But neither holds a candle to southern Utah and northern Arizona. But most of that area isn't on the way between two major cities.

[achilles765]

I-10 between Los Angeles and Phoenix doesn't do a whole lot. 

Is it desert? Because I would love that. I haven't been to the desert since I was 2 or 3 years old, and I hope to see it again one day. It's those endless pine groves in the Deep South that bore me to tears. I-20 in Mississippi and I-16 in Georgia are two good examples.

I agree. I did the desert drive this week and I never got bored once. The desert and the hills. It was an austere beauty.

It's a matter of what you're used to. I thought the drive on I-8 from LA to Tucson was fascinating because there's nothing like it near me. People who drive it often are probably bored to tears.

I did wonder about that. Like what it must be like to drive through something so breathtaking everyday.

[fillup420]

Wilmington to Clayton on I-40 in North Carolina. Yawn.

Oh, the segment of I-40 that should be something else anyway.

I agree, though i must say i appreciate the consistent low traffic volumes. I have certainly gone from exit 309 to End I-40 without changing lanes once.

[mgk920]

During a roadtrip a couple of decades ago, I found WB I-40 between Knoxville, and Nashville, TN to be remarkably long, neverending and outright boring.   

Mike

Mike

[hbelkins]

During a roadtrip a couple of decades ago, I found WB I-40 between Knoxville, and Nashville, TN to be remarkably long, neverending and outright boring.   

Mike

Mike

I would disagree with that. The traffic is a bit harrowing (similar to I-81) but the ride over the Cumberland Plateau and into/out of the foothills (roughly the I-75 split to Lebanon) is enjoyable.

Now, between Nashville and Memphis, I would agree.

[MikieTimT]

I-55 in NW Arkansas definitely makes the grade, It's absurdly flat, nothing but fields and short stubby trees along fence rows. It makes other roads like I-39 in Illinois seem interesting to drive by comparison. The trees along I-55 south of Memphis to New Orleans are an improvement.

I-96 between Grand Rapids and Lansing in Michigan never struck me as boring - traffic is too hectic. It's nothing special to look at - only approaching M-6 from the east and driving through Portland has any real visual interest. |

I liked the hills and trees along I-90 east of Cleveland v.s the Turnpike west of Cleveland. I got so bored with that section of turnpike that I started driving out of my way to avoid it. I once dropped down to US-30, took it to Fort Wayne, then came into Lansing via I-69, just to give me something different to drive. Ditto US-20 in central Ohio, which I could charitably say has an identity crisis. It can't decide whether it's a rural 4-lane divided highway, a freeway, or a narrow small-town street.

I-76/I-80 between Denver and Lincoln is pretty boring to look at - and it smells, at least in Nebraska.

I live in NW Arkansas.  We gladly claim I-49, I-40 along the fringe, and whatever US-412 ultimately gets designated along AR-612/US-412 to the OK border.  You can't make us claim I-55, though.

[plain]

Except for the fancy overpasses in Texarkana, Dallas to Little Rock is certainly not one of my favorite drives.

[Road Hog]

The 71 miles of I-55 in Arkansas is boring but brief. You have the new-school US 78 monopoles to tide you over. Most of the other 200 miles to St. Louis isn't much better, but at least north of Sikeston you get out of the delta and start getting some terrain.

[texaskdog]

Rockford to Bloomington IL was God awful when they built it and still is.  Straight and nothing really on it.  Most boring freeway I've ever been on.

[texaskdog]

One that got mentioned a lot in the X thread is El Paso to San Antonio on I-10. While I know it's mostly flat with not much to look at, I think I would find it at least mildly interesting, since it's so different to anything one would see in the Northeast or Great Lakes. The stretch I have driven from Kerrville to San Antonio definitely wasn't paper flat and passes through some interesting terrain, so I am assuming it flattens out west of there. Even so, at least the 80 mph speed limit allows for making good time while being bored.

I like I-10.  We take it from Fredericksburg to Fort Stockton when we go to Big Bend or Fort Davis and it's a nice road.  Lots of hill cuts.

[texaskdog]

Figured I'd do my top 5 greater than 200 miles.

1) Mobile to Jacksonville on I-10
2) Chicago to Cleveland on I-80/90
3) Billings to Fargo on I-94
4) Denver to Kansas City on I-70
5) Albuquerque to Oklahoma City on I-40

Billings to Fargo is dreadful. I used to always take I-90 across South Dakota because the western part was nice.  I-94 was soooooo boring.

[PColumbus73]

US 421 between Sanford and Greensboro, NC. I go up that way each year for the holidays and it's usually lightly traveled with a lot of trees. Heading south after getting off of I-85, 421 feels like a chance to relax after going through Winston-Salem and the canyon that is I-40 between Salem Pkwy and the Outer Loop. But the further away from I-85 you go, it goes back to being a boring ol' drive.

[Quillz]

Anything involving the Central Valley. Visalia to Fresno is boring farmland. Fresno to Sacramento is boring farmland. (With a short break in Stockton as you cross the Sacramento River).

[Max Rockatansky]

Anything involving the Central Valley. Visalia to Fresno is boring farmland. Fresno to Sacramento is boring farmland. (With a short break in Stockton as you cross the Sacramento River).

Golden State Boulevard is enough of a 1950s relic (US 99) that it would spice your trips up.  Not exactly impractical between Fresno and Kingsburg. 

[Quillz]

Anything involving the Central Valley. Visalia to Fresno is boring farmland. Fresno to Sacramento is boring farmland. (With a short break in Stockton as you cross the Sacramento River).

Golden State Boulevard is enough of a 1950s relic (US 99) that it would spice your trips up.  Not exactly impractical between Fresno and Kingsburg. 

Most of my Central Valley trips have recently involved CA-245 since it is one of the few south-north routes to go through the Sierra. Makes the trip between Visalia and Fresno a lot longer but it's interesting.

[Harvestman]

Cincinnati to the Quad Cities via Indy and Peoria. (I-74)

Surprised no one else has echoed this.  Cincy to Indy is a slog.

[SignGeniusPTOE]

I-69 between Fort Wayne and Indianapolis.
I-75 between Atlanta and Orlando (includes Florida's Turnpike).
Georgia is nothing but billboards and cops.