Quintessential roads (per state)

[The High Plains Traveler]

I'm struggling to identify an archetypical road for New Mexico. You could identify I-25 and/or the old U.S. 85 alignments as the historic "El Camino Real", but you spend a lot of time along the Rio Grande and miss a lot of typical state geography.

New Mexico is a really hard state to pin- I've seen a good chunk of the state (certainly every geographic region but the Taos area), but when somebody asks me to "picture New Mexico" I come up blank. I'd agree that I-25 is probably closest to being something...but it still misses the mark.

Thinking about it more, I nominate U.S. 70 for New Mexico. It catches the southern desert but also goes over the Sacramento Mountains near Ruidodo at a pretty good elevation, so you get the mountains as well. Finally, it picks up a representative portion of the eastern plains.

For Arizona, I go with U.S. 60. Desert, city, and finally a good dose of mountains.

[mapman1071]

I'm struggling to identify an archetypical road for New Mexico. You could identify I-25 and/or the old U.S. 85 alignments as the historic "El Camino Real", but you spend a lot of time along the Rio Grande and miss a lot of typical state geography.

New Mexico is a really hard state to pin- I've seen a good chunk of the state (certainly every geographic region but the Taos area), but when somebody asks me to "picture New Mexico" I come up blank. I'd agree that I-25 is probably closest to being something...but it still misses the mark.

Thinking about it more, I nominate U.S. 70 for New Mexico. It catches the southern desert but also goes over the Sacramento Mountains near Ruidodo at a pretty good elevation, so you get the mountains as well. Finally, it picks up a representative portion of the eastern plains.

For Arizona, I go with U.S. 60. Desert, city, and finally a good dose of mountains.

AZ 87  Picacho at I-10 to Second Mesa At US 164
Farm Land: Coolidge, Gila River Indian Community, Chandler, Mesa, Salt River Pima Indian Community
Desert: Ft Mcdowell Indian Community
Desert to  Ponderosa Pine Forest: Tonto National Forest
Ponderosa Pine Forest: Payson (over the Mogollon Rim) Pine/Strawberry
High Desert: Winslow, Navajo Nation, Hopi Indian Community

US 191 Arizona's only Numbered North-South Border To Border Highway
Douglas International Border Crossing to the Utah State Line in The Navajo Nation.

[HurrMark]

MA: MA 140. It keeps going on, and on, and on, and you've seen more than half the state by accident once you're done with it.

I would say MA 2. It starts in Boston...goes through the tony historic towns like Lexington and Concord...then hits the old mill towns of Fitchburg and Leominster...and then becomes a country road through the rural northern part of the state...before finally becoming the old Mohawk Trail as it winds its way through the Berkshires.

Route 28 is probably a close second.

[Jim]

I'd have to agree on MA 2.  It's missing the Cape, and doesn't even quite get to the shore at all, but I think having Boston/Cambridge, crossing the 128 and 495 corridors, hitting the small cities across the middle of the state, then crossing the Berkshires on into Williamstown then Petersburg Pass wins out.  I guess you could make similar arguments for MA 9 or US 20, but you don't get as spectacular a ride through the Berkshires.

For New York, I'd pick US 9 over NY 22 because you get right into Albany, while NY 22 bypasses the Capital Region off to the east.  Unfortunately, neither gets out onto Long Island or out west to the Finger Lakes, Great Lakes, and Niagara Falls.

[Rover_0]

I'd nominate US-89 for Utah: Enters in the Canyon Country part of the state, passes through numerous valleys, serves Manti and then the entire Wasatch Front, then serves the Cache Valley, Logan Canyon, and finally Bear Lake while leaving Utah.

You could also make a case for I-15: Begins at St. George, passes through Cedar City, runs along the western side of the state's mountain backbone and passes through the eastern edge of the Great Basin, serves the entire Wasatch Front, and leaves the state while following the western edge of different mountain ranges.

Actually, while US-89 doesn't serve the west desert (I can't blame it) , it would be the best, as there are a lot of places that I-15 doesn't serve.

[dgolub]

For New York, I'd pick US 9 over NY 22 because you get right into Albany, while NY 22 bypasses the Capital Region off to the east.  Unfortunately, neither gets out onto Long Island or out west to the Finger Lakes, Great Lakes, and Niagara Falls.

Nothing does.  If you define Long Island geographically to include Queens and Brooklyn, all roads except I-278 that leave the island end within a couple of miles of the bridge.  I-278 is contained entirely within New York City, so it's hardly representative of the state as a whole.

[spmkam]

CT: The Merritt Parkway (CT-15) is probably your best bet with either US 1, 5, 6 or 7 the honorable mentions.

[NE2]

Might be interesting to see how many pre-1926 state highway 1s are decent contenders.

Quick map of these:

[bugo]

Oklahoma: Oddly enough, I-44.  It goes through Tulsa, OKC, and Lawton.  It also goes through some really boring rural areas.  The OK 66/US 277 combo would be a good alternate but isn't a single route number.  OK 3 is long but doesn't really go through enough scenic areas and doesn't go through enough urban areas other than OKC.

OK 3, however, passes through mountainous SE Oklahoma which is an environment that I-44 doesn't even come close to. 3 also hits the panhandle, which more of a Great Plains environment than I-44 does. If only 3 extended west over OK 325 instead of heading north to CO, you could also get the more desert-like environment of western Cimarron County, which would make it unquestionably the quintessential highway of Oklahoma.

OK 3 doesn't really go through the mountains.  It skirts the Ouachita foothills west of Broken Bow, but the real mountains are to the north along OK 1 and US 259.

[bugo]

US 400 is cool.  It provided me with one of my favorite road enthusiast moments: seeing a green sign with 2 shields off of I-44, when I was expecting just a US 166 sign.  The duplex with US 50 is silly, however.

[froggie]

Quick map of these:

Your MS 1 is a bit off, as MS 1 has always been along the Mississippi River.  As best as I could find in my research during my Mississippi days, the US routes in Mississippi actually pre-date the state highway system.

[NE2]

Your MS 1 is a bit off, as MS 1 has always been along the Mississippi River.  As best as I could find in my research during my Mississippi days, the US routes in Mississippi actually pre-date the state highway system.

The legislature defined state highways in 1924 (and amended them at least through 1928). They were presumably not signed. (Neither were Kentucky, California, Oregon, and perhaps others on the map.)

1. From the Mississippi-Tennessee state line near Horn Lake via Hernando, Senatobia, Como, Sardis, Batesville, a point near Pope, Grenada, a point near Durant, Canton, Jackson, Hazlehurst, Brookhaven, a point near Summit and McComb, to the Mississippi-Louisiana state line near Osyka.

[DandyDan]

Although as most people know, it is a fairly boring way to travel across the state, for Nebraska it's probably I-80. I-80 is the state's Main Street as it goes through or near most of the state's largest cities. If not for the fact that it is discontinuous between Lincoln and Grand Island, NE 2 would probably be the best way to see the state from the SE to the NW, especially in terms of scenery.

Although I think I-80 and NE 2 are good choices in their own ways, I myself would suggest NE 92.  It goes border to border, goes through Omaha, the Great Plains, the Sand Hills, passes by Chimney Rock and has many crossings of the (North) Platte River.

I'm not sure anyone suggested one for Iowa, but the leading contenders are US 6 and US 30.

[barcncpt44]

My route for Alabama would be US 431 from Tennessee to Dothan.  US 431 sees the mountains in Huntsville, Guntersville, Gadsden, and Anniston.  It sees the beautiful lakes of Lake Guntersville, Lake Wedowee, and Lake Eufaula.  It also has great scenery through Guntersville, Anniston, and Eufaula.  You get a taste of all of Alabama from the mountains in the north to the wiregrass in the south.

[hotdogPi]

For New Hampshire, US 3 would be good (it was already mentioned).

If a state route had to be chosen, it would be NH 16.

It starts in Portsmouth, which is one of the bigger cities, and it is by the ocean.
Then it goes north and eventually into the White Mountains.

[US81]

Texas: US 90.  It covers swamps, forests, big cities, the Hill Country, desert, and mountains.  One end sees hurricanes, and the other end sees snowstorms.  I-10 does all that, too, and goes a bit farther, but quintessential Texas is high speeds on very lonely two-lane roads, so I'd say US 90 wins.

I'd probably have to agree with you, although I also put forth US 67 - mountains, desert, hill country, plains, prairie, piney woods; very lonely and rural to urban to "Texan-towns-that-time-forgot" - as a contender. Then there's also historic US 81, which served as the dividing line between east - coastal plains, swamps, piney woods, prairie - and west - desert, mountains, hill country and the llano estacado, the high plains.

[sandiaman]

For  New Mexico:  My  humble  opinion  would  be  US  64,  it  goes  the  entire  length  of  the  state,  from Arizona  to  the  Oklahoma  border.  It goes   over  high country  grasslands,  the  scenic  Cimarron Canyon.    mountain  passes  that  are  often  closed  in  the  winter  and  then thru the  much  photographed Shiprock  area  on  the  Navajo Nation.  US  64  has  no  major  cities  to   slow  traffic  on  its  way   across  the  northern    top  of  the  state.   The  only  small  metro  areas  would  be  Farmington  ,Taos  (heavy  tourist  traffic)  and  Raton.

[PColumbus73]

For Ohio: I'd nominate Route 50, starting from Indiana it dives into Downtown Cincinnati then goes through the farms and the Appalachian foothills, as well as the center of several small towns (Chillicothe for example.) Route 50 hardly becomes a freeway/expressway (except through Cincinnati, Chillicothe and Athens.)

For WV: I think the West Virginia Turnpike probably shows off some of the best portions of the state.

[Indyroads]

SR-135 through brown county Indiana.

[ET21]

I do agree on I-57 with Brandon, but I think another route would be US-20. Similar where you go from urban Chicagoland, pass through forest preserves, out into the heart of the IL cornbelt, somewhat urban again with the Rockford and Freeport bypasses, and then the rolling hills of NW IL. That route is one of my all-time favorites to drive

[mgk920]

It is arguable if NE 2 really has a gap in it.

Must. Resist. Temptation. 

For Wisconsin:
I nominate I-94: Cuts through most of the major urban areas (Milwaukee, Madison) in addition to a lot of farm land and picturesque landscape (Wisconsin Rver, The Dells, Tomah, Eau Claire).

Runners up: US 151, US 51, US 12

I-94 is a good one, but I would also include WI 13, especially with its original southern part included.

Mike

[wphiii]

MA: MA 140. It keeps going on, and on, and on, and you've seen more than half the state by accident once you're done with it.

That seems good:

Urban area of Worcester
Rural areas in other spots
Long route
Partial freeway near Rhode Island

Although MA 2 is also good:

Long route
Sometimes a freeway, sometimes not
Goes into Boston
Goes into Lexington and Concord, so it has the historical part of Massachusetts
Rural on the west side, urban on the east side

I like MA 9 for similar reasons. MA 2 has more of a taste of the Berkshires, but less of the quintessential New England small town collegiate atmosphere that MA 9 has in Northampton and Amherst (though MA 2 does run through Cambridge right past Harvard). And MA 9 also gives you the small industrial city experience in Worcester.

Actually, I'd nominate 2A instead. Stay off the highways to get a real taste of what a place has to offer.

[hotdogPi]

Actually, I'd nominate 2A instead. Stay off the highways to get a real taste of what a place has to offer.

2A is split into two parts though.

[wphiii]

Actually, I'd nominate 2A instead. Stay off the highways to get a real taste of what a place has to offer.

2A is split into two parts though.

True, I was thinking like, 2A where applicable and 2 for the rest, so it would be totally continuous. Though I guess that'd sort of be cheating.

[wphiii]

For my own state of PA, I've gotta give my vote to U.S. 30 over 322. I don't know who said U.S. 30 doesn't really go through the mountains, because it goes right through the heart of the "ridge and valley" Appalachians. It also goes straight through the state's two biggest urban centers, and it's just dripping with both colonial and Civil War history, and on up into the 20th Century (it's the Lincoln Highway!).