Mystery routes

[Max Rockatansky]

I would dispute both CA-180 and CA-190. The former puts you in Kings Canyon Nat'l Park, as well as having a turn-off just before that leads back south to CA-198, so while it dead-ends, it does take people somewhere they would want to go. And likewise, CA-190 may end in Quaking Aspen, but the road itself continues and actually does provide access across the Sierra to reach Olancha (and Death Valley). In a perfect world, these forest routes would have been taken over by Caltrans to have a complete, unified CA-190.

However, CA-202 is a perfect example. Exists only to lead you to a state prison, and is a very short route otherwise. CA-59 is another good example, as mentioned, since it just ends at a county road.

CA 173 and CA 39 with the unmaintained gaps in the mountains truly DO lead you nowhere as opposed to most of the state route gaps.

[Quillz]

CA-173 is probably the worst offender being a dirt road, but at least that segment is no longer part of the state highway system. (Probably the only time ever a gap in a route has been for the better). Even though CA-39 won't reach CA-2 ever again, at least even that still takes you to some of the popular camping and hiking trails in the San Gabriel, so it's not entirely mysterious.

[silverback1065]

Indiana 166, it splits off SR 66, goes south, and dies at the foot of the ohio river in some random area called tobinsport, but there's nothing there.  Indiana 111, randomly dies in New Boston at the foot of the ohio.

[Max Rockatansky]

Indiana 166, it splits off SR 66, goes south, and dies at the foot of the ohio river in some random area called tobinsport, but there's nothing there.  Indiana 111, randomly dies in New Boston at the foot of the ohio.

Apparently it was the site of a ferry landing that connected Cloverport, KY across the river.  I remember something about there being an actual town there once in the late 1800s that even had a post office.  I would speculate that it was wiped out over time by the Ohio River. 

[Quillz]

CA-270 almost qualifies. Short, two-lane road in the Eastern Sierra, turns to dirt at one point, ends at a literal ghost town, the road itself continues eastward as a dirt route all the way to Nevada. I say "almost" because Bodie is a well-known state park, and that dirt road through Nevada eventually makes its way towards US-95.

[Max Rockatansky]

CA-270 almost qualifies. Short, two-lane road in the Eastern Sierra, turns to dirt at one point, ends at a literal ghost town, the road itself continues eastward as a dirt route all the way to Nevada. I say "almost" because Bodie is a well-known state park, and that dirt road through Nevada eventually makes its way towards US-95.

That would be Nevada 3C or what's left of it.  It's actually not all that bad of a road but is probably getting progressively getting worse through the years.  There was a fairly large mine town called Aurora that supposedly had about 10,000 people some time in the 1860s.  Most of the buildings are gone now and generally it's just foundations on top of scrap that's left up there. 

By the same token for some reason when US 299 became CA 299 it was extended to the Nevada state line.  From there the road continues as a dirt tract that was once NV 8A which passes through another ghost town called Vya.

[Jardine]

Heck, Nebraska I-180

[Quillz]

CA-270 almost qualifies. Short, two-lane road in the Eastern Sierra, turns to dirt at one point, ends at a literal ghost town, the road itself continues eastward as a dirt route all the way to Nevada. I say "almost" because Bodie is a well-known state park, and that dirt road through Nevada eventually makes its way towards US-95.

That would be Nevada 3C or what's left of it.  It's actually not all that bad of a road but is probably getting progressively getting worse through the years.  There was a fairly large mine town called Aurora that supposedly had about 10,000 people some time in the 1860s.  Most of the buildings are gone now and generally it's just foundations on top of scrap that's left up there. 

By the same token for some reason when US 299 became CA 299 it was extended to the Nevada state line.  From there the road continues as a dirt tract that was once NV 8A which passes through another ghost town called Vya.

Former 8A will still lead you to NV-140, though, and in turn Winnemuca. Not a great road (it's pretty much all dirt), but I was actually able to follow it via Google Maps, so at least it takes you somewhere. Wonder why Nevada has not considered paving it to provide better access between Modoc County and Winnemuca. (I suppose former 3C as you mentioned has the same merits).

[cappicard]

I guess McDowell Creek Rd(County Rd 909)  in Riley County, Kansas is like that.

Right after the 93 floods, it was closed due to the road being washed out just west of K-18/177.


iPhone

[Max Rockatansky]

CA-270 almost qualifies. Short, two-lane road in the Eastern Sierra, turns to dirt at one point, ends at a literal ghost town, the road itself continues eastward as a dirt route all the way to Nevada. I say "almost" because Bodie is a well-known state park, and that dirt road through Nevada eventually makes its way towards US-95.

That would be Nevada 3C or what's left of it.  It's actually not all that bad of a road but is probably getting progressively getting worse through the years.  There was a fairly large mine town called Aurora that supposedly had about 10,000 people some time in the 1860s.  Most of the buildings are gone now and generally it's just foundations on top of scrap that's left up there. 

By the same token for some reason when US 299 became CA 299 it was extended to the Nevada state line.  From there the road continues as a dirt tract that was once NV 8A which passes through another ghost town called Vya.

Former 8A will still lead you to NV-140, though, and in turn Winnemuca. Not a great road (it's pretty much all dirt), but I was actually able to follow it via Google Maps, so at least it takes you somewhere. Wonder why Nevada has not considered paving it to provide better access between Modoc County and Winnemuca. (I suppose former 3C as you mentioned has the same merits).

3C is too far gone to be viable and way too high in the Bodie Hills by the time you hit the state line to be a year round road.  A buddy of mine took me up to Aurora over 10 years ago from Fallon and the road got pretty choppy up in the hills.  I'm to understand this bridge awaits you on the approach the California state line:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.269715,-118.941695,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1s116862922!2e1!3e10!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fproxy%2FxIYRekwgBglpYwI0EnEN-kUthN6KGJNrGNOx2el7FuIVr78Czz6i_PqigBKMiCqy3qli9V8HUhPxAVUGyU-CWh8blJzEV70%3Dw203-h135!7i4608!8i3072?hl=en

I'm not too sure I'd want to try to cross something like that if Nevada gave up maintenance back in the 1970s...   

NV8A is actually very usable to this very day and relatively in good shape...or at least it was when I took it.  There really isn't much to see and you are completely on your own out there with nary a person in sight.  As a bonus though you get former NV 34 crossing over 8A and multiplexing it for awhile at Vya.  34 will take you past that Black Rock City (weird and cult like) crap and down to 447 at Gerlach...so there is at least that.  Personally I'd think it be cool just to throw up up on CR 299 signs on the Nevada side and call it a day to NV 140...I do recall some ancient 8A signs out there.

Funny thing about Nevada is that so much of the places that were inhabited in the state's history....well aren't anymore.  I think that's largely what played as a factor in deciding what routes to keep in 1976.  You still have some weird ones that go to ghost towns like 265 to Silver Peak which is oddly being improved along with Silver Peak Road and 165 to Nelson...both have some stragglers to this day but not many. 

[jwolfer]

GA 177 from Fargo to Steven Foster SP right in middle of Okefenokee Swamp. We went camping there and had a frantic beer run to  Fargo, maybe 14 miles and gates closed at 8 pm

[DandyDan]

The alltime mystery Nebraska route is Spur 67C south of Pawnee City.  First of all, it's a gravel road which spurs off of Nebraska Highway 65, which south of Pawnee City is a gravel road.  It goes west for 3 miles and just ends at a random intersection.

The one that is a mystery for me to figure out (partly because I've never been there) is Spur 16F in Cherry County.  It goes south from Nenzel on US 20, goes all the way to the southern boundary of the Samuel McKelvie National Forest and just ends.  I'm frankly surprised they have a forest in the Sand Hills.

[cappicard]

I'd say K-247.  It goes from I-70 south to the intersection of Washington and 3rd Streets in Ellis. It's only 649 feet long!


iPhone

[cappicard]

I have to wonder why K-4's western terminus is in the middle of nowhere at US-83.


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[hotdogPi]

Golden Rd., while unnumbered, travels about 100 miles west, starting from Millinocket, ME. Along its 100 miles, it does not intersect any numbered route or even any road more important than it is. It ends about 1/2 mile after reaching the Canadian border.

(No, I have not traveled on this.)

[cappicard]

How about Colorado Highway 67? While it's a beautiful drive from Divide to US 50 east of Canon City, it's not contiguous.  Even becomes a county road in 4 places.


iPhone

[CapeCodder]

Missouri lettered routes. Like part of the Forrest Gump quote: "You never know what you're gonna get." One time I turned onto MO E near Silex in Lincoln County and ended up in High Hill, on I-70 in Montgomery County.

[NE2]

Golden Rd., while unnumbered, travels about 100 miles west, starting from Millinocket, ME. Along its 100 miles, it does not intersect any numbered route or even any road more important than it is. It ends about 1/2 mile after reaching the Canadian border.

(No, I have not traveled on this.)

You could have Googled that fucker: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Road_(Maine)

[thefraze_1020]

Washington has a few more mystery routes not previously mentioned:

501- Ends randomly west of Vancouver. And a second portion that connects Ridgefield to I-5 (although this portion is not mysterious).

531- Once ended at a state park west of I-5 near Smokey Point, but now the state park is a county park.

263- Short road that ends at near a dam on the Snake River.

One could argue that 141 is a mystery. It travels from WA-14 on the Columbia River to the national forest boundary near Mt Adams.

[hbelkins]

Virginia's primary system is full of mysteries.

[roadfro]

CA-270 almost qualifies. Short, two-lane road in the Eastern Sierra, turns to dirt at one point, ends at a literal ghost town, the road itself continues eastward as a dirt route all the way to Nevada. I say "almost" because Bodie is a well-known state park, and that dirt road through Nevada eventually makes its way towards US-95.

That would be Nevada 3C or what's left of it.  It's actually not all that bad of a road but is probably getting progressively getting worse through the years.  There was a fairly large mine town called Aurora that supposedly had about 10,000 people some time in the 1860s.  Most of the buildings are gone now and generally it's just foundations on top of scrap that's left up there. 

By the same token for some reason when US 299 became CA 299 it was extended to the Nevada state line.  From there the road continues as a dirt tract that was once NV 8A which passes through another ghost town called Vya.

Former 8A will still lead you to NV-140, though, and in turn Winnemuca. Not a great road (it's pretty much all dirt), but I was actually able to follow it via Google Maps, so at least it takes you somewhere. Wonder why Nevada has not considered paving it to provide better access between Modoc County and Winnemuca. (I suppose former 3C as you mentioned has the same merits).

3C is too far gone to be viable and way too high in the Bodie Hills by the time you hit the state line to be a year round road.  A buddy of mine took me up to Aurora over 10 years ago from Fallon and the road got pretty choppy up in the hills.  I'm to understand this bridge awaits you on the approach the California state line:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.269715,-118.941695,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1s116862922!2e1!3e10!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fproxy%2FxIYRekwgBglpYwI0EnEN-kUthN6KGJNrGNOx2el7FuIVr78Czz6i_PqigBKMiCqy3qli9V8HUhPxAVUGyU-CWh8blJzEV70%3Dw203-h135!7i4608!8i3072?hl=en

I'm not too sure I'd want to try to cross something like that if Nevada gave up maintenance back in the 1970s...   

NV8A is actually very usable to this very day and relatively in good shape...or at least it was when I took it.  There really isn't much to see and you are completely on your own out there with nary a person in sight.  As a bonus though you get former NV 34 crossing over 8A and multiplexing it for awhile at Vya.  34 will take you past that Black Rock City (weird and cult like) crap and down to 447 at Gerlach...so there is at least that.  Personally I'd think it be cool just to throw up up on CR 299 signs on the Nevada side and call it a day to NV 140...I do recall some ancient 8A signs out there.

Funny thing about Nevada is that so much of the places that were inhabited in the state's history....well aren't anymore.  I think that's largely what played as a factor in deciding what routes to keep in 1976.  You still have some weird ones that go to ghost towns like 265 to Silver Peak which is oddly being improved along with Silver Peak Road and 165 to Nelson...both have some stragglers to this day but not many.

Keep in mind that many of the Nevada highway route numbers pre-1976 were numbered based on legislators writing the numbers into state law. Not everything that was numbered as a state highway was actually maintained by the Nevada Department of Highways; some barely-established county roadways were given state highway status. The 1976 renumbering allowed NDOH to remove state route numbers from all roads that it did not own and maintain.

Old SR 8A in northwest Washoe County is still somewhat minimally maintained by Washoe County, hence its decent condition. The old SR 3C is not likely maintained by Mineral County...

[formulanone]

Collier County 839 in southwestern Florida: former SSR839 is a border along the Big Cypress Preserve that connected FL 84 and Tamiami Trail. Now, it's only accessible from US 41 and dead-ends about a mile or so north of the overpass for Alligator Alley.

I'd passed by it at least a dozen times over 20 years, and finally found time to clinch what is otherwise an unimportant route. But...sometimes you've got to see it for yourself.

Janes Scenic Route (CR 837) nearby was another oddity - I don't think it's a thru route anymore since a preserve was made out much of Golden Gates Estates. Easy to get lost without signs and no GPS...it would probably get a few of the unannounced road closures incorrect, anyhow.

[cappicard]

Missouri lettered routes. Like part of the Forrest Gump quote: "You never know what you're gonna get." One time I turned onto MO E near Silex in Lincoln County and ended up in High Hill, on I-70 in Montgomery County.

Ah, yeah. Being from Kansas, I've not quite understood the idea behind trunk or supplemental routes. To me, they seem a cross between county and state highways.  I get a laugh when I see DD and BB highways from I-49/US-71.


iPhone

[Max Rockatansky]

CA-270 almost qualifies. Short, two-lane road in the Eastern Sierra, turns to dirt at one point, ends at a literal ghost town, the road itself continues eastward as a dirt route all the way to Nevada. I say "almost" because Bodie is a well-known state park, and that dirt road through Nevada eventually makes its way towards US-95.

That would be Nevada 3C or what's left of it.  It's actually not all that bad of a road but is probably getting progressively getting worse through the years.  There was a fairly large mine town called Aurora that supposedly had about 10,000 people some time in the 1860s.  Most of the buildings are gone now and generally it's just foundations on top of scrap that's left up there. 

By the same token for some reason when US 299 became CA 299 it was extended to the Nevada state line.  From there the road continues as a dirt tract that was once NV 8A which passes through another ghost town called Vya.

Former 8A will still lead you to NV-140, though, and in turn Winnemuca. Not a great road (it's pretty much all dirt), but I was actually able to follow it via Google Maps, so at least it takes you somewhere. Wonder why Nevada has not considered paving it to provide better access between Modoc County and Winnemuca. (I suppose former 3C as you mentioned has the same merits).

3C is too far gone to be viable and way too high in the Bodie Hills by the time you hit the state line to be a year round road.  A buddy of mine took me up to Aurora over 10 years ago from Fallon and the road got pretty choppy up in the hills.  I'm to understand this bridge awaits you on the approach the California state line:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.269715,-118.941695,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1s116862922!2e1!3e10!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fproxy%2FxIYRekwgBglpYwI0EnEN-kUthN6KGJNrGNOx2el7FuIVr78Czz6i_PqigBKMiCqy3qli9V8HUhPxAVUGyU-CWh8blJzEV70%3Dw203-h135!7i4608!8i3072?hl=en

I'm not too sure I'd want to try to cross something like that if Nevada gave up maintenance back in the 1970s...   

NV8A is actually very usable to this very day and relatively in good shape...or at least it was when I took it.  There really isn't much to see and you are completely on your own out there with nary a person in sight.  As a bonus though you get former NV 34 crossing over 8A and multiplexing it for awhile at Vya.  34 will take you past that Black Rock City (weird and cult like) crap and down to 447 at Gerlach...so there is at least that.  Personally I'd think it be cool just to throw up up on CR 299 signs on the Nevada side and call it a day to NV 140...I do recall some ancient 8A signs out there.

Funny thing about Nevada is that so much of the places that were inhabited in the state's history....well aren't anymore.  I think that's largely what played as a factor in deciding what routes to keep in 1976.  You still have some weird ones that go to ghost towns like 265 to Silver Peak which is oddly being improved along with Silver Peak Road and 165 to Nelson...both have some stragglers to this day but not many.

Keep in mind that many of the Nevada highway route numbers pre-1976 were numbered based on legislators writing the numbers into state law. Not everything that was numbered as a state highway was actually maintained by the Nevada Department of Highways; some barely-established county roadways were given state highway status. The 1976 renumbering allowed NDOH to remove state route numbers from all roads that it did not own and maintain.

Old SR 8A in northwest Washoe County is still somewhat minimally maintained by Washoe County, hence its decent condition. The old SR 3C is not likely maintained by Mineral County...

Best I can figure with 3C is that someone probably really thought that Aurora reopening was going to happen one day.  Bodie was still inhabited on the California side into the early 1940s.  Usually there was some sort of mine or former mining town on the far side of those crazed weirdo highways that got dropped in 1976.  The fun is the mystery of figuring out what the hell used to be there and what happened to it.  That's what is so interesting about Nevada in general, aside from Carson, Reno, and Vegas it's basically a post apocalyptic landscape of the late 1800s and early 20th century.

[NE2]

You know the ones; the routes that you look at on a map and just shoot off into some big blank space on the map, and then end at some arbitrary point for no real reason.

K-264 dead ends at Larned State Hospital just a mile south of K-156 a few miles west of Larned.
K-157 just dumps you into a state park west of US 77.
K-247 is just a glorified road from I-70 to Ellis. It's only 649 feet long!

How do those fit the criteria?