Longest One Can Drive & Still Not Leave The State

[JayhawkCO]

In your state, without leaving interstates, U.S. highways, or state highways, what is the longest amount of time (not distance) you can drive and not leave your state while going the fastest way?

I'll submit the following for Colorado:
From CO41 on the Utah border to CO23 at the Nebraska border is 610 miles but according to Google Maps (and obviously the time will vary depending on time of day) it takes 10 hours and 11 minutes to get there.

I started thinking about this when I started my clinched states thread as some of the states that have lots of highways are still easier to clinch because you can get to them so more quickly.  If I wanted to clinch CO 41 (which I do), I'd have to drive 7 hours and 38 minutes to do so the quickest way, not exactly a day trip.

Curious as to others' states.

Chris

[ftballfan]

Michigan:
US-2 at the Wisconsin line (Ironwood) to I-75 at the Ohio line is 647 miles (10 hr 4 min) using US-2, M-69, US-2, I-75, US-23, I-96, I-275, and I-75. It is less than a half hour quicker to go over the Mackinac Bridge than going via the Chicago area.
US-41 at its beginning near Copper Harbor to I-75 at the Ohio line is 643 miles (10 hr 18 min) using US-41, M-28, M-77, US-2, I-75, US-23, I-96, I-275, and I-75.

[clong]

For AL, the best I could find was 6 hours 26 minutes from AL 79 near Hytop in the NE corner of the state to the end of AL 193 on Dauphin Island at the entrance to Mobile Bay in the SW corner of the state.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Minnesota: 9 hours from Noyes (NW corner) to the border at New Albin, IA in the SE corner. This assumes you use US 75 and not cross in ND to use I-29.

[kphoger]

The best I could do on a quick search in Kansas was 8 hours 22 minutes, from the NW corner (K-27 @ Nebraska) to the SE corner (US-400 @ Missouri).

[kphoger]

This assumes you use US 75 and not cross in ND to use I-29.

When I was searching, I discounted a route if Google's fastest way involved a state line.

[doorknob60]

I once drove from Boise to the BC border at Eastport all within the state, 485 mi, 9 hours. You could certainly extend that farther, for example from Hagerman instead of Boise it's 586 mi, 10h30m. Go much farther east (eg. Twin Falls) and Google will put I-15 and I-90 through Montana as the first choice though (despite being longer mileage).

[thspfc]

Well theoretically you could drive forever while staying within a state, but assuming you need to be taking the fastest route between two endpoints, Superior to the IL border at WI-32 is 6 hours 33 minutes per Google Maps, via US-53 and I-94.

[kphoger]

In your state, without leaving interstates, U.S. highways, or state highways, what is the longest amount of time (not distance) you can drive and not leave your state while going the fastest way?

assuming you need to be taking the fastest route between two endpoints

That would be a good assumption to make.

[NWI_Irish96]

From the south end of IN 69 to the east end of IN 120 takes 6 hours and 1 minute.

[SectorZ]

Mine for me is 2:51, 158 miles to Mt Washington MA at the NY border. Provincetown is a damn close second (2:43, 143 miles).

[Eth]

Curiously, the best one I could find in Georgia has neither endpoint at a state line.

From the end of GA 40 in St. Marys (which is at the St. Johns River, yes, but the road doesn't cross it into Florida) to a point on GA 189 just northeast of Trenton is 469 miles and 7 hours, 2 minutes as of the time of this post. Any attempts to find anything farther resulted in a route that passed through Tennessee.

[dfilpus]

North Carolina:
From the ferry docks in Hatteras to US64/74 at the Tennessee border is 628 miles, 10 hours 18 minutes. This uses four highways: NC 12, US 64, I-40 and US 74.

[formulanone]

13h 26m / 856 miles for a road at the northwest corner of Florida to the Southernmost point in Key West.

Also, many speed traps.




(Please excuse all my candy buttons.)

[ilpt4u]

Illinois: 8 hours or so. Near Cave-in-Rock and Elizabethtown to East Dubuque, without traveling thru Iowa

Had to force Google Maps to take an all Illinois routing

[sprjus4]

Virginia:

US-13 at the Virginia / Maryland state line on the Eastern Shore to US-58 at the Virginia / Tennessee state line near Cumberland Gap.

US-13 South -> I-64 West (Norfolk) -> I-295 North (Richmond) -> I-64 West (Richmond) -> I-81 South (Staunton) -> US-58 West (Bristol)

9 hours, 48 minutes
603 miles

415 miles on interstate highway
188 miles on arterial highway

[jt4]

Ohio: Just over 5 hours in several ways using only US routes and interstates:

* Conneaut to either the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, or Portsmouth
* US-20 / Ohio Turnpike to either Portsmouth or US-33 at Ravenswood, WV

[debragga]

From the northwestern tip of Louisiana near Rodessa, to the southeastern tip in Venice. 7hr5min

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/33.018813,-94.042596/29.231504,-89.3901058/@31.097979,-93.0713942,7.46z/data=!4m9!4m8!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-90.0523052!2d29.9123107!3s0x8620a6ec3af1a28f:0x9793701f18e51b46!1m0!3e0?hl=en

[dlsterner]

Not my home state, but an extreme example would be from Homer AK to Prudhoe Bay AK - a journey of 1073 miles which would take 21 hours and 58 minutes according to Google.

Now if the Fritzway running out to Attu Station becomes a reality, it would be even more impressive.   

[Max Rockatansky]

Just shy of 17 hours at 1,012 miles for California:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Araz+Junction,+CA/Smith+River+Agricultural+Inspection+Station,+Smith+River,+CA+95567/@37.4883997,-123.8424432,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x80d6f755f28e3037:0x9bd2f64e66429cd6!2m2!1d-114.71361!2d32.74722!1m5!1m1!1s0x54d00ac96207ba3d:0x8b0adfc5205bc1c3!2m2!1d-124.2082044!2d41.9938407!3e0?hl=en

[US 89]

For Utah, it takes about 9 hours to get from the Arizona line on US 163 in Monument Valley to a point on SR 30 near Lucin in the northwest part of the state.

[KCRoadFan]

In Missouri: from Watson (in the NW corner, near Rock Port and the Iowa border) to Holland (in the Bootheel near the Arkansas border), it comes in at almost 8-and-a-half hours and 562 miles.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Watson/Holland,+MO/@40.5722279,-95.0504637,8z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x8795026ae15dd695:0xbb1e56da507a424b!2m2!1d-95.6205448!2d40.4769464!1m5!1m1!1s0x8878afb7f6579c55:0x91958ef99d8b22dc!2m2!1d-89.870919!2d36.0559041

[JayhawkCO]

Not that I want to start a thread about it necessarily, but almost all of these obviously are one rural corner to another.  I wonder which state has the longest intrastate "commute" between the largest city and another area in the state.  (Obviously Alaska, Texas, and California jump to mind, but I wonder if Denver to extreme SW Colorado might be right behind them.)

Chris

[KCRoadFan]

Not that I want to start a thread about it necessarily, but almost all of these obviously are one rural corner to another.  I wonder which state has the longest intrastate "commute" between the largest city and another area in the state.  (Obviously Alaska, Texas, and California jump to mind, but I wonder if Denver to extreme SW Colorado might be right behind them.)

Chris

NYC to Buffalo (or other points in western New York) comes to mind right away. Or, in Pennsylvania, Philly to Erie.

[Sctvhound]

From Russell Bridge on SC 28 at pretty much the northwestern border of SC, where it runs into GA, to Lowes Foods in Little River on the NC line, it is 326 miles and 5:38.

https://goo.gl/maps/pQ3jwCp2pyDCS9a39

From the Chattooga River Trail to the same point, it is 5:35 and 333 miles.

https://goo.gl/maps/pQ3jwCp2pyDCS9a39