Regions of the United States with the most and least interesting roads

[Roadgeekteen]

For most, probably the Pacific or Mountain states

For least, definitely the Midwest states. Are there any interesting roads in the Midwest?

Edit: This question asks for the regions separately.

[hotdogPi]

I don't quite think we're at the point of being untied (sic) yet, although with increasing polarization...

[interstatefan990]

So, the region with the most and least (quality) interesting roads, or the region with the most and least (quantity) interesting roads?

[hotdogPi]

So, the region with the most and least (quality) interesting roads, or the region with the most and least (quantity) interesting roads?

Quality. If it was quantity, it would be most and fewest.

[Roadgeekteen]

I don't quite think we're at the point of being untied (sic) yet, although with increasing polarization...

Flashback to my 2017 8th grade spelling...

[kphoger]

You could just use hyphens instead:

Region of the United States with the most- and least-interesting roads

Of course, that still leaves us with the fact that it only asks for a single region, not two.  So which region has both the most- and also the least-interesting roads.

[hotdogPi]

Of course, that still leaves us with the fact that it only asks for a single region, not two.  So which region has both the most- and also the least-interesting roads.

Probably AZ/NV, with some in the mountains for most interesting and the boring Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Tucson suburbs for least interesting.

(Such a region would also include Utah, which also seems to have some of both types.)

[Roadgeekteen]

You could just use hyphens instead:

Region of the United States with the most- and least-interesting roads

Of course, that still leaves us with the fact that it only asks for a single region, not two.  So which region has both the most- and also the least-interesting roads.

Lol I meant regions.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

For least, definitely the Midwest states. Are there any interesting roads in the Midwest?

Maybe you should come out and see for yourself. Don't knock it until you try it.

50% of Colorado is plains, but no one seems to hold that against their roads.

[kphoger]

Yes, there are interesting roads in the Midwest.  However, I'd say they're few and far between.

[SkyPesos]

The midwest is a large region. You have the great plains, the great lakes and some foothills for the Appalachians. Minnesota have a lot of lakes (after all, they're the land of 10000 lakes), so I assume there will be interesting and scenic roads there.

[JayhawkCO]

The midwest is a large region. You have the great plains, the great lakes and some foothills for the Appalachians. Minnesota have a lot of lakes (after all, they're the land of 10000 lakes), so I assume there will be interesting and scenic roads there.

Even in the plains, you have drastically different qualities of scenery.  Southeastern Minnesota is gorgeous just driving through the fields.  Southeastern Colorado is mind-numbing by and large.

To answer the question though, I'd biased but I'll take the West over any other region.  I'll nominate the Deep South or Dust Bowl for the worst. 

Chris

[Rothman]

I wonder how long this thread will last.

[Ned Weasel]

For most, probably the Pacific or Mountain states

I'd go with the northeast, personally.

For least, definitely the Midwest states.

I'd probably agree, but....

Are there any interesting roads in the Midwest?

Yes, there are.  Do you want me to list them all and explain why I find each of them interesting?  We'd be here a while, but fortunately, I have a full vat of Folgers.

[kphoger]

Southeastern Colorado is mind-numbing by and large.

And yet I quite enjoyed driving US-160 from Springfield to Trinidad last fall.

[JayhawkCO]

Southeastern Colorado is mind-numbing by and large.

And yet I quite enjoyed driving US-160 from Springfield to Trinidad last fall.

I didn't find too much to excite me.  There were only a few spots east of I-25 that I thought were pretty (CO71 north of CO14, CO63).  Glad I got them all out of the way for clinching when I had some good audiobooks.

Chris

[interstatefan990]

Rhode Island or the US territories. Because they don't even have that many roads to begin with.

[webny99]

Yes, there are interesting roads in the Midwest.  However, I'd say they're few and far between.

I'm tempted to disagree, not because I think there are tons, but because they tend to be in bunches.

[SkyPesos]

Rhode Island or the US territories. Because they don't even have that many roads to begin with.

For places that don't have many roads to start off, I find Hawaii's freeways interesting, specifically H3. While most US freeways try to go around mountains in mountainous terrain, H3 goes through them on viaducts and tunnels, something I see frequently in Chinese and Japanese freeways, and I much prefer this over going around the mountains.

[kphoger]

Yes, there are interesting roads in the Midwest.  However, I'd say they're few and far between.

I'm tempted to disagree, not because I think there are tons, but because they tend to be in bunches.

Actually, my thought would be expressed better as "the bunches are few and far between".

[OCGuy81]

Rhode Island or the US territories. Because they don't even have that many roads to begin with.

For places that don't have many roads to start off, I find Hawaii's freeways interesting, specifically H3. While most US freeways try to go around mountains in mountainous terrain, H3 goes through them on viaducts and tunnels, something I see frequently in Chinese and Japanese freeways, and I much prefer this over going around the mountains.

Agree!! I got to drive it for the first time when I was there in 2018. Really fun and scenic drive.

[CoreySamson]

Everyone seems to be ignoring the elephant in the room. Some areas of the Southeast (looking at you, LA, MS, AL, FL and GA), especially about 10-100 miles from the coast, are just featureless flat roads with endless amounts of trees on either side. At least in the Midwest you can usually see relatively far. The Southeast is just an endless wall.
Sample:

[thspfc]

Everyone seems to be ignoring the elephant in the room. Some areas of the Southeast (looking at you, LA, MS, AL, FL and GA), especially about 10-100 miles from the coast, are just featureless flat roads with endless amounts of trees on either side. At least in the Midwest you can usually see relatively far. The Southeast is just an endless wall.
Sample:

I second this. However, this thread seems to be defining "regions" very broadly. All of the southeastern states are being grouped together, and when you include the southern Apps, that region would outdo the Midwest. But it's pretty obvious that, say, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan combined would beat Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina combined.

[Roadgeekteen]

Everyone seems to be ignoring the elephant in the room. Some areas of the Southeast (looking at you, LA, MS, AL, FL and GA), especially about 10-100 miles from the coast, are just featureless flat roads with endless amounts of trees on either side. At least in the Midwest you can usually see relatively far. The Southeast is just an endless wall.
Sample:

I second this. However, this thread seems to be defining "regions" very broadly. All of the southeastern states are being grouped together, and when you include the southern Apps, that region would outdo the Midwest. But it's pretty obvious that, say, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan combined would beat Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina combined.

The Southern Apps count as the south.

[thspfc]

Everyone seems to be ignoring the elephant in the room. Some areas of the Southeast (looking at you, LA, MS, AL, FL and GA), especially about 10-100 miles from the coast, are just featureless flat roads with endless amounts of trees on either side. At least in the Midwest you can usually see relatively far. The Southeast is just an endless wall.
Sample:

I second this. However, this thread seems to be defining "regions" very broadly. All of the southeastern states are being grouped together, and when you include the southern Apps, that region would outdo the Midwest. But it's pretty obvious that, say, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan combined would beat Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina combined.

The Southern Apps count as the south.

You missed the point. We're defining regions too broadly. Tennessee and Florida are both in the southeast. But that's only if you are splitting the country up into four large regions, rather than eight or ten smaller ones. For this purpose, we shouldn't be including Tennessee and Florida in the same region, because that would be too large to give an accurate representation of what the roads in those states are actually like, since we would be defining an entire quarter of the country based on just a few states.