Most miles driven in a day

[berberry]

The other "most miles driven" thread made me think of this question.  What's the farthest you've ever driven by yourself in one 24-hour period?  Where were you going and what route did you take?

For me, the answer is 873 miles, according to Google Maps.  A few years ago I drove to L.A. via the Grand Canyon, and I made it from Jackson, MS to Tucumcari, NM on the first day. 

From Jackson, I drove I-20 to Fort Worth, then U.S. 287 to Amarillo, then I-40 to Tucumcari. 

The thing I remember most about that day was the l-o-o-o-o-n-g period of evening twilight as I drove up 287.  I had never experienced such an extended twilight, at least not in the U.S.

[agentsteel53]

gotta be at least 1500 miles.  I've done many a long run that extended over several days without sleep.

I know I've done San Francisco to Miami in 50 hours.  So, pick the fastest slice of that.  Probably one involving I-10 in West Texas.

[xonhulu]

I once drove non-stop from outside Portland, OR to Albuquerque, NM, a little over 1400 miles.  Ah, to be young and foolish again . . .

[berberry]

gotta be at least 1500 miles.  I've done many a long run that extended over several days without sleep.

I figured somebody'd have me beat pretty quickly!  

I could never drive that far without sleep, even when I was 18.  Not that I couldn't stay up that long - I have many times.  But when that happens I'm in no way competent to drive.  Then and now, anything potentially dangerous, from driving to cutting tomatoes for a salad, scares the hell out of me if I haven't slept.  I don't know why.

[corco]

Hmm, in terms of miles I think it's this , the first day of my 3-day "let's clinch every state highway in the Nebraska Panhandle" marathon drive wherein I thought I was moving to Lincoln NE (therefore requiring me to drive every mile of state highway in Nebraska) and realized Laramie would be an easier base for panhandle clinching and wanted to get that done before I moved. Oops. 906 miles.

In terms of time it's definitely this trek from Idaho back to Wyoming after Christmas 2009- 853 miles, but the roads were bad the entire way and I almost never got about 55 MPH, with much of the driving at closer to 35/40. It took 17 hours.

My overall mileage counts aren't that impressive because I rarely exclusively use interstates on a trip (and try to avoid them as much as possible).

I could never drive that far without sleep, even when I was 18.  Not that I couldn't stay up that long - I have many times.  But when that happens I'm in no way competent to drive.  Then and now, anything potentially dangerous, from driving to cutting tomatoes for a salad, scares the hell out of me if I haven't slept.  I don't know why.

I nodded off behind the wheel for a couple seconds in 2007 during my freshman year of college while driving over Snoqualmie Pass during a Coeur d'Alene -> Tacoma run where I had just spent a few days in CDA partying and not sleeping. It was only a couple seconds, but when I regained consciousness I was about half a second from being in the guardrail at 75 MPH.  I've been scared of that ever since as well.

[berberry]

My overall mileage counts aren't that impressive because I rarely exclusively use interstates on a trip (and try to avoid them as much as possible).

I can't say that I rarely use them, but I do take alternate routes on more routine trips whenever I have the time.  I've taken any number of different routes to Chicago, and I regularly use two different ones to Atlanta.  The alternate Atlanta route, using US 80 in Alabama, can sometimes be a real time-saver.

I've made round-trips to Atlanta and St. Louis, well within 24 hours, a few times, but I've always had someone with me to help drive.

[agentsteel53]

On that 50 hour run, I got about 3 hours of sleep in Mississippi.  the most I've done without any sleep is 76 hours, but I only covered about 4100 miles because I was busy exploring two-laners and whatnot.

[golden eagle]

The farthest I've ever driven was from Jackson to Augusta, GA, over 500+ miles.

[3467]

New York to Western Illinois was about 800 miles in 22 hours. It was the 55 days and it was with a friend.
My late Father did Washington state to Illinois in the pre -Interstate days so probably beat me and I had another friend who did San Franciso to Illinois straight through alone.

[mightyace]

The most I ever did was a nonstop run from Nashville to Bloomsburg.  From where I was living at the time, that was around 800 miles.

[agentsteel53]

I've also done an Alaska run in 31 hours of driving, but there was a total of 38 hours as we got 2 hours of sleep just before Dawson Creek and 5 hours of sleep around Haines Junction to line us up with a morning (as opposed to middle-of-the-night) border crossing back into the US.  That was 2360 miles from Seattle to Anchorage.

actually now that I think about it, I've done a 1556 mile run in 22 hours including a stop for dinner in Los Angeles!  left at 2am, was home by midnight.  San Diego - Vegas - St George Utah - Vegas - Barstow - Bishop - Yosemite - Fresno - LA - San Diego.  This was just this November.  (October?)

I also remember doing a ~1530 mile run in 2005: San Francisco - Reno - Battle Mountain - Austin NV - Caliente - Vegas - Barstow - Bakersfield - San Francisco but I think that may have been 23 hours.

the trick to going fast is not to go fast: it is to never, ever ever go slow.  You lose a lot of time by slowing down to 35 to take that damn curve at the East LA on 5 southbound.  Keep cruise control on 77, even through advisory curves, and you make surprisingly good time without attracting the attention of anyone.  (When you know there is no one's attention to attract, then do 90-100 at your leisure.)

[J N Winkler]

I nodded off behind the wheel for a couple seconds in 2007 during my freshman year of college while driving over Snoqualmie Pass during a Coeur d'Alene -> Tacoma run where I had just spent a few days in CDA partying and not sleeping. It was only a couple seconds, but when I regained consciousness I was about half a second from being in the guardrail at 75 MPH.  I've been scared of that ever since as well.

It's even more fun when that happens and you actually run off the road (as I did years ago).

[Dr Frankenstein]

Alone in my car? 228 miles. I really need to work on that. I HAVE been to Boston and back Home (near Montréal, 717 miles total) in a single day, but we were three, and the driving was shared between two of us.

About nodding off while driving... that happened to me once... even worse, as I entered a tunnel. That was freaking dangerous. Now, I know better. I find a rest area or a Park & Ride and take a power nap.

[Duke87]

According to my mileage log, I drove my car 574.2 miles the day I went to the Baltimore meet last April. Wasn't driving at the meet itself and didn't bring anyone with me, so that was all just the trip there and the (indirect) trip home, all solo.

Here's the kick in the head: between when I got gas in York, PA and when I arrived home about 4½ hours later, I drove completely non-stop. The length of that segment of the trip? 299.9 miles. Sooo close....


Of course, the record for completely non-stop is more practically limited by the very finite size of gas tanks. Most I've ever gone between fill-ups is 331.3 miles, and that took me down to about an eighth of a tank (normally I do not let it go below a quarter, but the promise of cheaper gas in MA than in CT made me make an exception).

[relaxok]

In January 2002, while visiting Boston again, I decided i was going to move back to Boston after moving to Atlanta for 4-5 months.. so in one weekend:

Friday: I drove from Boston, MA to Atlanta, GA -- 1108 miles, alone in the car.. left at 6am, got there at 12:30am - so 18.5 hours straight.  only stopped to get gas a couple times, and while pumping gas bought a sandwich and ate it in the car.

Saturday: collapsed nearly dead all day

Sunday: loaded up my stuff and did the same exact drive back to Boston - leaving around the same time, getting home around the same time..

So i dunno about 24 hours, but between Friday 6am and Sunday night at 12:30am I drove 2216 miles alone.

By the time I was close to getting back, I was actually almost in tears from delerium.. banging my head against the window and stuff.

A few other choice tidbits:  

-- I didn't have a working radio/cd player/etc so it was totally silent the whole way
-- for about 550 miles on Sunday I was driving through a torrential downpour, mostly through Virginia on I-81.  
-- NO CRUISE CONTROL!

Also, in general, that drive is absolutely horrible and boring.

I've probably never felt worse in my life..

[Eth]

My single-day record appears to be a fairly modest ~700, from my home here to somewhere in metro Atlanta.  Hard to get an exact reading because it's a trip I've made many times, but to one of a few different specific destinations in the area and (lately, anyway) almost never using exactly the same route twice.  It's definitely somewhere between 680 and 710, though, done in somewhere between 10 and 12 hours.

[agentsteel53]

as for the ultimate speed run: Placerville to San Diego, 534 miles in almost exactly 6 hours.  89 mph, which isn't bad considering that I had to stop for gas twice.  Lousy 280 mile gas tank!

I did the San Diego-Gilroy-Placerville-San Diego run (about 1190 miles) in about 15 hours.  that includes time stopped buying and selling some signs, gas station, and the inevitable incapability of doing 90 down the drive-thru.  I left at 2am, I was home by 5pm. 

[JREwing78]

My personal highest in one sitting is 950 miles, driving back from Augusta, ME to Lansing, MI. It took 17 hours, including a stop at Niagara Falls.

At about hour 15 into the trip, I started having trouble staying awake and was suffering from hallucinations. I have only been that tired one other time, and that was on a 500 mile road trip back to Lansing from the Upper Peninsula after sleeping a total of 6 hours in 3 days.

[Sykotyk]

http://www.sykotyk.com/supertrip/

10,473 miles in 16 days. Drove 1,023 from I-40 in western Arkansas up I-540/US71 to I-44, a shortcut to Kansas on US400, I-44 to Oklahoma (taking the toll bypasses of Tulsa and OKC), I-40 west to Albuquerque, and US550 to the continental divide.

Just recently I drove over 1,400 miles in two days from Commerce City, CO to Golden over Loveland to Leadville, to Aspen, to Montrose, down the Million Dollar Highway to Durango, to Milan, NM and spent the night. Drove south on state routes to hit a county, then I-40 to I-25 to Santa Fe to Los Alamos, up US285 to Alamesa to Monte Vista through Hinsdale County (last county to hit in Colorado) to US50 to US285 north through Buena Vista back to Commerce City to return my rental car. That was exhaustive.

[agentsteel53]

for a many-day many-week trip, the longest is about 17000 miles in 21 days.  41 out of lower 48 states visited.  it's always fun having to change the oil in your rental car.

[Landshark]

My longest one day trip was Las Vegas to Olympia via I-15, I-84. 1300 miles.  It took 18 hours.

[hobsini2]

My longest trip i have done by myself in 1 day is from Bolingbrook, IL to Groton, CT using I-55 North (East), I-355 South, I-80 East, I-81 North, I-84 East, I-691 East, CT 66 East, CT 2 East, CT 11 South, CT 85 South, I-95 North (East).  If i remember correctly it was roughly 975 miles. I took about 16 hours.

Between my brother living in Brooklyn and my cousin in CT i usually fill my summer with this type of trip.

Doing that kind of driving I am used to though.  I stormchase in the spring/summer anywhere from San Antonio up into Saskatchewan and from Denver to Chicago depending on the time of year and the weather.  Longest trip i did in 1 day of chasing (with some friends but i did 80 % of the driving) was from Minot, ND back home to suburban Chicago - 990 miles.

[DAL764]

My longest drive so far has been only around 700 miles, doing Hamburg-Frankfurt and back some 3-4 times years ago. I'm always wanting to do longer trips to finally break the 1,000 miles in a single day, but alas, time, money and fuel prices are not on my side.

[Jim]

I know I've topped 700 miles in a day on my own a number times such as Schenectady, NY, to South Bend, IN, and St. Louis to southern GA.  But most of my longest days have been when I had someone to share the driving (even if I did the majority myself).  We've had a number of upstate NY/SW Fla runs without an overnight stop, and on my way back from Alaska, we did Kadoka, SD, to Troy, NY, with only brief rest stops.  We definitely passed 1000 miles in some 24-hour period there.  Growing up, we did Amsterdam, NY, to Rapid City, SD, with no stop but 2 drivers and I was only 15 so I was a year short of helping.  And Amsterdam to the Orlando area was a pretty common trip for my family, rarely involving an overnight stop, but usually involving at least 2 drivers.

[oscar]

My longest was a trip from D.C. to Madison WI, probably in the early 1990s.  I forget the exact route, but it included a side trip to look at the infamous I-180 in Illinois.

The mileage that day was about 1125 miles.  Alas, the trip out was really exhausting, and it took me several days to recover for the trip home (done in two days).  Now that I'm older, something that long would be out of the question, except maybe on western Interstates with 75mph limits.