Your favorite non-major US routes

[Alps]

US 5: Thanks to I-91, it's hardly used by anyone except locals in any state.

So would US 30 in the Columbia River Gorge count? 
What's left of US 99 and US 66?

  The OP should probably define what he means by major instead of listing arbitrary exceptions.

I'd say at this point, US 66 would qualify, although obviously it was major pre-Interstate. CA 99 is still major, and I'm not familiar with OR and WA remnants. Considering we're traveling the routes now and not 60 years ago, I'd go with how much traffic they get in the modern age.

Like California, Washington and Oregon have signed state routes for former US-99. 

In Oregon, there's a stretch of OR-99 in Southern Oregon near Grants Pass.  The Willamette Valley has OR-99W and OR-99E.  Washington has reminants of the Pacific Highway all throughout the state.  (In Clark County, there's a road named 'Hwy 99').  Up in Federal Way - Everett, there's WA-99.  99's existence is still relatively prevalent there.

Yeah, I know OF them, but outside of WA 99 entering Seattle, not how major they are.

[jas]

Here are my favorties -

- US 40 from Mays Landing to the Del. Memorial Bridge is very pastoral. 

- US 15 entering PA from Corning NY is gorgeous.

- US 301 from the Harry Nice Bridge to I-295 in Atlee, VA has become an essential route for my wife and myself on our trips to Walt Disney World from NJ.

[deathtopumpkins]

US 44 from Poughkeepsie to east of Hartford (the only major segments of 44 I've driven, but I love that drive).

US 302 through the White Mountains

US 3 through New Hampshire

US 17 through Virginia and North Carolina

US 60 from Newport News to Richmond

Pretty much any rural US highway I've driven. They all have cool aspects. The only ones I didn't include are "major" or are ones I've driven so many times I'm sick of them, like 13 and 113 on the Eastern Shore.

[SteveG1988]

US 206 in NJ pretty much captures the best in the state: the Pine Barrens in the south, then up through the farms of Burlington County, the few nice bits of downtown Trenton, the stately manors and academic-tinged downtowns of Lawrenceville and Princeton, horse country up through Somerset and Morris Counties, and then up into the Skylands in Sussex.

Seconded

For the same feeling, US30 in NJ captures the feel of the city, becoming pinebarrens, then coastal plain, before ending at the coast itself.

[Dougtone]

I'll bite...

US 20 from North East, PA to Silver Creek, NY and from Skaneateles, NY to the Town of Guilderland, NY
US 2 through Grand Isle County, VT and from Montpelier, VT to Farmington, ME.  US 2 through New Hampshire is one of the most underrated scenic stretches of highway in the United States, in my opinion.
US 3 from Tilton, NH north to the Canadian border
US 5 from Northampton, MA north to the Canadian border
US 7 from New Milford, CT north to the Canadian border
US 4 from Rutland, VT to White River Junction, VT
US 9 through the Adirondacks
US 50 from Salida, CO to Canon City, CO

US 221 from Hillsville, VA to Bedford, VA I found to be just a fun back road to drive, and I like this for a reason.  Same with US 63 in Minnesota.

Does US 101 throughout the entire length of Oregon count?

[Takumi]

US 221 from Hillsville, VA to Bedford, VA I found to be just a fun back road to drive, and I like this for a reason.

From what I remember of it (I was about 12 the one time I was on it and only the section from Floyd to Hillsville) I'll agree with you. US 1 between Petersburg and the NC border is also nice and quiet for what it is.

[wphiii]

As my avatar indicates, I am partial to U.S. 62. I love the idea that there's one number that I can follow all the way from NEOH, where I went to school and met my girlfriend, all the way to El Paso, where she currently lives.

When traveling back and forth between Pittsburgh and DC/points southeast, I also insist on utilizing U.S. 219 between I-68 and the PA Turnpike as a long-range route to avoid Breezewood and that horrid stretch of I-70 between Breezewood and the PA/MD border. More scenic (IMO), pay less in tolls, and some neat little towns and places along the way.

U.S. 191 I also feel like doesn't get as much love as it deserves, especially between the Mexico border and I-70. You've got the Bisbee/Douglas copper history, Chiricahua Mountains, mines of Morenci, Coronado Trail, Canyon de Chelly, Canyonlands & Arches NPs...and then even beyond that, of course there's the Tetons and Yellowstone, and even some of the stretches in northern Montana are remarkable just for their sheer desolation. I've driven bits and pieces of it with my family as a kid, but I really want to sit down and do the whole thing at once some day.

U.S. 11 is interesting because it's one of the few long-haul U.S. routes that has been almost entirely made redundant by Interstates, but has hardly been duplexed, let alone decommissioned altogether. It basically still is the Main Street for most of the towns along its corridor, when so many other U.S. highways have been built into bypasses or routed onto Interstates.

[NE2]

U.S. 11 is interesting because it's one of the few long-haul U.S. routes that has been almost entirely made redundant by Interstates, but has hardly been duplexed, let alone decommissioned altogether. It basically still is the Main Street for most of the towns along its corridor, when so many other U.S. highways have been built into bypasses or routed onto Interstates.

This is true of many routes in the East. US 1, US 9, US 92...

[Mark68]

US-30 between Astoria and Portland is a very scenic drive. Likewise with US-20 between Newport and Corvallis.

Yeah, but the stretch through NW Portland is pretty clogged with traffic. It does lead to one of my favorite bridges, though: the St John's Bridge.

Of course, that stretch of Old US 30 east of Troutdale is breathtaking, especially once it winds down from the Corbett Bench area.

[roadman65]

I forgot about US 6 between Carbondale, PA and Peekskill, NY minus Port Jervis proper and the one traffic signal intersection in Middletown, NY.  It is nice and scenic as well as still open country and not too developed especially in the Poconos.

[US81]

Don't know how major - or non - it is, but I love US 67 thru Texas. Mountains and remote desert, thru the Hill Country, into the Post Oak plains and on through a stretch of Piney Woods.  Very remote on the western end but urban thru Dallas-Ft.Worth, with long segments of "formerly Main Street now bypassed by the Interstate"  here and there.


Love the variety of it.

[leroys73]

Another US 62 connection.  WOW that is impressive to be able to ride US 62 from the beginning of a relationship to where it is now about 2000 miles away.  Impressive.  By the way how far is it by way of US 62?  I have been over much of it from SEOH to El Paso.

As my avatar indicates, I am partial to U.S. 62. I love the idea that there's one number that I can follow all the way from NEOH, where I went to school and met my girlfriend, all the way to El Paso, where she currently lives.

When traveling back and forth between Pittsburgh and DC/points southeast, I also insist on utilizing U.S. 219 between I-68 and the PA Turnpike as a long-range route to avoid Breezewood and that horrid stretch of I-70 between Breezewood and the PA/MD border. More scenic (IMO), pay less in tolls, and some neat little towns and places along the way.

U.S. 191 I also feel like doesn't get as much love as it deserves, especially between the Mexico border and I-70. You've got the Bisbee/Douglas copper history, Chiricahua Mountains, mines of Morenci, Coronado Trail, Canyon de Chelly, Canyonlands & Arches NPs...and then even beyond that, of course there's the Tetons and Yellowstone, and even some of the stretches in northern Montana are remarkable just for their sheer desolation. I've driven bits and pieces of it with my family as a kid, but I really want to sit down and do the whole thing at once some day.

U.S. 11 is interesting because it's one of the few long-haul U.S. routes that has been almost entirely made redundant by Interstates, but has hardly been duplexed, let alone decommissioned altogether. It basically still is the Main Street for most of the towns along its corridor, when so many other U.S. highways have been built into bypasses or routed onto Interstates.

[sandiaman]

Great  choice,  US  191  goes  through  some  beautiful  country.  Bluff  to  Moab  is one   of  the  most  scenic  routes in  America.

[hbelkins]

US 17 through Virginia and North Carolina

I'd call this one major.

[D-Dey65]

Several of these that have been posted, I'd consider major.

Especially US 13 up the Delmarva Peninsula, US 460 across Virginia and US 35 from Dayton to West Virginia.

I certainly agree with you on US 13 in the Delmarva Peninsula, and I'd say it was my favorite drive if I didn't have to slow down to 55 MPH after crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

[roadman65]

US 400 from Mullinville, KS to Dodge City, KS.
I even like for several miles west of Mullinville, you can see nearby US 54 across the range and in Ford, KS, only US 400 is the only paved street in town.  All municipal streets and maintained roads are like they were in the 1800s with the state highway being the only paved roadway in Ford.

US 183 from Dodge City, KS to Minneola, KS where the road just travels across open range for miles.  You can see other nearby towns as you see the tall grain silos in the distance.

[Sykotyk]

US36 through KS and MO.

US12 from Miles City, MT east through ND and into Minneapolis.

US22 and US19 for familiarity reasons.

US6 from OH/PA line to PA/NY line.

[corco]

36 in Kansas is gorgeous. The only problem is once you get to Colorado there's nothing and there's no easy way off of it.

[deathtopumpkins]

US 17 through Virginia and North Carolina

I'd call this one major.

Well I don't recall "major" being specifically defined, so I counted ones ending in 0 or 1 as major, since those were intended to be the primary routes. 17 was not intended to be a primary US highway.

[roadman65]

US 17 through Virginia and North Carolina

I'd call this one major.

Well I don't recall "major" being specifically defined, so I counted ones ending in 0 or 1 as major, since those were intended to be the primary routes. 17 was not intended to be a primary US highway.

I think it is considered major, because its miles from the nearest interstate, being I-95.  It is a major through route in Eastern NC, and part of the Ocean Highway as well.

I am thinking that any route independent of an interstate is major in the case of this thread.

Now US 1, could be both  major or minor depending on where it is from I-95..  Even from Hendersonville, NC to Petersburg, VA would not be considered major as is in the imediate shadow of I-85 , yet from Camden, SC to Hendersonville, NC it would be a major one  as it being by itself and several miles away from other N-S Interstates.

Even US 54 through Kansas would be a major route, but US 160 just a few miles to the south of it would not be as well as US 56 would not be major either.  Both US 50 and US 54 are corridors of importance for commerce and link many small cities in Kansas each as well as in other states.  US 56 and US 160 are in the shadow of these and although  are good traveling routes, they are far less traveled and  do not form a  commercial link of importance.

[hbelkins]

US 17 through Virginia and North Carolina

I'd call this one major.

Well I don't recall "major" being specifically defined, so I counted ones ending in 0 or 1 as major, since those were intended to be the primary routes. 17 was not intended to be a primary US highway.

To me, "major" means a route that is a preferred through route between larger cities and towns, has long stretches of four-lane segments, carries a lot of truck traffic, etc.

In Virginia, I'd count US 58 and US 460 as major east-west routes, but not US 250 or US 33. For north-south routes, I'd regard US 23, US 19, US 220 south of Roanoke, US 29 and US 17 as major. Probably also US 301 north of (mumble) to the Potomac River. Not so much US 11, US 220 north of Roanoke, US 1, etc.

For Kentucky, I'd consider US 23, US 27, US 127, US 25E and portions of US 31E, 31W to be the major N-S routes. For E-W, portions of US 60, US 460, US 150 and US 68. Definitely non-major are US 431, US 231, US 42, US 62 and US 25.

[deathtopumpkins]

My point is that it was not clearly defined what constitutes major or minor, so I went based off the plan when the routes were first designated in the 20s.

[ftballfan]

Michigan doesn't really have all that many non-major US routes. The only ones I can think of are US-8 (all two miles of it), US-41 north of Houghton/Hancock, US-45, US-127 south of US-12, and US-141 north of Crystal Falls (and possibly US-10 between Reed City and Farwell). MI doesn't have US highways running parallel to interstates; the US highway (if near an interstate) gets shifted onto the interstate (see US-23 between Flint and Standish and US-31 between Benton Harbor and Holland), rerouted onto a totally different alignment (US-12), or truncated (US-10 southeast of Bay City, US-16, US-25). My favorite would be US-10 if it qualifies. I've also been on the non-major stretch of US-127.

[roadman65]

Just because a US route is without interstate, does not mean it is a major one.  My point about US 56 and parts of US1.  Even if you go by the commissioning of these an dates, you have some routes that were commissioned more as supporting or alternate routes of the main ones that were developed to be through routes across the nation connecting major cities.

Even before the interstates were around, you had plenty of US routes that were not major corridors as well.  Look at Georgia for example, you cannot say every north south US route was indeed major back then.  US 129 and US 441, I do not think, ever were.  Then US 319 and US 221, its obvious that they were designed as connector routes allowing a motorist to go regional between two other US routes.  Heck, even today US 319 is used as a short cut for SB I-75 travelers to I-10 WB or from I-10 EB to I-75 NB.  Although some may say its major now between Tifton, GA and Tallahassee cause of what I just said, but I would say more Florida Panhandle traffic from the north on I-75 uses GA 300, and before I-75 was built, it was always US 19 being the through route from Atlanta down to Florida's Panhandle and Gulf Coast area in NW Florida.

[cpzilliacus]

US 17 through Virginia and North Carolina

I'd call this one major.

I respectfully disagree.  Most of U.S. 17 in Virginia is remarkably free of traffic (including the long segment between Newport News and Fredericksburg). 

It is pretty busy between Fredericksburg and I-66 at Marshall, only because it serves as a de facto Outer Beltway for traffic wanting to avoid the often severely congested highways around Northern Virginia.