The loneliest roads in America

[ThinkFast]

For those of you who like getting away from it all, check this out:https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/least-traffic-roads-usa
The article is based on data from this site: https://www.geotab.com/americas-quietest-routes/, which also includes a list of the most scenic lonely roads.

In California it’s 139 from Susanville to the OR border. I’ve ridden part of that one.

US 50 doesn’t make the top 10 in terms of low traffic, but it does make the top 10 most scenic in the geotab list.

Last time I rode it was 2009. There were a bunch of wild fires down in LA with a southerly blowing it all straight up into NV, so the whole ride was a bit milky. Still pretty cool though - no one out there. And we saw the shoe tree before some SFB cut it down.

 

[budman]

Pretty cool...! Nice find.

 

[stratslingr77]

Be still, my beating heart!

I've ridden almost all of 395 through Oregon and I've driven the entire section of Hwy 89 through Idaho and the entire section of 360 in Nevada. God, I LOVE the American West!

 

[ThinkFast]

Nice, Strat! Yeah, we love it, too.

I forgot to post up a pic from our ride out on 50.

 

[kxmike]

I drove 395 last year....saw 2 cars in 4 hours on this section. I loved it!

 

[stratslingr77]

Tom, there's a ton of neat stuff to explore right off Hwy 50 too!

Like Dixie Valley

And heading south into Monitor Valley, there's Potts Ranch

Diana's Punch Bowl

...and herds of wild horses!

 

[jbawden]

Fantastic pictures! The west is really a fantastic place to explore.

In the punch bowl, is that buck trapped or does it have them leapers?

 

[stratslingr77]

It's not a live animal, it's a decoy.

 

[WoodsChick]

And heading south into Monitor Valley, there's Potts Ranch

Diana's Punch Bowl

Thanks for the photos, Strat! Love that area. We used to take 50 on our way to ride in Utah, but I was always looking around and wondering what was up that road? Or that one? Oooh, did you see that? I wonder where that goes?? We bought a Nevada Benchmark on our way home from Utah, then started checking it out and didn't go all the way to Utah for the next 10 years! I have crawled all over the north and south of 50 and it's a fantastic place to explore. I have to ask...when were the photos above taken?


GreatBasinChick

 

[stratslingr77]

Hey @Woodschick, I took these in June this year on a cage trip with my wife. Except the horses...that pic was from the moto over Memorial Day weekend this year.

 

[BillSmith]

Thanks for this. 139 is now on bucket list.

 

[WoodsChick]

Hey @Woodschick, I took these in June this year on a cage trip with my wife. Except the horses...that pic was from the moto over Memorial Day weekend this year.

Ugh...what a heartbreaker That view is one of my favorites in NV.

This is what it looked like the last time I was there. I guess the desert really is a harsh mistress...

HotSpringsChick

 

[stratslingr77]

Holy crap! Are we even talking about the same place???

 

[WoodsChick]

Holy crap! Are we even talking about the same place???

We most certainly are. I'd know that view anywhere. If you zoom in you'll see the travertine hill of Diana's Punchbowl...

It was pretty rustic the first time we found it many years ago, then it got a bench and we felt pretty fancy. Over the years it evolved to have that nice deck and benches. I've never seen a plastic tub there, it was always metal. There used to be a nice herd of wild horses that lived in the green meadow just beyond the tub. We'd recognize the horses there from visit to visit.

Also, if you ever get the chance, go see the Punchbowl when it's freezing outside. It's pretty spectacular!

 

[stratslingr77]

Wow...there was zero evidence of that deck or the benches...when were your pictures taken?

 

[WoodsChick]

Wow...there was zero evidence of that deck or the benches...when were your pictures taken?

Those particular photos were taken in 2007 and 2012, but the benches and deck were still there in 2016. The rules were always painted on the metal tub in red paint..."Potts Ranch, Private Land, No Camping, No Fires." I believe the land owners are the same people that own the Monitor Ranch just up the road a piece, so even though it looks abandoned I'm sure someone is keeping an eye on it. Perhaps, like the nice tub up in the Reese River Valley, it got taken out by the landowner after the place got trashed? I would imagine the crush of humanity that bled out into the deserts during Covid didn't help, I don't know... Whatever the reason, it's disheartening to say the least.

Sorry for the thread jack, everyone! To get back on track, here's a photo I took on the old section of 395 just south of Bishop...

LonelyRoadChick

 

[SFMCjohn]

Sorry for the thread jack, everyone! To get back on track, here's a photo I took on the old section of 395 just south of Bishop...

LonelyRoadChick

here’s my pic of CA’s “loneliest road” from back in August—Hwy 139 north of Susanville near Eagle Lake:

the good news is that they were repaving, which was the delay … so hopefully it’ll be lonely again when I’m maybe back up that way for the End of Pavement rally in Cedarville in 2024.

 

[ThinkFast]

Sorry for the thread jack, everyone! To get back on track, here's a photo I took on the old section of 395 just south of Bishop...

LonelyRoadChick

Wow - cool - wasn’t aware there even *was* an old road section. Been through there a bunch of times. Next time I’ll have to check that out.

(Love your sig…presumably it’s only for this thread).

 

[berth]

here’s my pic of CA’s “loneliest road” from back in August—Hwy 139 north of Susanville near Eagle Lake:

Sure are a lot of lonely people there.

 

[John2023]

US 50 doesn’t make the top 10 in terms of low traffic, but it does make the top 10 most scenic in the geotab list.

Been on 50 several times and some stretches are like a ghost town especially cutting through it in Nevada.