# How Long has it been since you drove a Gravel or Dirt Road? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628 "2011-05-12T05:32:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/21 "2011-05-12T13:52:16Z")
Whenever we’re in CO we spend most of our time on them but that’s generally just several weeks out of the year. I used to drive the gravel Haul Road up to Prudhoe every other day. Each truck you pass has a windshield busted in a half dozen places. It’s just a given up there. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/22 "2011-05-12T13:59:46Z")
There’s not many months that go by without me driving on a dirt road. There’s tons of them around here - including some unpaved streets in town - and I’m always on them to go to our cabin, or the ski trail, or the bike trail, or whatever. And we also have a long dirt driveway, but not sure if that counts. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/23 "2011-05-12T14:35:23Z")
About a year ago, when I drove the Hatcher Pass in Alaska. Very, very pretty! ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/24 "2011-05-12T14:54:42Z")
I chose the “more than ten years ago” option but its really been closer to twenty; the last time was when I lived in South Dakota and that’s getting on to be a long time ago. It’s funny how much I miss the place, though. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/25 "2011-05-12T15:24:23Z")
I picked “5 years ago”, although it’s probably more recent than that. The last one I remember for sure was on Cat Island in the Bahamas, about 4 years ago I guess – we wanted to get to the ocean side of the island, and did, but only after driving on a dirt road for a length of time that would have seemed impossible on such a small island. While we’re on the subject, I thought I would mention a rather improbable gravel road – the New London Turnpike, which cuts straight across Rhode Island from northeast to southwest. It used to go from Providence to New London, Connecticut; the upper and lower parts are gone, but the middle part is still there, and is still unpaved… probably not too different than it was in colonial times. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/26 "2011-05-12T15:24:36Z")
I drive on them in Ireland every year, along with the odd one in the US. ---
**Author:** ![surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/27 "2011-05-12T15:27:11Z")
About 10 minutes ago taking my kids to school. We live down a dirt road with a few other far flung homes. The constant rain makes the most insane pot holes that have aready chewed through the bearings on my car’s front tires several times. Ya’ think they would grade the road at something of an ange so the rainwater would drain. In the summer the dust from the road lands all over the house. I can, however, hear any car crunching up the road pretty well. My teenagers don’t have a chance in hell of sneaking in or out without me knowing. (Heheheheh) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/28 "2011-05-12T15:32:17Z")
I drive down a gravel driveway about 1/4 mile every day. There are 4 or 5 gravel roads within 5 miles of my house, 2 short ones within a couple miles. But there used to be more. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/29 "2011-05-12T15:38:44Z")
Four years ago I’d drive dirt roads every day, if I drove at all. It’s less frequent now, but hardly unusual. It was only a few years ago that my county moved one of its road right-of-ways out of a stream bed. I don’t mean the road used to _cross_ a stream. I mean it descended into the bed of a running stream, and then ran along that course for a while before emerging again. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/30 "2011-05-12T15:39:14Z")
Just a few days ago. I was in North Dakota for my mother’s funeral. We stayed with my wife’s folks in Devils Lake for a couple of days. They live in the sticks. They live on an unpaved road. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/31 "2011-05-12T15:40:23Z")
6 months. My parents live on a gravel road and I was there at Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/32 "2011-05-12T15:41:53Z")
1. The road leading to Horseshoe Canyon in southern Utah. It was covered with powdery sand and many ruts and potholes. Very long and very difficult to drive on. ---
**Author:** ![CateAyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@CateAyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CateAyo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/33 "2011-05-12T16:02:09Z")
i made a road down through the woods from the highway to my house, so…everyday. Also dirt and clay roads abound in my area ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/34 "2011-05-12T16:06:51Z")
This has been a surprise. I didn’t realize roads like this are still so common. We still have a lot of logging roads in the woods. A lot aren’t on any maps. Deer hunters use them. The last gravel road I drove was on a fishing trip. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/35 "2011-05-12T16:38:15Z")
All the options are way too far in the past. More realistic today this week last week within the past month within the past 3 months etc ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/36 "2011-05-12T16:45:21Z")
The last time was the day we moved out of rural NE North Carolina to southern Maryland the last week of February this year. Before moving, it was a common but not everyday experience. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/37 "2011-05-12T16:45:35Z")
The road to my in-laws’ cabin in NW Ontario is an old logging road, and we were there last summer. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/38 "2011-05-12T16:57:30Z")
This week. Cottage Grove, OR. Note to self: wash car, eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/39 "2011-05-12T17:01:28Z")
This morning. What flickster says: > [@flickster](#): > > All the options are way too far in the past. > > More realistic > > today > this week > last week > within the past month > within the past 3 months > etc ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/40 "2011-05-12T17:02:49Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > A couple of weeks ago, in rural NSW. Minor country roads here will never be improved. We don’t have the population to justify it. My parents live on one so yesterday was the last time I drove on one. This poll is badly designed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628.md?page=3)