# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/41 "2011-05-12T17:05:12Z")
> [@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 Yep. Everyday. Calling it gravel is actually pretty optomistic. I’ve got more gravel in my driveway. Right now it’s mud. We got a foot of snow last night. The longest my car can stay clean is equal to the amount of time I’m away from home. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/42 "2011-05-12T17:56:55Z")
About three weeks. The part of Missouri Mrs. Homie’s family hails from is not known for paved roads. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/43 "2011-05-12T17:59:39Z")
> [@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 QFT. Poll didn’t offer me a meaningful choice. This AM. Will do again this PM, tomorrow AM, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/44 "2011-05-12T18:03:10Z")
> [@lacortadora](#): > > This week. Cottage Grove, OR. Note to self: wash car, eventually. I apparently have the same note to self. All the caked-on dust from my on-road off-road adventures is still on it. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/45 "2011-05-12T18:20:41Z")
Everytime I leave home. I live at the bottom of a main-line logging road that runs into the mountains. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/46 "2011-05-12T18:52:44Z")
After seeing several stories in the fairly recent past about people who get stranded when their GPS leads them down some abandoned logging/forestry service road, I wonder whether the USAian driving tests ought to include some proof of proficiency for driving on unpaved roads… ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/47 "2011-05-12T19:18:21Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > After seeing several stories in the fairly recent past about people who get stranded when their GPS leads them down some abandoned logging/forestry service road, I wonder whether the USAian driving tests ought to include some proof of proficiency for driving on unpaved roads… Well, I’ll tell you that the road I live on is a little side spur off the bottom of the above mentioned logging road. The spur/side road is about 1/2 mile long and is called something like Muddy Jackson Road (not the real name). If you pull up Muddy Jackson on your GPS it will show the entire logging road up into the mountains as all Muddy Jackson, instead of the name of the logging road itself. And if you follow that you will end up in some serious 4x4 country and probably get run over by a logging truck because you aren’t monitoring the proper CB channel. Many times I will be sitting out in my garden and expecting a UPS or Fed Ex delivery and I see them fly right by heading up the logging road into Ax Man territory. Usually they figure it out and turn around. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/48 "2011-05-12T19:21:35Z")
February while touring around Death Valley. There are many closer to home but since I’ve been essentially limited to home/work since my vacation I haven’t encountered any. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/49 "2011-05-12T19:22:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > All the time. Anybody who lives in or near the desert drives them with some regularity, if they’re lucky. What **silenus** said. I’m lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/50 "2011-05-12T19:29:38Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > After seeing several stories in the fairly recent past about people who get stranded when their GPS leads them down some abandoned logging/forestry service road, I wonder whether the USAian driving tests ought to include some proof of proficiency for driving on unpaved roads… I think we’d be better off adding some common sense navigation questions. Something like If your GPS is telling you to turn your low-slung rear-wheel drive rental sports car down a lightless, muddy, heavily wooded road on your way to your resort hotel, should you: a) blindly follow its directions, humming “dueling banjos” to yourself b) proceed cautiously down the road until it becomes impassable c) fumble with the GPS in a vain attempt to have it recalculate a feasible route d) turn around, drive back to the nearest town and buy a damn paper map ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/51 "2011-05-12T19:38:24Z")
Not very long at all. I have several friends who live out in the boonies north of town, and some of them live down long stretches of dirt road. Oh, and around February I took the kids sledding at a popular campground in the mountains near here, and the road ended before we got where we were going. I’m not sure how long the dirt stretch was–we took it very slowly since it was all icy, but I think it was over a mile. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/52 "2011-05-12T20:00:45Z")
About a month ago, but there’s no poll option for that answer. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/53 "2011-05-12T20:12:06Z")
> [@Gus\_Gusterson](#): > > I drive on them in Ireland every year, along with the odd one in the US. Where? I’ve only ever seen gravel or dirt roads on private property here. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/54 "2011-05-12T20:46:02Z")
Not as frequently now that I’m in the fancy schmancy city, but every time I go home to the parents I do. Speaking of driver training above, gravel driving should replace parallel parking here. Or they should replace it with ‘parallel parking a large farm truck on a half-gravel, half-grass slope leading into the ditch at an auction sale’. We have a show called Canada’s Worst Driver here which is a reality show to, well, find Canada’s worst driver. It’s hilarious, and features funny challenges. 40-point turn go! ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/55 "2011-05-12T20:47:56Z")
Every couple of months - it really depends on where we’re going, but when visiting in-laws there is always a bit of gravel, just to take the back roads. Hell, my driveway is mostly gravel, until you get up to the house/garage. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/56 "2011-05-12T21:03:25Z")
An insubstantial distance, not infrequently, but for the most part, I drive in a world with pavement. The last time I drove a substantial distance was when I was looking for the boat launch to go to the “Bridge to Nowhere” in New Zealand. The guide books had failed to mention that the trip would involve 70 miles on a one lane (not one lane each direction, but one lane that you shared with cars going the other way) gravel road. On the side of a cliff. With no gas stations. It’s more fun in retrospect than it was when I was staring at the orange light telling me that I was out of gas for about 20 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/57 "2011-05-12T21:53:25Z")
You don’t have any choice more recent than 2 years ago. Yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/58 "2011-05-12T21:54:45Z")
South Georgia is full of dirt (red clay dirt) roads. I’d rather drive in six inches of snow on gravel or asphalt than drive on a soggy, slippery clay road. Snow’s easier than clay to drive in, and will eventually come off the car of its own accord. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/59 "2011-05-13T12:51:29Z")
> [@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 and an everyday option. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628/60 "2011-05-13T12:54:18Z")
Do the debris fields in Japan count? If so, put me down for “within the last 10 days.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-drove-a-gravel-or-dirt-road/581628.md?page=4)