# The most boring stretch of highway is ... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 2, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537 "2009-01-02T01:16:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Alienhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Alienhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alienhand)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/41 "2009-01-02T05:12:25Z")
ahem, that’s I-84 or I-91 ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/42 "2009-01-02T05:27:46Z")
> [@Caveat\_lector\_1](#): > > I’d say I-16 from Macon to Savannah. All it is trees and more trees. There is hardly any traffic most of the time too. God, yes. Even though it’s not a long distance, we always have to drive it in shifts because it puts us to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Convict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Convict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Convict)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/43 "2009-01-02T05:49:08Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > I-55 from Chicago to St Louis I don’t know–there’s a lot on that road. The landscape doesn’t get boring until you’re south of Joliet, and even then there are a number of towns until you get to Bloomington. I might give you the stretch from Bloomington to Springfield, or from Springfield to St. Louis. But the full 300+ plus miles? No way. I’ll nominate the stretch of I-39 from LaSalle to Bloomington. I wanted to kill myself after making that drive. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/44 "2009-01-02T07:46:46Z")
I-70 from just outside Cambridge, OH to approx. Zanesville, and I-79 from Morgantown, WV to Charleston. Whee doggies. Thank Og for iTunes and traveling companions, else I’d have gone round the bend on those 2 trips. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/45 "2009-01-02T07:56:08Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > [The Eyre Highway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyre_Highway) that joins Western Australia to the rest of the country. [Look around](http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-32.287133,128.62793&spn=0,352.924805&t=h&z=7&layer=c&cbll=-31.909487,127.102644&panoid=nZ7OJzJHncd_fQfpY_527A&cbp=12,269.99999999999994,,0,5) there are hundreds of miles of that. That is a certainty. It is straight and has nothing. Not even a tree. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/46 "2009-01-02T08:10:10Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > The type of highway where it takes great effort to resist the temptation of going more than 80 MPH. I actually used that as an excuse when I was busted doing 85 on the I-10 through New Mexico. I told the cop that the roads were just so nice it was difficult to keep the speed down. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > And then there’s I-5 from Redding south to Sacramento. Not quite as dull as I-80, but there is a lot of truck traffic and nothing to look at, so it’s both boring and a chore. The I-5 is dull as hell starting as far north as Portland. Boring and crowded. Give me an empty road through the great plains or the desert any day of the week over the I-5. US 210 between Fargo and Duluth was godawfully boring for me, for the most part it seemed just as flat as anywhere in North Dakota but without the expansive view. Driving through one non-descript tiny little town after another also did not help. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/47 "2009-01-02T08:48:41Z")
The entire state of connecticut in any direction is _nothing_ compared to I-70 in Kansas. I-80 across Nebraska, a bit better, but it still takes alllllll dayyyy. I-40 from Amarillo to OKC, but the worst thing about it is that at the end, whichever direction you’re traveling, you’re either in OKC or Amarillo. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/48 "2009-01-02T11:52:40Z")
> [@Convict](#): > > I don’t know–there’s a lot on that road. The landscape doesn’t get boring until you’re south of Joliet, and even then there are a number of towns until you get to Bloomington. I might give you the stretch from Bloomington to Springfield, or from Springfield to St. Louis. But the full 300+ plus miles? No way. > > I’ll nominate the stretch of I-39 from LaSalle to Bloomington. I wanted to kill myself after making that drive. You’re right. There are the power plant stacks and the one small lake you cross in Springfield to savor along the way plus the never ending construction around Blo/No and the prison in Pontiac. I stand corrected ---
**Author:** ![catflea12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f6c823/32.png) [@catflea12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catflea12)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/49 "2009-01-02T13:13:33Z")
I-70, nothing. Try US 136 in northen Kansas, goes through Marysville on east to Hiawatha ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/50 "2009-01-02T13:43:20Z")
I94 through North Dakota is pretty deadly stuff. 99 through the San Joaquin Valley is ghastly. I80 through Nebraska made me want to open a vein. And the Great Nothing from Calgary to Regina is pretty bad. Oh yeah: Los Angeles to Needles will make you pray for vultures. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/51 "2009-01-02T14:17:17Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Fiz-iffed! > > I live in BFE Nevada, and this stretch of road didn’t interest me. If it weren’t for rain and hail, I’d have fallen asleep and crashed…_into nothing!_ I’ve lived in Kansas/Missouri my entire life. I’ve travelled by car from coast to coast and made the trek from KC to Denver many times. I came into this thread thinking “well it’s clearly I-70 across Kansas. There’s just no comparisson for how utterly boring a drive it is.” But I didn’t think there’d be an overwhelming consensus before I even had my say. So sixthed. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/52 "2009-01-02T15:09:05Z")
As always in these sort of threads, I dissent from the people who say the Great Plains are boring. Midwestern corn and soybean country is boring. The Great Plains are beautiful. If I set out in my car from Chicago, as far as I’m concerned, the boring part is Illinois and Iowa and eastern Kansas and Nebraska. Only when I reach western Kansas and Nebraska do things start getting interesting–huge sprawling livestock ranches, rolling landscape, and beautiful high clear light and endless skies. You want boring, try one of the Mississippi Valley interstates like 57, 55, or 65. Elevation changes are measured in inches, and unless you have a fetish for corn plants, they will crush your soul. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/53 "2009-01-02T15:13:46Z")
Anybody else using Google Maps/Earth to view these roads? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/54 "2009-01-02T15:30:45Z")
Seventhing 70 through Kansas. I will never do that again. Although, in 70’s defense, once you hit Denver you get the sheer thrill of 50 miles (give or take) of going straight down. Really fun with brakes that barely work. Nothing like driving boredom followed by near certain death. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/55 "2009-01-02T16:18:53Z")
I-75 through Ohio. Nothing to see and an enforced 65mph speed limit. If it weren’t for the drowning Jesus [statue](http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/9786)and a cop every half mile, there’d be nothing to look at. Okay, Cinci has a nice skyline, but that’s 5 minutes of the trip and it’s at the end of the state. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/56 "2009-01-02T16:20:48Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > Route 40 from Amarillo to Oaklahoma City. Just drove it today, and I’ve never seen a terrain so flat and treeless. I’d like to add on to that… Route 40 from Memphis to Amarillo. Stupid Arkansas seems to take forever to cross! ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/57 "2009-01-02T16:23:24Z")
I just realized I needed to add one more route. I’ve driven [US 93 in Nevada between Ely and Wells](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=ely,+nv&daddr=wells,+nv&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=40.264857,-114.829102&sspn=1.483829,2.460937&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=8) four times now (twice each direction), and it has damn near put me to sleep each and every time. I have never suffered from road stare nearly as much anywhere else as on that stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/58 "2009-01-02T16:35:11Z")
I’ll also add I-35 from San Antonio to Laredo, TX. Nothing but sagebrush and dead armadillos. And those are the highlights. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/59 "2009-01-02T16:43:01Z")
Another vote for I-80 through Nebraska. I’ve done that road a few times. Not sure what I can say about it, but let’s just say that I never thought I’d be happy to find myself in Lincoln, Nebraska. Somebody upthread mentioned Canada’s Highway 1 from Calgary to Winnipeg. I’ll second that; it’s just like any of the US roads through the Great Plains, only duller. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537/60 "2009-01-02T17:13:45Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > It’s been a long time since I’ve done it, but I’d vote for I-80 across Nebraska as a good second to I-70 across Kansas. And I think I’d rather go east than west on 70. At least going east you’re coming to something besides wide open flat plains. As a resident of the great state of Nebraska, I absolutely concur with this statement! it looks like one continuous cornfield from the Missouri River to the Nebraska Colorado state line. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-boring-stretch-of-highway-is/479537.md?page=4)