Just curious about people’s opinions on this…not necessarily the lowest population density, just the area that feels the loneliest. My nominations:
- Portions of Canada and Alaska along the Alaska Hwy.
- West Texas
- Wyoming
YMMV
Good, a need a new place to move to after Bush wins. 
I’ll be keeping up with this thread for sure!
There was an article in National Geographic about this and they pretty much said a section along some southern Montana river.
South Dakota was pretty empty. I was there with my family a few years ago, and we kept saying “We’ll stop at this next town on the map for lunch”, and “this next town” would have all of two buildings. Then we started really looking at the road map, the part where it has the towns and their populations, and some of them were single digits. I don’t know how they’re allowed to be called towns.
Badlands National Park is definately something to see, but it’s a very lonely-looking place.
The lava fields on Mauna Loa are very desolate. No life anywhere. No water. Just hot sharp black rock, everywhere. And the air just hangs on the ground. And there’s no sound except for the occasional gust of wind. It always made me feel like I was one of those Robinson Carusoe on Mars kinda things. Marooned on a desert planet. Or maybe one of those Spaceman Spiff planets.
I imagine the salt flats are even worse.
US 50 through Nevada has the label of The loneliest road in America Check out the pics on the link. Having been to Ely I can tell you there are miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles out there.
I think Ellesmere Island has to win hands down. Why? It’s the world’s tenth biggest island. One permanent settlement, [url=“http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grise_Fiord%2C_Nunavut”]Grise fiord. Population 160. Doesn’t get lonelier than that.
I think Ellesmere Island has to win hands down. Why? It’s the world’s tenth biggest island. One permanent settlement, Grise fiord. Population 160. Doesn’t get lonelier than that.
It’s so lonely, even the Vb tags are fleeing.
Probably the headwaters of the Boulder River, south of Big Timber. There’s really nothing (1 bar) between Big Timber and Cooke City, especially in the winter.
However, in Montana I’d suggest the most desolate area would be south of Fort Peck lake. You can drive for an hour and not see another car.
Garflied county is 4,848 square miles. With a population of 1,300 people.
Whistlepig
Seems to me there was some useless study done recently that identified the most remote town in the US as the one being furthest from a road. I read this in our paper, but would have to pay for the archive, so you’re out of luck.
I think the winner was St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. Surprisingly (or appallingly), there was not a single town in the US that was more than something like 40 miles from a road.
If you’re just talking about places that feel lonely, I would have to rank that camping ground outside Sundance, WY that I stayed in about 30 years ago (briefly). Still gives me the creeps.
The road to Rae in winter. Rae is a town about 60 miles from Yellowknife, the nearest permanent settlement to the city.
You and Alec Baldwin! (for real this time)
I have to think it’s somewhere in Nunavut or the Northwest Territories. Come on. Nunavut is 1,900,000 sq km and has a population of 22,000. The small town I grew up in had almost three times as many people than the whole of Nunavut! Also, they have a great flag.
Many of the settlements in Nunavut (and we’ll have none of THAT) or NWT do not have roads connected to main highways – you can’t drive there from here.
Certainly, parts of Northern Ontario, Northern Maine, Southern New Brunswick and Sasketchewan feel awfully desolate to me.
Ottawa
Declan
Death Valley?
The southern half of Malheur county, Oregon, is quite remote. I remember a map, years ago, that showed all areas of the lower 48 that were within x miles (10?) of a paved road, navigable waterway, etc. in red. That area was nearly all white, the biggest such blob on the map. More recently, a nighttime satellite photo of the lower 48 also revealed it to be the biggest, darkest area around.
There are no military bases, secret or otherwise. It is so remote that the generals don’t even want to think about ever visiting there.
Eastern Montana is certainly desolate. I made it a point to visit all the counties in Montana when I lived there, and discovered that some of the eastern counties, though they may be the size of small states, are so unpopulated that even the county seats and largest towns are too small to have real gas stations (they have automated credit card activated pumps). I found it exhilarating.
I believe it’s the space between Dubya’s ears.
Uh, that was me, not Spider Woman.