# What place in the lower 48 is farthest from a gas station? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876 "2009-11-09T03:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/1 "2009-11-09T03:29:16Z")
This, for some reason, has been bugging me for a while. Wolfram Alpha and Google haven’t been very receptive to my inquiries. I’d imagine that such a town or location would be proud to boast that it is the worst location possible in which to run out of gas. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/2 "2009-11-09T03:37:21Z")
There are a number of places in both Wyoming and Nevada that are a good distance from a road. So in a general sort manner I’ll suggest someplace in one of those two states. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/3 "2009-11-09T03:38:22Z")
Maybe not THE answer, but according to Wiki: > [@](#): > > The longest stretch between exits on an Interstate Highway is located between Wendover and Knolls, with 37.1 miles (60.1 km) between those exits. This portion of I-80, crossing the Great Salt Desert, is extremely flat and straight, dotted with large warning signs about driver fatigue and drowsiness. > **[Interstate 80](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_80)** > > Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the original routes of the Interstate Highway System; its final segment was opened in 1986. At a length of 2,900.76 miles (4,668.32 km), it is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90. It runs through many major cities, including Oakland, ... ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/4 "2009-11-09T05:00:14Z")
My educated guess is smack-dab in the middle of the River of No Return Wilderness Area in Idaho. By my eyeballing of it, you can get about 50 miles from the nearest town that’s on a paved road. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/5 "2009-11-09T05:55:25Z")
There’s a 60 mile stretch of U.S. 59 between Freer and Laredo TX that has nothing on it - no restaurants, no hotels, no gas stations. ---
**Author:** ![St.Anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@St.Anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Anger)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/6 "2009-11-09T07:16:34Z")
I’m going to submit there are parts of North-Central Pennsylvania and Northern Maine that would qualify at least for the East of the Missisippi title. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/7 "2009-11-09T07:22:44Z")
This is a photo (not me) taken near the Nevada/Oregon border. “Next Gas 100 Miles”. [![](http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv114/cherokeeprogressive/NextGas.jpg) ](http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv114/cherokeeprogressive/NextGas.jpg) There is a similar sign in SE Nevada where it is about 140 miles or so. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/8 "2009-11-09T07:34:33Z")
I am unable to locate a picture, but on US Route 6 there are no services anywhere between Tonopah and Ely (about 168 miles). There used to be a gas station where 6 met 375, but it has been gone for several years. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/9 "2009-11-09T12:44:55Z")
Due to a mudslide on Highway 12 west of Yakima, Washington, there are about a dozen folks that have been cutoff from basic services such as grocery stores and gasoline. Using an alternate route put in by the state DOT, it is about 120 miles to get to the nearest gas station. If Highway 12 west of them at White Pass is closed, the trip is about 200 miles. ---
**Author:** ![shallora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@shallora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shallora)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/10 "2009-11-09T13:27:16Z")
As my kids will tell you: On any road trip, the farthest known place from a gas station always coincides exactly, and has been scientifically proven to be, that point on a map where they have to pee the most! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/11 "2009-11-09T13:43:30Z")
nevermind ---
**Author:** ![Countrypolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/858c86/32.png) [@Countrypolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Countrypolitan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/12 "2009-11-10T00:51:15Z")
I’ve driven that way multiple times, to Corpus and back. It’s even worse when it’s late and it’s dark and you have no way of knowing what (or who) is going to pop out of the brush. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/13 "2009-11-11T01:05:41Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > I am unable to locate a picture, but on US Route 6 there are no services anywhere between Tonopah and Ely (about 168 miles). There used to be a gas station where 6 met 375, but it has been gone for several years. I’ve been on this road, and it was going to be my guess. Somewhere along the way on 6 there was some guy with an above ground tank who sometimes sold gas at about 1.5 times the going rate. They say Highway 50 is the loneliest highway, but it looks like Interstate 5 compared to 6. I didn’t see another car for about wht seemed like 2 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/14 "2009-11-11T02:17:10Z")
This was probably 15-20 years ago but I was traveling North of the Grand Canyon and there was nothing out there. I had hit a deer and it was over an hour before I saw a house to be able to call someone about the animal (the poor thing’s leg was broken). ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/15 "2009-11-11T02:26:47Z")
Well, I’m gonna go out on a limb and argue that there’s probably a big correlation between McDonalds restaurants and gas station. This is a helpful assumption, as someone has figured out what’s the spot in the contiguous 48 that’s farthest from a McDonalds. Presumably, when you go there, you’ll also be pretty far away from a gas station. The map was posted on strange maps: [link](http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/413-the-mcfarthest-place-145-mi-to-the-nearest-big-mac/)here ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/16 "2009-11-11T03:44:57Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Well, I’m gonna go out on a limb and argue that there’s probably a big correlation between McDonalds restaurants and gas station. This is a helpful assumption, as someone has figured out what’s the spot in the contiguous 48 that’s farthest from a McDonalds. Presumably, when you go there, you’ll also be pretty far away from a gas station. > > The map was posted on strange maps: [link](http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/413-the-mcfarthest-place-145-mi-to-the-nearest-big-mac/)here Cool link. I wonder if McDonalds people are looking into filling those gaps, as well as enterprising gas station owners. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/17 "2009-11-11T03:48:17Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > This was probably 15-20 years ago but I was traveling North of the Grand Canyon and there was nothing out there. I had hit a deer and it was over an hour before I saw a house to be able to call someone about the animal (the poor thing’s leg was broken). Close to that area is Southeast Utah which was one of the last areas in the US (lower 48) to get fully mapped . There is very little in that area even now. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/18 "2009-11-11T03:59:52Z")
> [@shallora](#): > > As my kids will tell you: > > On any road trip, the farthest known place from a gas station always coincides exactly, and has been scientifically proven to be, that point on a map where they have to pee the most! :eek: That reminds me of a Bob Stevens cartoon. ‘ **Gliding distance:** One-half the distance between an aircraft and the nearest safe landing place at the time of an engine failure.’ ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/19 "2009-11-11T05:24:36Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > There’s a 60 mile stretch of U.S. 59 between Freer and Laredo TX that has nothing on it - no restaurants, no hotels, no gas stations. That’s Kenedy County with a population of a mere 400+ people. Much of it was King Ranch at one time. It was established as a county in the 1920s to stave off the influence of farmers in the valley. I would think this is easily the longest stretch of road without a gas station in the lower 48. You might find something farther if you stand in the middle of a national park. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876/20 "2009-11-11T05:56:49Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > That’s Kenedy County with a population of a mere 400+ people. Much of it was King Ranch at one time. It was established as a county in the 1920s to stave off the influence of farmers in the valley. I would think this is easily the longest stretch of road without a gas station in the lower 48. You might find something farther if you stand in the middle of a national park. What is “King Ranch”? I’ve seen that several times and it’s never in the same context. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-place-in-the-lower-48-is-farthest-from-a-gas-station/516876.md?page=2)