The Five Loneliest Roads in the West

By Bennett Owen

“Who loves loneliness loves it alone …”

-    Robert Hunter         

To paraphrase the nursery rhyme, ‘solitude is very sad – outta gas is twice as bad.’ With that in mind, you might want to top off the tank before you try the following five highways. In fact, you’ll more likely spot a UFO than oncoming traffic:

5. I-94 in North Dakota – From Moorhead on the Minnesota border to Miles City, Montana – 400 miles of flat and endless prairie, with only the state capital, Bismarck to break up the monotony.  Well, that and ‘Salem Sue’, the world’s largest Holstein milk cow…a 38 foot high monument to the local dairy industry…perched upon the only hill you’ll see in the next hundred miles.

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Credit: Becky Platt

4. US 95 from Blythe to Needles, is considered the loneliest highway in California with no major towns and mostly barren desert with little sign of human activity. But the road DOES have bragging rights as one of the only highways stretching all the way from Mexico to Canada. For a leg stretcher, check out the “Blythe Intaglios”, some massive ancient drawings embedded into the desert floor…also described as “one of the few redeeming features of Blythe, California…”

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3. US 395 from Lakeview to Riley, in south-central Oregon. Starting just across the California state line, this route takes you through some very bleak high desert country.  One recent traveler reports, “I didn’t see more than two cars in 100 miles,” although he admits it was midweek! But if it’s lonely landscapes you’re after there is much to be had. And like bookends, the only two roadside attractions are the ‘Manmade Geyser’ in Lakeview and the ‘Big Ball of Twine’ in Burns.

This area is so remote, we couldn’t find a picture, its seems that even the Geyser has run out of steam.

2. US 278/43 from Dillon, Montana to Lost Trail Pass, Idaho. You will follow the Lewis and Clark trail through some of the most picturesque mountain scenery you have ever encountered. But keep your eye on the road because you will also see road kill. Lots of it. Skunks, porcupines, antelope, deer … the moose tend to walk away from such altercations. The loneliness sets in at about Badger Pass, with long stretches of natural nothingness all the way to Idaho. You’ll want to stop at the Big Hole Battlefield, where the great Nez Perce warrior Chief Joseph taught a tactical thing or two to the US Cavalry.

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1.     And yet another hat tip here to our My-West man on the road, RJ Burns. Most people will tell you that highway 50, running west to east through Nevada, is truly the loneliest road in the US. But RJ tells us it’s bumper to bumper compared to route 305, running north and south, from Battle Mountain to Austin, Nevada. As he describes it … ”88 miles and I have never seen anyone out there.”  In fact it’s so lonesome there’s not even a roadside attraction. The nearest is “White King, The World’s Largest Polar Bear” in Elko. But that’s a long ways away.

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So, and now it’s your turn! Send us your suggestions for lonely road honors … always better if you provide the pictures to prove it. We’ll post the best of the bunch!

Signing off with “It’s a Long Lonely Highway” by Elvis Presley ...