Road Trip: Idaho’s Most Scenic Drive and Longest Road
Idaho has some amazing roads to travel and explore. The Gem state is home to one of America's most scenic drives as well as one of the longest roads in America. Today is national read a map day with National Today saying, "Paper road maps have become somewhat obsolete in today’s day and age, but this is exactly why Read a Road Map Day aims to raise awareness. There’s much history attached to road maps, from the times of Ancient Egypt to modern Europe."
Sure paper maps can be useful, fun and interesting but I am still going to stick to the GPS on my phone especially when driving. It is a great day to remind us to get out on the road and explore our great state a bit more though.
Town and Country recently came out with a list of The 60 Most Scenic Drives in America. The beautiful gem state made the list with our Northwest Passage Scenic Byway. "Beginning in Lewiston, follow U.S. Highway 12 to the Idaho-Montana border until you reach the city of Grangeville. For the next four-and-a-half hours, you'll follow the route of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery, so you're bound to see some great America sights through the ancestral homeland of the Nez Perce Native Americans."
According to Visit Idaho, you can also expect to see some wildlife on the drive. "Northwest Passage Scenic Byway is Idaho’s longest byway, which at 202 miles, follows the route Lewis and Clark took through north-central Idaho."
So what about the long road that I mentioned above that goes through Idaho?
The longest highway in the country is not part of the major interstate system. However it still runs through 12 states, including Idaho. According to 24 hour wall street U.S. Rout 20 is part of the older naming convention of U.S. highways. U.S. Route 20 stretches 3,365 miles, making it the longest highway in the country.
According to the Department of Transportation, The route begins in Boston at a junction with Massachusetts Route 2 and ends in Newport, Oregon, at a junction with U.S. 101. Because U.S. numbered highways are not designated with National Parks, U.S. 20 is divided into an East Section ending at the eastern entrance to Yellowstone National Park and a West Section beginning at the west entrance to the park.
The states it runs through are Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. These states are responsible for maintaining and repairing the road that is within their state boundaries.
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