America's Scariest Roads?

[Mark Sedenquist]

I wonder if I've driven that road? I've been on some remarkably steep one-lane roads -- but it really sounds cool. I'm going to pull out my Benchmark and take a look. Thanks for the idea!

Mark

[Foy]

Howdy dbt94gt,

Well, you beat me to it by a few years. I am now starting to formulate plans for a traverse of the Magruder Corridor during July 2011.

I'd been faintly aware of it in prior years but was recently reminded of it by an article in the online edition of the Missoula, MT newspaper (www.missoulianonline dot com). Once I did some online research, I knew Magruder was the place for me come 2011.

It's got it all: over 100 miles between towns, a historic ranger cabin for rent, campgrounds in abundance, the put-in for the most highly-sought river-run in the Lower 48, insane 2-track shelf roads, the only road running between two giant wilderness areas (comprising + 3 million acres) and my personal favorite: a walk-in hot spring which itself borders one of the wilderness areas and is accessed by a 22 mile dead-end spur road off of the Magruder.

Mark: The Magruder Corridor (aka Magruder Road, Nez Perce Trail, Southern Nez Perce Trail, Montana Road, Idaho Road) runs west from Darby or Conner, MT (south of Missoula and Hamilton along US 93) to Elk City, ID. It starts within the Bitterroot NF and ends in the Nez Perce NF, passing along the divide between the Bitterroot-Selway Wilderness Area and the Frank Church/River of No Return Wilderness Area between the two NF units. We're looking to take the big F350 diesel on a weeklong cabin/camping trip and will include fishing the Selway and tributaries, driving to Burnt Knob (just google some pics of the Burnt Knob fire tower--unreal) and the long daytrip into the secret hot spring. We'll exit the west side and overnight at newly re-opened Red River Hot Springs before looping WAY back around to spend a second week back in the Big Hole.

That's a GREAT call, dbt94gt. People come from all over the country to run the Magruder. I'll be one of them before long.

Foy

[Lifemagician]

Just found this thread.

As I read of all the 'scary' roads, I find that I have driven probably about half of them, and never knew that they were scary. I just drove them, like any other road.

How anyone can consider the James W Dalton Highway scary is beyond my comprehension. Such a well maintained gravel road in summer will be a breeze to drive. Not to be confused with the ice road in winter, which is a different story altogether.

But I was scared once.

It was my first visit in 2001. I was relocating a Suzuki Rodeo from Tuscon AZ to Putney VT. The office had given me a suggested route, printed off Mapquest. Needless to say, it was not long before I was bored with the Interstate, and looked for a scenic route. I had attained maps at the AAA and had my Rand McNally. At exit 352 of I-10, I chose 191 north.

At Clinton (I think it was) in an information centre, I picked up a hand printed sheet with the Coronado Trail (191) on it. I headed on up, having absolutely no idea what lay ahead of me. And by now, this little 'mickey mouse make believe fourwheeldrive' was starting to fishtail. (It belonged to a 16 year old who knew nothing about how to pack a car.) And the road got steeper and steeper, higher and higher. No roadside barriers, no nuttin'! I got to the point where I did not care on which side I had to drive, on this narrow road, I stuck to the mountain side. Stopped on a couple of ocassions to take in the view, and it was then that I saw the road ahead, way, way, below me.

In the 120 miles, and more than three hours to Eager, I saw three vehicles heading in the opposite direction. If I ever have cause to be down that way again, would love to have another go at it, and really enjoy it.

Lifey

[DonnaR57]

Honestly, those articles can make anything look like "the most deadly", "the scariest", "the top 10" etc. It's all in the way it's written, which is in the eye of the writer of course. I've been on some of those "scariest" highways, and on some of "the most deadly".

Unfortunately, we lost a friend and his bride on a highway that isn't usually listed as a "deadly" highway. They were on their own side of the road when a trucker passed (illegally) another vehicle, hitting them head-on. They died instantly.

Deadly? Try I-5 in rush hour up in Los Angeles on a Friday afternoon, traveling southbound.



Donna