Maine to Florida and back again usong secondary roads

[pcfarm10]

We would really like to find a route from Maine to Florida and back that does not entail driving entirly on the interstates. In fact the more secondary roads the better.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

...with a good atlas and see what's available to you in the way of roads that meet your criteria. I will say that I have done most, if not all of the general route that you are thinking about on 'back roads' and there are many, many possibilities. The ultimate itinerary you choose will be a set of very personal choices, but here are some roads that you should look at for starters: US-202 from Maine through New Hampshire and Massachusetts, US-209 around New York and through the Delaware Water Gap, US-15 down the Susquehanna River and around Washington, US-29 along the Allegheny foothills in Virginia, US-1/US-601/US-301 through the plains of North and South Carolina, US-25 in Georgia, and finally US-27 down the center of Florida. Those are just the backbone of one possible shunpiking trip. You will need ot make some connections on even smaller roads, or you could choose another route entirely. You should also leave four days or more for such a leisurely trip. Once you have chosen the basic route that suits you best, we can offer a bit more in the way of specific advice.

AZBuck

[Foy]

Many decades ago, before Interstates came to dominate our RoadTrip travel plans, the "US" highway system was the gold standard of interstate travel. Tourism promoters in the various states and regions banded together to encourage use of "The Ocean Highway" (US 13 and 17, though the ocean was rarely in sight from either), and "The Scenic Route", US 15.

From Corning, NY, to Laurinburg, NC, US 15 traverses the Pocono Mountains of PA, traces the Susquehanna River there, then parallels the Blue Ridge Mountains from Harrisburg, PA well into central Virginia, crossing obliquely across the Piedmont of Virginia and North Carolina to Laurinburg, in the NC Sandhills. Excepting Harrisburg, PA and Durham/Chapel Hill, NC, US 15 passes through no cities of any size whatsoever, and many of the two dozen or so towns it passes through are "Main Street USA" in character. In fact, Durham, NC can be bypassed by jumping on I-85 at Oxford, NC and getting back off at US 15/501 to Chapel Hill on the southwest side of Durham. US 15 is, to the greatest extent, two lanes, but once you're out of the Poconos, say, from Harrisburg, PA on south, passing zones are common, so getting behind school buses and log trucks or tractors won't delay your passage but so much.

I've traveled US 15 from Gettysburg, PA all the way through VA and into NC dozens and dozens of times. It truly is "The Scenic Route" and is a fine, relaxed alternative to Interstate travel from NY to Florida.

Foy

[Mark Sedenquist]

A little housekeeping, a brand new member, Babyheart, posted about a trip they are planning this summer from the Hudson Valley to Sarasota... I've moved that post to it's own thread here.

[Babyheart]

Thanks Mark!