The Routes

85 hand-curated back-roads routes across the American South — every one shadowing the interstate it replaces.

Open the interactive map →

Gulf Coast

• US 90: The Creole Coast
  the Old Spanish Trail's middle act
  New Orleans → Pensacola · ~270 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-10
• The Forgotten Coast
  US 98 & Scenic 30A to the Big Bend
  Pensacola → St. Marks · ~280 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-10
• Bayou Teche & the Cajun Prairie
  Old US 90 and the back levees of Acadiana
  New Orleans → Eunice · ~230 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-10 & the Basin bridge
• River Road & the Felicianas
  The Mississippi's levee roads to Natchez
  New Orleans → Natchez · ~200 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-10
• US 90: The Florida Backbone
  Old Spanish Trail — Mile Zero to Pensacola
  St. Augustine → Pensacola · ~400 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-10
• US 90: Rice & Rails
  Old Spanish Trail — Lafayette to the Sabine
  Lafayette → Orange, TX · ~130 mi · 1 days · skips I-10
• LA 1: End of the Road
  down the longest street in the world
  Donaldsonville → Grand Isle · ~110 mi · 1–2 days · skips US 90 four-lane
• Cane River & El Camino Real
  the royal road's Louisiana act
  Natchez → Toledo Bend · ~180 mi · 2 days · skips I-49
• Poverty Point & the Delta Parishes
  the oldest thing on the map
  Vidalia → Lake Providence · ~130 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-20

Deep South

• The Blues Highway
  US 61 through the Mississippi Delta
  Memphis → Natchez · ~320 mi · 2–4 days · skips I-55
• Natchez Trace Parkway
  444 miles, zero billboards, ten thousand years
  Natchez → Nashville · ~444 mi · 3–4 days · skips I-55 / I-65 corridor
• Grant's Vicksburg Campaign
  The 1863 maneuver, county road by county road
  Loop from Vicksburg · ~165 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-20
• The Civil Rights Trail
  Jackson to Birmingham through the Black Belt
  Jackson → Birmingham · ~430 mi · 3–4 days · skips I-20 / I-85 / I-65
• The Hill Country Ramble
  Old 78 and MS 7 through Faulkner country
  Memphis → Tupelo · ~130 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-22
• Hank's Lost Highway
  US 31 from Montgomery to the Bay
  Montgomery → Mobile · ~170 mi · 1 days · skips I-65
• Sherman to the Swamp
  US 441 down the spine of Georgia
  Dillard → Folkston · ~330 mi · 3–4 days · skips I-75 / I-16 / I-95
• US 11: The Valley South
  Appalachia's exit ramp
  Chattanooga → Meridian · ~330 mi · 3–4 days · skips I-59
• The Shoals
  the river that sings
  Corinth → Huntsville · ~150 mi · 2 days · skips I-22 / I-65
• The Black Belt & Gee's Bend
  quilts, prairie and holy ground
  Tuscaloosa → Selma · ~165 mi · 2 days · skips I-65 (by 70 miles)
• The Old Federal Road
  the road that made Alabama
  Columbus, GA → Fort Mims · ~230 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-85 / I-65
• US 84: Wiregrass to Mockingbird
  peanuts, weevils and Miss Nelle
  Dothan → Monroeville · ~170 mi · 2 days · skips I-10 (by 60 miles)
• The Free State of Jones
  Mississippi's inside-out county
  Meridian → Natchez · ~200 mi · 2 days · skips I-59 / US 84 four-lane hurry
• US 49: Jackson to the Sound
  the Hattiesburg line
  Jackson → Gulfport · ~160 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-55 / I-10
• Sherman's March to the Sea
  the left wing, Milledgeville to Savannah
  Milledgeville → Savannah · ~185 mi · 2 days · skips I-16
• US 41: Dixie Highway & the Atlanta Campaign
  the General's road
  Chattanooga → Atlanta · ~120 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-75
• The Chattahoochee Trace
  the river border nobody drives
  Columbus → Bainbridge · ~180 mi · 2 days · skips I-75 (by 90 miles)
• Plains & Andersonville
  peanuts and the prison pen
  Macon → Plains · ~90 mi · 1 days · skips I-75
• US 341: The Golden Isles Highway
  peaches to the beaches
  Barnesville → Brunswick · ~225 mi · 2 days · skips I-75 / I-16
• North Georgia Gold & Apples
  Dahlonega to the roof of Georgia
  Dahlonega → Brasstown Bald · ~130 mi · 1–2 days · skips GA 400 / I-575
• The Trail of Tears: Georgia to Kentucky
  the northern road of the removal
  New Echota → Hopkinsville · ~350 mi · 3 days · skips I-75 / I-24

Upper South

• The Valley Pike
  US 11 down the Shenandoah
  Winchester → Roanoke · ~200 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-81
• Bull Run to the Bloody Angle
  The Northern Virginia Civil War loop
  Loop from Alexandria · ~240 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-95 / I-66
• The Crooked Road
  Virginia's mountain music trail
  Bristol → Floyd · ~210 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-81
• Blue Ridge Parkway & the Smokies
  America's longest slow road, southern half
  Roanoke → Cherokee (+ Smokies spurs) · ~400 mi · 3–5 days · skips I-81 / I-40 / I-26
• Highway 64: Shiloh to Lookout Mountain
  Southern Tennessee the long way
  Memphis → Chattanooga · ~340 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-40 / I-24
• Bourbon, Bluegrass & Shakers
  US 68 and the old Kentucky pikes
  Lexington → Mammoth Cave · ~180 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-64 / I-65
• The Constitution Route & 231
  Jefferson and Madison's neighborhood, then Virginia's prettiest road
  Charlottesville → Sperryville · ~75 mi · 1–2 days · skips US 29
• The Overhill Country
  Ocoee whitewater to the peaceful side of the Smokies
  Chattanooga → Gatlinburg · ~175 mi · 2 days · skips I-75
• Gold, Clay & Longleaf
  the Carolina Piedmont crescent
  Raleigh → Columbia · ~250 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-85 / I-77
• US 11: The Valley Road South
  the Great Wagon Road's last act
  Roanoke → Bristol · ~150 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-81
• Skyline Drive & the Parkway
  the Virginia ridgeline, end to end
  Front Royal → Roanoke · ~225 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-81 (running parallel below)
• Lee's Retreat
  the last week of the war
  Petersburg → Appomattox · ~110 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-85
• The Booth Escape Route
  twelve days in April 1865
  Washington → Port Royal · ~95 mi · 1 days · skips I-95
• US 23: The Country Music Highway
  coal seams and gold records
  Ashland → Pikeville · ~140 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-64
• US 52: The Mine Wars Road
  billion-dollar coalfield, five-and-dime pay
  Bluefield → Williamson · ~100 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-77 (by a county)
• The Midland Trail
  US 60 over the New River country
  White Sulphur Springs → Charleston · ~120 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-64
• The Quiet Zone
  no signal, all signal
  Lewisburg → Petersburg, WV · ~160 mi · 2 days · skips I-79 (by 60 miles)
• The Wilderness Road
  Boone's gap and the first West
  Bristol → Berea · ~220 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-75 / I-81
• Moonbows & the Gorge
  Red River Gorge to Cumberland Falls
  Slade → Cumberland Falls · ~150 mi · 2 days · skips I-75 (mostly)
• US 60: The Mutton Line
  Louisville to Paducah the long way
  Louisville → Paducah · ~220 mi · 2 days · skips I-64 / the parkways
• US 70: Broadway of America
  Memphis to Nashville, pre-interstate
  Memphis → Nashville · ~210 mi · 2 days · skips I-40
• The Middle Tennessee Pike
  Franklin to the Shoals on the old roads
  Nashville → Muscle Shoals · ~140 mi · 2 days · skips I-65
• US 127: The Plateau & the Sale
  Sequatchie to York country
  Chattanooga → Albany, KY · ~160 mi · 2 days · skips I-40
• US 11E: The Great Valley Road
  Knoxville to Bristol, statesman country
  Knoxville → Bristol · ~110 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-81 / I-26
• US 64: The Waterfall Byway
  Brevard to Murphy, falling water all the way
  Brevard → Murphy · ~120 mi · 2 days · skips I-40 (by 50 miles)
• SC 11: The Cherokee Foothills
  the peach-shed skyline road
  Gaffney → Walhalla · ~115 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-85
• The Old Ninety Six District
  backcountry crowns and kilns
  Augusta → Abbeville · ~100 mi · 1 days · skips I-20
• Old Salem to Mayberry
  Moravians, Pilot Mountain and Andy
  Winston-Salem → Mount Airy · ~70 mi · 1 days · skips I-74
• US 58: The Last Capital Road
  Martinsville to the Dismal Swamp
  Martinsville → Suffolk · ~230 mi · 2 days · skips I-85

Atlantic Coast

• Kings Highway & the Lowcountry
  US 17, the coast road since 1735
  Wilmington → Savannah · ~290 mi · 3–4 days · skips I-95
• Golden Isles & the First Coast
  US 17 and A1A to the oldest city
  Savannah → St. Augustine · ~210 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-95
• Outer Banks & the Sound Country
  NC 12, two ferries and the Albemarle backwaters
  Dismal Swamp → New Bern · ~300 mi · 3–4 days · skips I-95 (by 200 miles)
• US 301: The Ghost Road
  the interstate that time forgot
  Emporia → Santee · ~290 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-95 (that's the point)
• Sherman's Carolinas Campaign
  Columbia to the largest surrender
  Columbia → Durham · ~280 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-95 / I-40
• The Inner Banks
  Blackbeard's sound country
  Washington → Ocracoke (via Swan Quarter ferry) · ~120 mi · 1–2 days · skips US 64 bypass
• The Northern Neck
  Historyland Highway, the peninsula of presidents
  Fredericksburg → Irvington · ~110 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-95
• VA 5 & the Colonial Parkway
  plantation row to the first peninsula
  Richmond → Yorktown · ~90 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-64
• US 13: The Eastern Shore
  two counties, four centuries, one road
  Cape Charles → Chincoteague · ~90 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-95 (by an entire bay)

Florida Peninsula

• A1A: Flagler's Coast
  the railroad baron's beach road
  St. Augustine → Titusville · ~135 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-95
• The Space & Treasure Coast
  rockets north, shipwreck gold south
  Titusville → Jupiter · ~135 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-95
• Old Dixie: Cassadaga to Kissimmee
  Orlando before the Mouse
  Cassadaga → Kissimmee · ~75 mi · 1 days · skips I-4
• Cross Creek & the Springs
  Rawlings country and glass-bottom water
  Palatka → Ocala · ~130 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-75
• The Nature Coast
  the Gulf the condos never found
  Perry → Tarpon Springs · ~230 mi · 2–3 days · skips I-75 (by 60 miles)
• The Florida Cracker Trail
  cow-hunter country across the ridge
  Bradenton → Fort Pierce · ~145 mi · 1 days · skips I-4 (by 80 miles)
• The Big Water
  the dike, the muck and the 1928 storm
  Around Lake Okeechobee (loop) · ~115 mi · 1 days · skips Florida's Turnpike
• The Tamiami Trail
  the road they blasted through the Glades
  Naples → Miami · ~110 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-75 (Alligator Alley)
• The Overseas Highway
  Flagler's railroad that went to sea
  Miami → Key West · ~165 mi · 2–3 days · skips nothing (there is only one road)

Ozarks, Ouachitas & the Bootheel

• Arkansas 7: The Scenic Seven
  bathhouses to the Buffalo
  Hot Springs → Harrison · ~160 mi · 2 days · skips I-49 (by 80 miles)
• Crowley's Ridge Parkway
  Hemingway, Cash and the strange long hill
  Piggott → Helena · ~200 mi · 2 days · skips I-55
• The Arkansas Delta
  the other side of the river
  Helena → Lake Village · ~150 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-40 / I-55
• Talimena & the Ouachitas
  the South's only east–west mountains
  Hot Springs → Talihina, OK · ~130 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-30
• The Pig Trail & Eureka
  the Ozarks' favorite bad idea
  Ozark → Eureka Springs · ~85 mi · 1 days · skips I-49
• The Bootheel: US 61 North
  earthquake country and throwed rolls
  Memphis → Cape Girardeau · ~175 mi · 1–2 days · skips I-55

Beyond the Sabine

• US 90 West: To the Alamo
  the Old Spanish Trail's Texas act
  Orange → San Antonio · ~330 mi · 3–4 days · skips I-10
• El Camino Real: The Texas Act
  the royal road to the missions
  San Augustine → San Antonio · ~330 mi · 3–4 days · skips I-45 / I-35