Upper South

States: West Virginia

The Quiet Zone

no signal, all signal

The Quiet Zone is a ~160-mile back-roads route from Lewisburg to Petersburg, WV on US 219, WV 39, WV 28 and WV 150, driven in 2 days, that stays off I-79 (by 60 miles) through the Upper South.

Open the interactive map →

Drive

Lewisburg → Petersburg, WV

Distance

~160 miles

Time

2 days

Highways

US 219 · WV 39 · WV 28 · WV 150

Avoids

I-79 (by 60 miles)

Region

Upper South

The National Radio Quiet Zone silences 13,000 square miles so the Green Bank telescope can hear the universe, and the drive through it is the most analog road trip left in the East: a Nobel laureate's birthplace, a subarctic bog stranded in the Alleghenies, Shay steam engines climbing Bald Knob at Cass, the largest fully steerable telescope on Earth, and Seneca Rocks' 900-foot fins. Your phone dies at the border. That is the amenity.

📍 Quiet Zone boundary lore aside, the Highland Scenic Highway's overlooks are the interpretive spine.

The drive, segment by segment

Pearl Buck Country

Lewisburg → Marlinton · ~45 mi

Droop Mountain's battle tower, Hillsboro's literary farmhouse, and the Cranberry bogs off WV 39.

• 📚Pearl S. Buck Birthplace — Hillsboro

  The Stulting farmhouse where the Nobel laureate was born; The Good Earth's author began in a Pocahontas County hayfield.

• ⚔️Droop Mountain — Hillsboro

  West Virginia's largest Civil War battle (1863), with a CCC lookout tower over the field.

• 🌿Cranberry Glades — Hillsboro

  A boardwalk through subarctic bog botany stranded 700 miles south of its kin: carnivorous plants, orchids, and glacial leftovers.

Cass & the Telescope

Marlinton → Green Bank · ~30 mi

The company town's Shays under steam, then the great white dish rising out of the pasture.

• 🎟️Cass Scenic Railroad — Cass

  Shay logging locomotives shove passengers up an 11 percent grade to Bald Knob; the company town below survives intact as the state park.

• 🛸Green Bank Observatory — Green Bank

  The largest fully steerable telescope on Earth, so sensitive the staff drive diesels and your phone is contraband; the science-center tour explains the silence.

Seneca Country

Green Bank → Petersburg · ~85 mi

Over the mountains to the fins at Seneca and the Potomac headwaters country.

• 🌿Seneca Rocks — Seneca Rocks

  Quartzite fins rising 900 feet over the forks; WWII assault climbers trained here, and the ledge trail lets civilians cheat honorably.

Tips and best time to go

• Download maps before Lewisburg; the Quiet Zone is not kidding.
• Cass's fall color runs sell out well ahead; the Bald Knob trip is the one to hold out for.

Frequently asked questions

How long is The Quiet Zone and how many days does it take?

The Quiet Zone is about 160 miles and takes 2 days at a back-roads pace.

Where does The Quiet Zone start and end?

It runs from Lewisburg to Petersburg, WV.

Which highways does The Quiet Zone follow?

It follows US 219, WV 39, WV 28 and WV 150.

Which interstate does The Quiet Zone replace?

It avoids I-79 (by 60 miles), using US 219, WV 39, WV 28 and WV 150 instead.

How many stops are on The Quiet Zone, and what are the highlights?

6 stops are mapped, including Pearl S. Buck Birthplace, Droop Mountain, Cranberry Glades, Cass Scenic Railroad and Green Bank Observatory.

When is the best time to drive The Quiet Zone?

The atlas’s seasonal note for this route: “Cass's fall color runs sell out well ahead; the Bald Knob trip is the one to hold out for.”

Worth a detour

• Dolly Sods — A wind-flagged spruce plateau that thinks it's Canada; the forest roads in are rough and the reward is total.
• Smoke Hole Canyon — The South Branch's hidden gorge, cave-riddled and barely roaded; take the narrow way in slowly.