It's amazing to consider that you can drive from any town in the contiguous 48 states to any other town without leaving paved roadway, including to towns in Canada and Mexico. The same is true throughout Europe and probably much of Asia. Which brings up a trivia question yet to be answered (and whose answer could change as often as weekly as new roadways and bridges get built): What is the longest great circle distance separating two points connected by continuous paved roadway, and what is the shortest driving distance between them on paved roadway? Ferries, although featuring paved decks, do not count as continuous pavement, otherwise the answer would simply be the girth of the earth. So, for example, the great circle distance between my house and San Francisco Airport is 11 statute miles; the shortest driving distance on pavement is more than twice that at about 29 miles. Is it possible to drive on pavement from Gibraltar, Spain to, say, Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula on pavement the whole way (6,205 miles great circle separation)? Finally, could a Prius hypermiler be able to make the trip with only one stop (and that just to use a restroom)?
You might have to define 'stop'. Even from your place to SFO on a good day, I'd guess you'd spend as much time stopped as moving. Maybe more. So, you mean 'stop' like for gas, or food, or to use the restroom. Having done a few long distance trips, I know my bladder is the limiting factor.
Weird. Google Maps doesn't even let me go from Europa Point, Gibraltar to Moscow. Kamchatka apparently doesn't have any roads (or at least any roads that connect to anyplace outside Kamchatka); Bing Maps let me go to Magadan which is as close to Kamchatka as I could find: 9449.0 miles, 169 hr 50 min
In the lower 48, I was able to find a shortest drive (that did not use ferries) of 3664 miles from suburban Neah Bay, WA to Key West, FL. Bahokas Peak Rd to Unknown road - Google Maps If you allow a ferry, 3628 miles. [Edit: Van Buren, ME is actually 4 miles further from Neah Bay than Key West is, if you stay in the US] In North America, Google Maps allows me Mt McKinley to Cancun: 5939 miles. (Google Maps will not let me drive into Guatemala) Political boundaries complicate South America and Asia, but I found 8,066 miles from the southern tip of Portugal to the northern tip of Bangladesh (without using ferries). Unknown road to NH 38 - Google Maps
Don't know about your question but here's more trivia below . . . Stretching from Ushuaia Argentina to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska the Pan-American Highway is a network of roads nearly 48,000 kilometres (29,800 miles that's more than the circumference of the earth) in total length. I don't know what the great circle distance is, how do you figure it out? Except for an 87 kilometre (54 mi) rainforest gap, (there must be a way around this as adventurers do it in their motorhomes) the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to The Guinness Book of World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's longest "motorable road". The longest straight stretch of paved road is Highway 46 in North Dakota, USA. It's 123 miles in length.. But it does have a couple of slight slight bends for rocks, trees and bridges, I've been on it but don't remember the drive. There is supposed to be a 31 mile stretch of this road between Gackle and Beaver Creek that is straight as an arrow and flat! A little over one hour (avg. speed 103 mph) no pee stops necessary unless you scare yourself and in that case the question of stopping would be moot. ound: "90 Mile Straight" nearly 1,000km to the east of Perth on the Nullabor Plain, Australia. This road is 90 miles or 146km long and while it goes up or down a bit, following the contours of the land, it does so without any bend, kink or deviation. Pee stops? See paragraph above or wear a diaper. :heh: Anyone up for a road trip? To complete the PanAmerican we would conservatively have to fill the Prius about 60 times. Almost 25 days of straight through driving (avg. speed 50 mph) and depending upon the size of your bladder and the amount of coffee you drink I'd say that's at least 100-150 pee stops! All paved roads complete trip within America . . . great circle sort of Starting in Seattle, WA ending in Seattle, WA and sticking as close to the borders and coasts as Google maps will allow me . . . 9,591 miles, 8 days (avg. speed 50 mph) straight through driving, about 50 pee stops.
Guinness is wrong, unless they have a big 'ol honking asterisk by the word "motorable*". Also, watch out for kidnappings. Darién Gap - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia * Specifically, very study 4x4s, and even then it appears that it's easier to just walk a good portion.
They don't, Ive been to several in Canada and Mexico that don't. There are some in the US too. Also, some town are on islands without bridge access. Regarding the Darien Gap in Panama. The only people that drive it are hardcore 4x4 or better adventurers. Everyone else takes a boat around it. Here's a picture I took of the southern end about 18 months ago. I got to Ushuia by ship so can't take credit for driving the PanAm. The small building is a post office/souvenir shop where you can also get your passport stamped.
Above a population threshold, yes, although I can't name that threshold. But I'd be surprised if it exceeded 10,000. Anyway, you should know better than to believe everything you read on the Internet, especially here in Fred's
Having come from a region where the vast majority of towns are smaller than that, I'd view a threshold that large as a farce.
I do not know..... I think there should also be a "subjective" longest drive. It's not as sexy as great circle routing, or paved-versus-pigtrail however (comma!) from my perspective: Re: The longest drive From my house to the airport...before my last deployment. Linear distance: 48.6 miles. ...or From the "scene of the accident" to my parent's house in my dad's freshly dented car, 32 years ago. Linear Distance: 9.something miles.
Oh my. From here to Mars wouldn't even match half that distance, and I'll bet the whole time you'd've given anything to be going to Mars instead.
The PanAm has multiple routes through some countries. If you picked the most direct rout, the distance would be about 15,000 miles. I met this guy on a hot air balloon ride over Capadocia Turkey in May 2008. He was filming for his Parallel World tour. Record Breaking - Nick Sanders. and is right now in the process of trying to break the Pan Am round trip record. Their definition of "motorable" must include ferries to get around the Darien Gap and also a few normal water crossings. There is also a ferry ride to get to Tierra Del Fuego at the tip of South America. I think it is about a 20 mile crossing. There are also long unpaved sections of the Pan Am in South America.
True; however, the Opening Post specifically does NOT allow ferries (personally, I'd allow them across rivers and such, but I didn't make the rules).
That was my not direct way of saying that road couldn't be counted in the contest :usa2: I understand that it also has big dirt and gravel sections in South America as well as Alaska above Fairbanks.
