ROADS TO NOWHERE

According to the Federal Highway Commission, 4.12 million miles of road stretch out across the States (2018). From coast to coast, or border to border, we can easily traverse this vast infrastructure. Yet sometimes a wrong turn, or a miscalculated GPS command, can lead us down a road that makes us wonder if we are coming or going.

Abandoned roads, sometimes called “ghost roads,” exist in every state. From lost highways and byways, to once meticulously planned-out innerbelt systems, these crumbling passageways seem to take us back in time instead of ahead to our intended physical destination. These roads less traveled were once thriving (or intended to be), heavily commuted routes from point A to point B, instead of the roads to nowhere that they have become today.

Lakeview Drive, Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina

Referred to by locals as “The Road to Nowhere—A