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hmm, I think though there's a reason that the road exists - even in the desert? Probably to mine or a mine town originally? Same with all the roads in the mount

hmm, I think though there's a reason that the road exists - even in the desert? Probably to mine or a mine town originally? Same with all the roads in the mountains. Resource extraction and motor vehicles kinda go hand in hand.

bombcar 4y ago
Most of the ones I've encountered in the high desert have things like ancient mining claims or tiny towns somewhere, but others appear to simply be 4WD trails that have been used "enough". According to the link; Wyoming has the furthest at 21 miles from a road (which is a circle containing 1385 sq miles). Since distance from a road is a circle, the sq miles needed to get far from it go fast quickly, even six miles is 113 sq mile, and since it's likely a road alongside one edge, you're talking a square of land at least 144 sq mile. The only things that big are usually parks/nature reserves of some kind, and they often have fire roads or other accesses built for reasons (including people camping, etc).
- justinator 4y ago
  I've got that point as somewhere near the middle of of Yellowstone NP. The farthest point in Rocky Mountain National Park from is 6. It takes the wind out of me.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    In some weird way it's the "no most boring number" problem; if a point is the most remote, then there's a reason to build a road to it, because it's a point of interest, but doing so kills the remoteness. Personally given how wide a range of things "dirt road" covers, I would consider paved road to be the line - some things that are dirt roads you can do 50+ mph down no problem, others are literally impassible without the best 4 wheel drive vehicles; and some not even that - they're technically on the map but the road is overgrown so much that you can barely get a motorbike down it; and once you're using a motorbike you can go almost anywhere in the world that humans can reach.
- scythe 4y ago
  Depending on your definition of "mainland", you can get even more remote in southern Louisiana on the peninsula south of Fourleague Bay, southeast of the Atchafalaya Delta. Google Maps shows it as around 26 miles from any road. But most of the corresponding "circle" will then be in the ocean.
  - justinator 4y ago
    Ha - yeah, if the land is basically an island, there may be an exception. If we look at the map from the article, looks like they avoided major waterways as well.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      One of the terms thrown around is "navigable" - which includes things like roads, airports, and waterways that can be traversed by (usually motor) boat. Obviously since helicopters can land on Mt Everest, you ignore those. https://unofficialnetworks.com/2022/12/29/helicopter-land-summit-everest/ https://unofficialnetworks.com/2022/12/29/helicopter-land-su... One of the amusing things is that it is not that hard to get away from people - you only need to be about 270 miles from the nearest human to get a situation where that nearest human is in the International Space Station flying overhead. But you have to map out airliner routes, etc, as planes will fly over otherwise empty land/ocean.
reaperducer 4y ago
Probably to mine or a mine town originally? Very often yes. But also as access roads to infrastructure like long-distance power transmission lines, pipelines, or remote communication towers. Also, there are a lot of fire roads. People don't think of the desert as a place of wildfires, but the desert does indeed burn.

bombcar 4y ago

Most of the ones I've encountered in the high desert have things like ancient mining claims or tiny towns somewhere, but others appear to simply be 4WD trails that have been used "enough". According to the link; Wyoming has the furthest at 21 miles from a road (which is a circle containing 1385 sq miles). Since distance from a road is a circle, the sq miles needed to get far from it go fast quickly, even six miles is 113 sq mile, and since it's likely a road alongside one edge, you're talking a square of land at least 144 sq mile. The only things that big are usually parks/nature reserves of some kind, and they often have fire roads or other accesses built for reasons (including people camping, etc).

justinator 4y ago
I've got that point as somewhere near the middle of of Yellowstone NP. The farthest point in Rocky Mountain National Park from is 6. It takes the wind out of me.
- bombcar 4y ago
  In some weird way it's the "no most boring number" problem; if a point is the most remote, then there's a reason to build a road to it, because it's a point of interest, but doing so kills the remoteness. Personally given how wide a range of things "dirt road" covers, I would consider paved road to be the line - some things that are dirt roads you can do 50+ mph down no problem, others are literally impassible without the best 4 wheel drive vehicles; and some not even that - they're technically on the map but the road is overgrown so much that you can barely get a motorbike down it; and once you're using a motorbike you can go almost anywhere in the world that humans can reach.
scythe 4y ago
Depending on your definition of "mainland", you can get even more remote in southern Louisiana on the peninsula south of Fourleague Bay, southeast of the Atchafalaya Delta. Google Maps shows it as around 26 miles from any road. But most of the corresponding "circle" will then be in the ocean.
- justinator 4y ago
  Ha - yeah, if the land is basically an island, there may be an exception. If we look at the map from the article, looks like they avoided major waterways as well.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    One of the terms thrown around is "navigable" - which includes things like roads, airports, and waterways that can be traversed by (usually motor) boat. Obviously since helicopters can land on Mt Everest, you ignore those. https://unofficialnetworks.com/2022/12/29/helicopter-land-summit-everest/ https://unofficialnetworks.com/2022/12/29/helicopter-land-su... One of the amusing things is that it is not that hard to get away from people - you only need to be about 270 miles from the nearest human to get a situation where that nearest human is in the International Space Station flying overhead. But you have to map out airliner routes, etc, as planes will fly over otherwise empty land/ocean.

reaperducer 4y ago

Probably to mine or a mine town originally? Very often yes. But also as access roads to infrastructure like long-distance power transmission lines, pipelines, or remote communication towers. Also, there are a lot of fire roads. People don't think of the desert as a place of wildfires, but the desert does indeed burn.