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I remember talking to a group of people about the "vastness of America" and mentioned that no matter where you go you're never really more than 20 miles from a

I remember talking to a group of people about the "vastness of America" and mentioned that no matter where you go you're never really more than 20 miles from a road. Not a single person believed me. I never did follow up with investigation. But I do sometimes ask people this question. Ultimately, people seem to think there are these great patches of untouched land on a vast scale where it simply doesn't exist.

adrianpike 4y ago
Yep, even the furthest spot in Wyoming in the Thorofare wilderness complex is something like 19 miles out from a road. One thing to keep in mind is that only a few miles over rugged terrain can be a _lot_. A few miles away from a remote forest road in the wrong direction and you might not see any people for years and years. I do search and rescue out here, and even with helicopters it's pretty vast; https://www.peakbagger.com/map/bigmap.aspx?t=W&l=CT&d=9&cx=-123.601&cy=47.7711&rad=13.58&minx=-123.893&miny=47.5746&maxx=-123.309&maxy=47.9676&hj=0 https://www.peakbagger.com/map/bigmap.aspx?t=W&l=CT&d=9&cx=-...
- technocratius 4y ago
  > A few miles away from a remote forest road in the wrong direction and you might not see any people for years and years. This is essentially what happened to this McCandless guy in Alaska. That book about him -Into The Wild, by Krakauer - is super well written and a very interesting story. The movie based on the book is also quite well produced.
hgsgm 4y ago
I found a reference at http://remotefootprints.org/ http://remotefootprints.org/ linked from BBC, but it looks like the site was hacked by a Bitcoin/crypto scammer. Anyway, they claim that in USA rhat 22miles is the farthest you can get from a road of any kind that supports a vehicle, and still be in "developable" terrain. That would exclude mountains, lakes, floodplains, and maybe or maybe not forests (because they could be cut down?)
- burkaman 4y ago
  I think they lost control of that domain but they have a new site here: https://www.projectremote.com/ https://www.projectremote.com/
insane_dreamer 4y ago
Pretty sure Nevada has places you can go that are 20 mi from a paved road.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Road vs paved road does a lot of heavy lifting. But even so if you calculate the area needed to be 20 miles from a road, it gets quite vast quickly (it has to be a circle 20 miles in radius).
  - sixothree 4y ago
    I kinda want to find out now.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      You'd want to search using GIS tools, and then try to verify the pavidity via aerial photos. Around Table Mountain might be a place to start. 20 miles is a long way, and 40 miles is even longer between roads. For comparison, the entirety of Mount Rainier National Park is less than 20 miles on a side. So you're looking for someplace you can fit Mount Rainier on all sides of you.
deleted 4y ago
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adrianpike 4y ago

Yep, even the furthest spot in Wyoming in the Thorofare wilderness complex is something like 19 miles out from a road. One thing to keep in mind is that only a few miles over rugged terrain can be a _lot_. A few miles away from a remote forest road in the wrong direction and you might not see any people for years and years. I do search and rescue out here, and even with helicopters it's pretty vast; https://www.peakbagger.com/map/bigmap.aspx?t=W&l=CT&d=9&cx=-123.601&cy=47.7711&rad=13.58&minx=-123.893&miny=47.5746&maxx=-123.309&maxy=47.9676&hj=0 https://www.peakbagger.com/map/bigmap.aspx?t=W&l=CT&d=9&cx=-...

technocratius 4y ago
> A few miles away from a remote forest road in the wrong direction and you might not see any people for years and years. This is essentially what happened to this McCandless guy in Alaska. That book about him -Into The Wild, by Krakauer - is super well written and a very interesting story. The movie based on the book is also quite well produced.

hgsgm 4y ago

I found a reference at http://remotefootprints.org/ http://remotefootprints.org/ linked from BBC, but it looks like the site was hacked by a Bitcoin/crypto scammer. Anyway, they claim that in USA rhat 22miles is the farthest you can get from a road of any kind that supports a vehicle, and still be in "developable" terrain. That would exclude mountains, lakes, floodplains, and maybe or maybe not forests (because they could be cut down?)

burkaman 4y ago
I think they lost control of that domain but they have a new site here: https://www.projectremote.com/ https://www.projectremote.com/

insane_dreamer 4y ago

Pretty sure Nevada has places you can go that are 20 mi from a paved road.

bombcar 4y ago
Road vs paved road does a lot of heavy lifting. But even so if you calculate the area needed to be 20 miles from a road, it gets quite vast quickly (it has to be a circle 20 miles in radius).
- sixothree 4y ago
  I kinda want to find out now.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    You'd want to search using GIS tools, and then try to verify the pavidity via aerial photos. Around Table Mountain might be a place to start. 20 miles is a long way, and 40 miles is even longer between roads. For comparison, the entirety of Mount Rainier National Park is less than 20 miles on a side. So you're looking for someplace you can fit Mount Rainier on all sides of you.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]