I Miss The Road

[no photo. I have so many photos on my phone now (132,000+) that it takes Wix way too long to retrieve photos for me to post. Another problem to solve.]

Charlottesville

August 27, 2025

I often think about my wanderabout. It’s not quite over (here I come Paris, Yukon) but my time on the road is a lot less these days. Recently I’ve been thinking about how crazy I was to cross cross the US in search of Paris’. The part that surprises me most was well I did with my goal of not knowing where I was going to sleep that night when I got up in the morning. I always found some place, whether it was boondocking or a Walmart, a Love’s or another brand of truck stops. There were state parks, county parks, town parks, private campgrounds, BLM land, and national forests.

I have been going though my tens of thousands of photographs thinking about what to do with them. In almost all cases, I remember the photograph. Today I came across one I took outside of Marfa, Texas. “No Services 74 miles.” I also drove I70 in Utah where there are no services for some 107 miles. (You almost have to drive I70 in southern Utah because there are so few roads.). I also intentionally drove US50 across Utah and Nevada — the so called Loneliest Highway. And it was!

The photo of the sign outside Marfa got me wondering what is the longest stretch of highway without services. Surprisingly there is no Wikipedia article addressing that question. But I did find a discussion on Roadtripamerica.com that addressed the question:

Here’s the discussion:

Longest stretch without a gas station in the lower 48 us

I read a lot about where the longest stretch without a gas station supposed to be in the lower 48 US. A lot of people say it's between Lakeview, OR and Winnemucca, NV and while I guess that's true, there are many different information about how long the stretch really is. Since I drove it I thought I share my experiences.

There's a gas station in Adel, OR and than again about 20 miles before you hit Winnemucca, NV which makes the stretch "only" 156 miles:

The exact addresses are

Fuel Commander Cardlock – Ed Staub & Sons, Highway 140 & Lake Road 314, Adel, OR 97620

Chevron, 3335 NV-290, Winnemucca, NV 89445

Does somebody know a even longer stretch?

Midwest Michael's Avatar

Midwest Michael said:

06-20-2018 06:41 PM

That's a really great question, and I'd certainly think Nevada would be the first place I'd look.

However, I think there's a problem with the route you've nominated - There's gas available right in the middle of your route! Denio Junction sells gas right at the intersection of highways 140 and 292, which is "just" 82 miles from the station in Adel.

Midwest Michael's Avatar

Midwest Michael said:

06-20-2018 07:00 PM

The challenge with a question like this is how are you defining "longest stretch?" Theoretically, you could create a route that goes on forever without passing a gas station.

I will nominate the stretch between Winnemucca to Mountain Home, ID - the shortest route via state highways is 256 miles (NV-789, NV-226, ID-51) and I don't believe you'll find a single gas station along the way. Alternatively, you could say Elko to Mountain Home, where a single road (NV-225 becomes ID-51 at the state line) would be 189 miles without gas.

glc's Avatar

glc said:

06-20-2018 07:55 PM

The longest stretch I've seen that has no alternates is between Ely and Tonopah, NV - 168 miles.

If you drive from Ely to Warm Springs on US-6, then take NV-375 (E.T Highway) back to US-93 and Ash Springs, that's 220 miles with no gas.

heubergen said:

06-20-2018 10:12 PM

Quote Originally Posted by Midwest Michael View Post

That's a really great question, and I'd certainly think Nevada would be the first place I'd look.

However, I think there's a problem with the route you've nominated - There's gas available right in the middle of your route! Denio Junction sells gas right at the intersection of highways 140 and 292, which is "just" 82 miles from the station in Adel.

I saw that but this dude here (https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-lo...r/Albert-Peugh) says that the gas station is broken. Sadly I didn't check that as I had obviously enough gas for the trip.

Quote Originally Posted by Midwest Michael View Post

The challenge with a question like this is how are you defining "longest stretch?" Theoretically, you could create a route that goes on forever without passing a gas station.

Yeah I know that's really hard to define. I guess I would say as follow; Following a typical Navigation App (Quickest Trip from A to B without Interstate and Toll Roads)?

Quote Originally Posted by Midwest Michael View Post

I will nominate the stretch between Winnemucca to Mountain Home, ID - the shortest route via state highways is 256 miles (NV-789, NV-226, ID-51) and I don't believe you'll find a single gas station along the way. Alternatively, you could say Elko to Mountain Home, where a single road (NV-225 becomes ID-51 at the state line) would be 189 miles without gas.

The Grocery Store in Owyhee, NV has a gas station: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ou...4d-116.1266151 which makes the distance between Winnemucca and the Gas station only 164 miles and between Elko and it 98.6 miles :)

Quote Originally Posted by glc View Post

The longest stretch I've seen that has no alternates is between Ely and Tonopah, NV - 168 miles.

That's a good one! Wikipedia also describes that the stretch has no service for 168 miles. This is defintely something I need to add to my list. I hopefully find the time in the comings weeks to drive through it.

Last edited by heubergen; 06-20-2018 at 10:34 PM.

DonnaR57 said:

06-21-2018 04:03 AM

One of the longest stretches of interstate highway without fuel is between Green River, UT, and Salina, UT, along I-70. There are "ranch exits", and overlooks. One overlook has porta-potties but the rest do not.

Donna

Midwest Michael's Avatar

Midwest Michael said:

06-21-2018 07:19 AM

Quote Originally Posted by heubergen View Post

I saw that but this dude here says that the gas station is broken. Sadly I didn't check that as I had obviously enough gas for the trip.

Despite what "some guy on the internet" says (a reminder that wiki-type sources are always going to be pretty questionable), Denio Junction's actual website says they have gas. I've also seen a couple reviews referencing them having gas available.

The Grocery Store in Owyhee, NV has a gas station:

Good find on that one.

Midwest Michael's Avatar

Midwest Michael said:

06-21-2018 07:26 AM

Quote Originally Posted by DonnaR57 View Post

One of the longest stretches of interstate highway without fuel is between Green River, UT, and Salina, UT, along I-70. There are "ranch exits", and overlooks. One overlook has porta-potties but the rest do not.

I quite certain that is the longest stretch of interstate without fuel, although even there, there is a station in Emery near the halfway point, if you detour 10 miles off the Interstate.

heubergen said:

06-21-2018 08:54 AM

Quote Originally Posted by Midwest Michael View Post

Despite what "some guy on the internet" says (a reminder that wiki-type sources are always going to be pretty questionable),

I was hoping that it would be right but apparently not.

Quote Originally Posted by DonnaR57 View Post

One of the longest stretches of interstate highway without fuel is between Green River, UT, and Salina, UT, along I-70. There are "ranch exits", and overlooks. One overlook has porta-potties but the rest do not.

Yeah I heard about that one, there's some pretty long stretches in Utah on the I-70. Between the two gas station I found the distance is 104 miles.

heubergen said:

07-04-2018 09:49 PM

Update about my road trip:

I made it to both the 168 miles between Ely and Tonopah and to the 106 (or 104) miles on the I-70 in Utah! I can confirm both them therefore.