Abandoned Highway

So I was looking over this section of google maps where a nice off road trail is and I ended up finding an interesting feature.



The red circle is the feature that interested me because I knew there was no body of water there. The straight line that runs from north west to south east of the red circle I knew were powerlines.

So I parked my truck in the national forest, contemplated trying to navigate through power line right-of-way with the tacoma, but ultimately decided to hike. I made it about .75 - 1 mile and came across the landmark I had mentally memorized: where the power lines veer to the left and the main highway becomes visible.

I stood for a moment completely lost in thought trying to navigate in the middle of the national forest when I saw it...a small patch of barely visible pavement sticking out from the debris, along with a bunch of old bottles.

I now present to you (sorry the camera didn't function too well in low light):

The Abandoned Highway











Old stretch of guardrail. Just some wood posts with extremely thin metal sheet nailed to it









Finally the end, where it appeared the old pavement was burried enough for grass to completely cover it:

My Yetti-like pic

 

Neat.... Mysterious stuff like that is interesting and even more interesting to find the history.

You should try to dig up some history on it. When was it made? Why was it abandoned?

 

Great find Dgerm. Probably the original road, and when the interstste was put in they took the sharp turn out.

 

That is great work.

Out here we have a bunch of old RR grades and I have been able to locate them with old maps. Also you can see alot of the old highways sitting right next to the new ones.

 

I love this kind of stuff. I live for trying to find it. OTG answered part of your question

That is right, it was a somewhat dangerous, curvy, 2 lane moutain highway. It was replaced by rt. 460, a two lane divided highway, which is the only major highway I still have to downshift to make it up since switching to 93 octane, which gives you an idea of the grade and conditions.

Back to Janster: I did some research and found this on wikipedia

That is the section that was built to replace the road I was on. However some evidence makes me believe that it was still in use after rt 460 opened, because there were some relatively unaged National Forest signs on the side of the road that I will try and get pics of next time I head out.

I plan on stopping by the local ranger station to get more info.

Speaking of, I found some neat features a few miles away along the New River that look like old railroad tracks. I asked an anonymous acquaintance about them and he wound up posting some pics.

I say anonymous because a lot of the places we visit aren't exactly legal, but the pull to explore is too great to resist visiting them.

 

These are the tunnels I want to go and try to find

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=37.292916,-80.615696&spn=0.001263,0.002414&t=h&z=19

 

thumbs up on the discovery, that is really cool. I wish I had two more hands, I would give those pictures FOUR THUMBS DOWN! j/k!

 

Haha thanks, the girlfriends camera did not want to cooperate in the low light of evening

 

Cool, but this reminds me of horror movies like Wrong Turn.Were you scared?j/k

 

Thats pretty cool. A lot of the 4 wheeler trails I ride on are old county routes that are like 100-200 years old that horses and buggies rode on. Nice find!

 

Thanks! I am going to the local ranger station and ask them if there is any way I can get my tacoma down there for a photo op

 

It would be cool to build a house back there and the old road could be your driveway. Very secluded.

 

In fact there is. Look at the satellite image. Just below the gravel road where the text is printed as "Forest Service Road" there is a nice, HUGE house that borders the national forest

 

Sweet find. I'd take some friends there at night and scare the living day lights out of them. Hope that ranger says yes to your photo op. Tell him you're doing research.

 

I did and got a ton more pictures that aren't blurry

 

That is the shortcut you take on the way home from the prom. Just around the bend is the caretakers shack, hide in there during the rain and thunderstorm. Than, as your friends go out one by one looking for ...

 

Here is a link to a site that is great for finding abandoned airfields.
I can spend all day looking at this.
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/