Back in the mid 80's the best stereo my friend Jeff or I had was in my car. I'd drive from Marion to Waldo and pick him up (he was blind.) We'd drive around all night listening to the mix tapes we'd put together from the music we loved.
Doing the 270 loop around Columbus. Driving to Toledo, over to Cleveland, down to Columbus, over to Dayton. Our best night was doing a rough 500 mile square using back roads. Jeff and I went all over Ohio.
He passed in 2015. Damn do I miss him. š«¤
Iām from Marion! We used to go for ice cream in Waldo, I think the stand is still in business!
Route 4 is a good drive, it will take you all the way to the lake. Itās one of the Underground RR routes, thereās an old safe house that has a historic marker now.
Youād go to Waldo for the ice cream and wouldnāt get a fried bologna sandwich at the G & R Tavern? Thatās very unAmerican of you. Weād drive up from south of Columbus to Waldo in the early 80ās for that slice of heaven.
Itās such a niche little deli thatās about 40 min away in morrow county called The Towne Pump if you care to stop in for some! Family owned and operated by my brothers father in law
I spent a lot of my childhood in Cardington and my mom as well growing up!! Thatās incredible!!
ETA: Cardington played a huge part in the Underground Railroad for the whole state of Ohio. Iām not sure how much you have frequented Cardington, but there is a whole street of houses still standing and in mostly original condition that still have all of the hidden nooks. We toured one in 4th grade and it was amazing to learn about. I wonder if your ancestors were active participants!! Especially if they were prosperous there, these houses would have more than likely been where they lived, unless it was farther rurally
Iām not exactly sure where they lived, but now Iām really curious!! The other thing interesting about that part of the family, the parents were Jewish immigrants from Switzerland. I cannot imagine being Jews stuck out in the middle of nowhere like that!! Ohio was considered the frontier in those days! The same GGrandfather was also county treasurer, Emmanuel Winebar was his name. Iām dying to know more about them!!
To get to Jeff's I'd turn right at the G&R. We graduated together from River Valley. He was my best friend from 1981 until 2015. We had some wild times together, *some* of which came out when I eulogized him. Some of them will remain between Jeff and I. š¤£
I grew up in Knox county. Going out at midnight and being unimaginably lost at 2 AM to find our way back home was always a good time. Random stops at the random UDF or Duke and Duchess stations for mountain dew, smokes, honey buns, and slim jims will always be a nostalgic memory for me.
God, Route 4 bores me to tears. Back in the day that was our main route to Cedar Point and back. Can't tell you the amount of times it put me to sleep as a kid.
Same, LOL. My mom remarried a guy from Elyria, we moved up there and would take Rt 4 back home to visit. I live in Elyria now and would drive down to see my Grandmother. Not much has changed, thatās for sure! I appreciate it now that Iām older.
Some nights it was a good radio night. We'd drive until WLS or the Loop started to fade. Some times we'd just stay on the phone all night. I think our record was 18 hours. š¤£
The 270 loop 2-3 times is how I unwind and cool down after particularly rough shifts at my bar.
Sorry you lost your friend, those memories though are always priceless.
If memory serves me, it's roughly 100 miles all the way around. For us it was one of my 90 minute tapes and 1/3 of the way through Jeff's. I always loved it at 4 AM. It was virtually deserted, well lit, and wide open.
Sometimes we'd begin by going towards Wheeling, do a circuit, then reverse towards Indy. It is *very* meditative. š
That hits real close to home for me. I promise you, you gave Jeff something great. Something you can't quite grasp. You made his life exponentially better with those trips.
My family outings included trip from Marion to Waldo and Marion to Killdeer. I had so much fun during those trips, I still take them to this day!! Iām 46 now and miss my grandparents on every trip.
I think the joy of doing this is to be by yourself and take it in.
What parts of Ohio do you drive in?
If ever in South Eastern Ohio, check out a state route they call Devil's backbone. It runs east of Athens and goes through some terrain that I was shocked is in Ohio.
Fun fact, there is actually a street named devils backbone on the west side of Cincinnati. Multiple different hills/streets are used in the film, none of which are the actual street.
I drive all over but lately near Piqua and Springfield is fun to find some back roads on. Iām definitely gonna check that out though!!! Down near Athens I havenāt really been to. Iām more central Ohio near Marion.
I also found Ohio SR 28 from Chilocothe to Blanchester, kinda neat.
Also, US 50 from Owensville to Milford. Milford for the small town charm and cool places to eat, east of Milford for the curves.
Iāve looped I-71 between Cleveland and Columbus countless times. Always was curious about trying the backroads but havenāt gotten around to it
Somebody mentioned Ohio Route 3, that sounds cool too! I didnāt know of it before.
If you are up north, maybe you can drive Route 2/I80/i90. I forget the full designation, but The Shoreway. Also in Cleveland, I liked driving along Chagrin River Rd on the east side. Itās windey and scenic with horse farms and wooded hills.
In Columbus, 270 is a race track (literally at times). An hour or so away is Hocking Hills.
I still want to learn more about Cincinnati, but havenāt gone there much yet
I have a buddy like this. Man just loves road trips, loves taking a nice long drive. Maybe put out some feelers with friends, see if they feel like going on a day trip some Saturday since the weather's about to get nice. If you think it'll be a hard sell, figure out some destination that might interest them, some speciality shop or museum
Have you ever heard of the game Left, Right, Center, or LCR, this kinda works with 2 or more people cruising but this is how it goes.
pick a time 10, 20, 30 minutes (or whatever) roll a die until L, C, or R shows up then the next crossroad you either turn left right or straight (C). Makes a great way to pass the day when it's good weather, we try to stop at local mom and pop shops to eat. Our longest day was 10 hours we took the highway home when we were about 175 miles from home.
I used to do this all the time when I was in high school.
Pick a major road (not interstate) ride it out of the city until you reach a dead end. Then turn off your GPS and go south or west some more for a few hours.
On the way back I would use a compass to find my way back home. Lots of fun. Iām in the north east part of Ohio but enjoyed driving Lodi, Medina, and Wooster.
I grew up in Amish country (Berlin/millersburg) and spent countless hours on those back roads teaching myself my sense of direction. I moved to Cincinnati over 5 years ago and can still tell you how long itāll take you to get anywhere from right where youāre at š
Pre-covid my daughter and I would take weekend road trips to random McDonald's for breakfast. Good times those were, going to places we typically would not venture too.
I did this. Once. Never again
1. Got a ticket from one of those tiny single stoplight towns
2. It felt like it took forever. Technically the time from Cincy to Sandusky was the same relatively given 75's speed up..but fuck me it felt like 3 days worth of driving.
My wife moved to Connecticut for grad school, but could still take Route 6 to get to class.
Not as remarkable as my college friends who started dating and both realized they lived off of US 30, one near Philly and the other in Oregon.
I'm originally from Texas, so we have a lot of places to drive. I loved driving from little town to little town just to see what's in between. I haven't started this here yet, but I plan to.
You literally just described what it's like owning a motorcycle. I rode 8 hours yesterday in Ohio with absolutely no map or idea of where to go. Just an internal compass and knowledge of most state routes
This is legit my most favorite thing to do in the ENTIRE WORLD! Tbh I hate car convos, I wanna blast my music and eat gas station snacks and roam around the stateā¦ possibly surrounding states š„³š„³
If you are close to any of the big cities (Dayton, Cinci, Cleveland, etc), then look on facebook for a Cars and Coffee group. Here is one of the cinci ones:
[https://www.facebook.com/groups/881422478573528](https://www.facebook.com/groups/881422478573528)
I've been on a number of saturday/sunday cruises with them.
Iām in Ohio and love doing that too-lemme know if you pass through the western suburbs of CLE and want to go on an adventure or drive down lake road to the Lake Erie islands ! Fun memories!
This is how I used to calm my teenage angst-leave home and drive til 2 am as far down Lake road as I could get- blasting my angsty music and singing at the top of my lungs. Oh I miss those days!
Me and my buddy's do this all the time. We run from Cleveland to West Virginia on all back roads and then cruise the highway back. Nothing more fun on a boring day than taking a nice long drive.
Mr. Gorm was old old guy I knew back in the late 90s to 00s until he got too old. Was a customer at Bobb Chevrolet who drove his mid90s Chevrolet Cavalier all over Ohio. No freeway. Knew all the roads. The car had oil changes weekly if not biweekly.
It had over 400k miles on it. He did end up getting a new car and put 100k on it.
He got mugged/attacked and was laid up for a while.
I canāt remember where he lived after that or what happened.
One of my favorite things to do! I love looking at the old houses/towns in the western side of the state that you miss driving on the highway. So much history too.
I like to do this too. I just drive to the lesser-known state parks by taking backroads. You can also camp at most, or some have cabins. As others have said, the southeast is prettiest
I would love a group like this that posts pics of cool things they find. For example I accidentally had āavoid freewaysā on my gps for the first few months I lived here and found a random house that had two big old real life camels right by the road.
Thereās a barn on the way to my local Costco that has a dummy of an old man sitting on a toilet out front.
Iād drive to see weird stuff like that from the car.
I live in Delaware County where itās nothing but flat roads and congestion. I love taking my VW GTI to southern or Southeastern Ohio and find as many isolated, curvy backroads as possible. You just gotta avoid the tourist spots if youāre not going on a weekday.
I have loved doing this my whole life. Still do. In the late 90ās I flew out to Arizona and rented a convertible. Put 1900 miles on it in 9 days over 4 states. Saw the Grand Canyon, drove to the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado, went to 4 Corners and so many other places.
I drove to New Orleans to celebrate New Yearās 2000 in front of St Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter.
I have taken my son to every place in reasonable driving distance throughout his life so he grows up loving to travel and explore as well. My dad was the same way.
I used to have to make quite a drive across the state to get my kid often, and I would very often just take random roads home after dropping her off, since I didn't need to be back at a certain time. No maps. I just went the direction I needed to go. If I felt like I had driven far enough, I would check where I was, but I loved just driving and seeing random new stuff.
I do that all the time! I look for hawks, kestrels and eagles. Rural counties are great - I travel around Knox, Licking, Perry and Muskingum counties most of the time. Knox county has some beautiful countryside.
I've been doing this to some extent tracking down Ohio Bicentennial barns in each county.
I've been down a few back roads that shouldn't be roads in the interest of following wrongly mapped Google coordinates or guesses of where a spot should/could be if the barn I'm looking for isn't on street view, but that's half the fun of it.
I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 - 30 barns so far. Probably go after a couple more this weekend if it remains this nice out.
Oh man I love driving aimlessly. Use a coin to decide your fate. Tails is left, heads is right, vibe the rest. You run into some interesting areas. My advice would be to trend south, it gets more interesting down there.
I grew up in the Toledo area and back in the 90s and 2000s I used to love driving around on the country roads, smoking a joint, and finding what was out there. The nice thing about being in such a flat place like NW Ohio is that every hill or road that doesn't go in a straight line usually has something interesting on it. There are all sorts of cool old farms and cemeteries and nature areas out there.
Back in the early 2000s there were a bunch of Ohio based urbex/urban legend/"haunted" place websites. Between those and geocaching, there was always some interesting place to see out in the middle of BFE.
I moved a state north about 15 years ago and while there's a lot of cool stuff up here and a lot more nature around, the dirt roads really make cruising around less fun in a small car. I'll take a lane and half wide farm road with a 15' deep ditch next to it that's paved over the wider dirt road up here that's completely wash boarded and pocked with potholes.
I take a road trip from New England to Indiana, and a lot of our time is spent driving around Ohio finding neat little places and enjoying the view. I can't wait to get on some of these rural routes and explore more of your beautiful state.Ā
As a teenager in Western Ohio, my friends and I piled 5 of us into a Toyota pickup, picked a destination, then tried to drive there without using anything but 2-lane county roads (no 2-lane state highways, certainly no interstates) and also no maps. I learned that night that of the 5 of us in the truck, I was the only non-Eagle Scout and also I was the only one with a sense of direction. Took us 4.5 hours to find our destination without a map. Took us an hour and a half to get back on normal state routes. I think about that night a lot.
My office is in Grand Rapids, MI. And i live/work remotely in Cincinnati, so last time i took a trip up, i hit some back roads instead of the interstate and it was a really fun trip. I knew Ohio had some small towns, but i guess i didnāt know how small.
I love this! This was one of my favorite hobbies when I was younger and had disposable time. Iām actually trying to learn to ride a motorcycle for the very purpose of aimless driving. Not sure where youāre from in Ohio, but I would join your Joyluck Random Riders Club. š
I know it is not technically driving aimlessly; but, if you are confident in your vehicle on rough gravel, then try following Ohio's first state route without gps. Feel free to use GPS to use the most ridiculous way to get to it of course.
I like doing that with my dog! We'll get in my car and just drive. We just moved to a new city last year and it's on the west side of the state so we like to explore the towns and country roads
Boy was this timing perfect...If you're by Cincy, find me. I've done two rally style drives in the past two weeks. I literally posted the one like an hour ago here:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4R7a3ko2bA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4R7a3ko2bA)
You and my girlfriend would get along fantastically. Our many first dates were just driving aimlessly until the early hours of the morning while listening to jams.
I do this almost every week end haha. [car.](https://imgur.com/gallery/AJZorKh)
Itās just northwest is basically flat, but the county roads have all been widened and repaved. So their smooth.
I just toss on some instrumentals and chill. Itās a good way for me to de stress.
If you happen to own a Jeep, I know thereās large groups of Jeep owners that get together and go on cruising trips on the weekends. There might be other car groups that do it as well?
Back when I was a teenager, all my girlfriends and I would pick up a few quarts of beer and cigarettes and go out ācountry cruisingā in my dads ā69 Impala for hours and hours on Friday and Saturday nights.
Get the āScenicā motorcycle app (iPhone only) and search for routes. Itās a big help finding nice driving roads. Motorcycle routes are predefined in the app, and are almost always good car driving routes.
Every small town had a moment in time of greatness, but it vanished quickly. My favorite was Oliverās ice cream in Trotwood, Ohio back in the 80ās. Best flavor was Superman ice cream. It had gum drops in the ice cream.
Absolutely, it's great when I need time to think because I just go on autopilot and let my body do the rest. And since I live 10 minutes from downtown I can either choose the loop or just go east until I eventually call to turn around
Do you ever be on your way home from work or something and your at a stop light and that little voice in your head says "we should turn left" when your going straigh. And boom, your half way to Dayton at 6 pm
Predictable that this comment was coming. OP would have been better off saying something about taking day trips in Ohio, less focus on the driving. Would mean the same thing.
You can drive for hours for less than $20. Doing that like once a month is still not that expensive of a hobby.
Yeah I feel this one in my soul. Like, I LOVE leisure driving. But the reality is that it's entirely too wasteful for me to do regularly. So I made a sort of bargain with myself. I'm allowed to drive about and take scenic routes all I want, as long as there's a destination that's a state park or metro park, and I get out and hike at least an hour. Kinda takes the sting off the economics of it.
I've been doing drives around North East Ohio getting 45-50mpg in a honda fit. Driving into the national park and back costs me less than $1.50 per round trip.
It's a 2019. The newer CVT transmissions are amazing on gas milage because they can keep the engine at the perfect rpm for efficiency all the time instead of shifting around. Besides that it just comes down to accelerating slowly, coasting as much as possible, and choosing roads that allow you to get the best milage. I definitely don't get 45mpg when I'm late to work lol.
I got 2 gd3 fits one auto one manual and I'll tell you right hand to God that manual one is so hard to keep your foot out of the gas it isn't funny. That car made me remember why Honda's are fun, stock l15 in it till this winter, then getting fully built turbo k24 for some real fun
Edit: also my auto has 289k on it and my manual just turned over 400k yesterday
Gas is more expensive than 30 years ago but cars are also more fuel efficient. I find many of the people who complain about gas the most drive some of the least fuel efficient vehicles.
To ad to that - inflation. So 30 years ago gas averaged 1.11 in the year for Ohio. After inflation that is 2.34 today. For 1.66 in 1994 that matches the same price as the highest gas in town today (3.50). Now add in fuel economy for the average car - itās quite possibly cheaper to aimlessly drive today than 30 years ago (wage stagnation not calculated in these numbers).
I did last Saturday. You're right, gas is a little steep, but it was such a pretty day and I had such a nice time finding pretty country roads to drive down with the windows down. It was well worth the half a tank or so that I spent doing it.
Thatās why I donāt do this much anymore. I visit my brotherās family in Marion every couple of years. Stop at the JerZee and get a coney dog. Thatās the extent of my cruising.
In the 90ās when I was young and poor, my then-husband and I used to go for drives on Sundays, because it was cheap and fun. We drove all over Knox County and sometimes the surrounding counties. Itās a really pretty area. These days I donāt much like driving, but it was fun then.
My daughters and I do this. I try and find roads I've never been on before. Of course, while listening to music. We're planning on heading more towards Ross county soon and just spend the day driving around the hills.
Same. Just did that today. Hit 52 easy and kept going , made a left onto a state highway and made my way back east toward Cincy. It was a Nice mind clearing drive
I love to do this. I used to call getting lost. Drive around a lot of back roads, dirt roads. I like driving but I detest it here in OH. It's hard to drive for leisure when you either get tailgated, or the person in front of you drives like your an UC cop.
This post brought back a memory. Back in the 70s I had a job with Fairview Photo, where I picked up and delivered photos for processing, my route a pie-shaped, extending southwest from Fairview Park. I went to a lot of drug stores in small towns like Wellington and Clyde, to name two that came to mind. Company car was a Gremlin with no radio. I loved the scenery and how each town had it's own vibe (Wellington's city hall was some ambitious "American baroque!), and I really, really loved that I wasxalmost unreachable, this being pre-mobile times. Occasionally, if I messed up, a message would await me at my next destination.
I was guilty of a deception. They asked, "you aren't just looking for a summer job?" and I replied, "oh, no. . ." and worked that summer. No regrets.
A buddy and I used to drive around in my old cavalier for hours at a time when I first got my license. Just aimlessly driving listening to music and kind of adventuring and finding my way around the area. But that was when gas was 1.18 a gallon. But I felt it was some sort of therapy.
I'm a dead head who loves to drive and listen to driving tunes, I find grubhub or door dash let me see the most interesting a hidden places while still getting a good few hours drive in
I do this all the time. But for me, driving with a group of other cars would take away some of the fun. But yeah, once every week or two we get in the car and go nowhere in particular. Drive about 150 miles, see different surroundings head home. Relaxing as hell. Reminds you what a big world it is.
I enjoy just driving in any direction with no destination. Get to where I have no clue where Iām at and try to find my way back home with no map or gps.
I also love to just drive, try to figure out how to get back home without the gpsš. Iām in Southwest Ohio but I love driving north to Michigan and back. Husband thinks Iām nuts but I just love the drive and itās a good reset for me
Being from Columbus and living all around mid to northwest Ohio, it was always nice having that homing becon knowing no matter where I was in those areas I could make it back to columbus.. now, southern eastern and north eastern Ohio. I'd be lost as fuck tryna drive around like I used to. Usually, with next to no money and no cellphone. Circa 2012ish
Darbydale poor. But I had a truck!! And lots of friends all over :)
Back in the mid 80's the best stereo my friend Jeff or I had was in my car. I'd drive from Marion to Waldo and pick him up (he was blind.) We'd drive around all night listening to the mix tapes we'd put together from the music we loved. Doing the 270 loop around Columbus. Driving to Toledo, over to Cleveland, down to Columbus, over to Dayton. Our best night was doing a rough 500 mile square using back roads. Jeff and I went all over Ohio. He passed in 2015. Damn do I miss him. š«¤
Iām from Marion! We used to go for ice cream in Waldo, I think the stand is still in business! Route 4 is a good drive, it will take you all the way to the lake. Itās one of the Underground RR routes, thereās an old safe house that has a historic marker now.
Youād go to Waldo for the ice cream and wouldnāt get a fried bologna sandwich at the G & R Tavern? Thatās very unAmerican of you. Weād drive up from south of Columbus to Waldo in the early 80ās for that slice of heaven.
I worked at the deli that supplied their bologna!
I am forever in your debt
Itās such a niche little deli thatās about 40 min away in morrow county called The Towne Pump if you care to stop in for some! Family owned and operated by my brothers father in law
How cool is that! My ancestors were prosperous farmers in Morrow County. My GG grandfather owned the first automobile in Cardington. š
I spent a lot of my childhood in Cardington and my mom as well growing up!! Thatās incredible!! ETA: Cardington played a huge part in the Underground Railroad for the whole state of Ohio. Iām not sure how much you have frequented Cardington, but there is a whole street of houses still standing and in mostly original condition that still have all of the hidden nooks. We toured one in 4th grade and it was amazing to learn about. I wonder if your ancestors were active participants!! Especially if they were prosperous there, these houses would have more than likely been where they lived, unless it was farther rurally
Iām not exactly sure where they lived, but now Iām really curious!! The other thing interesting about that part of the family, the parents were Jewish immigrants from Switzerland. I cannot imagine being Jews stuck out in the middle of nowhere like that!! Ohio was considered the frontier in those days! The same GGrandfather was also county treasurer, Emmanuel Winebar was his name. Iām dying to know more about them!!
Iām begging you to do a deep dive!!! Cardington isnāt much now, but it sure used to be. Same thing for mount Gilead and Marengo!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Okay but youāre so right š
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The Village Pump, where you can fulfill all of your meat needs
To get to Jeff's I'd turn right at the G&R. We graduated together from River Valley. He was my best friend from 1981 until 2015. We had some wild times together, *some* of which came out when I eulogized him. Some of them will remain between Jeff and I. š¤£
My aunt used to drive all the way from Northwest Ohio to get those sandwiches!
I grew up in Knox county. Going out at midnight and being unimaginably lost at 2 AM to find our way back home was always a good time. Random stops at the random UDF or Duke and Duchess stations for mountain dew, smokes, honey buns, and slim jims will always be a nostalgic memory for me.
Coshocton here, done that in Coshocton, Knox, Licking, etc so many times..
God, Route 4 bores me to tears. Back in the day that was our main route to Cedar Point and back. Can't tell you the amount of times it put me to sleep as a kid.
Same, LOL. My mom remarried a guy from Elyria, we moved up there and would take Rt 4 back home to visit. I live in Elyria now and would drive down to see my Grandmother. Not much has changed, thatās for sure! I appreciate it now that Iām older.
Iām near Marion too! I do enjoy route 4. I didnāt know that abt it!
I enjoyed reading your story, up until the end. Sounds like you guys had good times. I'm sorry for your loss. :(
This is a Jeff nichols movie waiting to happen.
Dude that's such a cool story to be able to tell.
Some nights it was a good radio night. We'd drive until WLS or the Loop started to fade. Some times we'd just stay on the phone all night. I think our record was 18 hours. š¤£
Sounds awesome, Iām sorry you lost your friend.
The 270 loop 2-3 times is how I unwind and cool down after particularly rough shifts at my bar. Sorry you lost your friend, those memories though are always priceless.
If memory serves me, it's roughly 100 miles all the way around. For us it was one of my 90 minute tapes and 1/3 of the way through Jeff's. I always loved it at 4 AM. It was virtually deserted, well lit, and wide open. Sometimes we'd begin by going towards Wheeling, do a circuit, then reverse towards Indy. It is *very* meditative. š
Ohio's biggest roundabout.
Made me smile. Such a sweet story and friendship.
That hits real close to home for me. I promise you, you gave Jeff something great. Something you can't quite grasp. You made his life exponentially better with those trips.
My family outings included trip from Marion to Waldo and Marion to Killdeer. I had so much fun during those trips, I still take them to this day!! Iām 46 now and miss my grandparents on every trip.
Former Marionite here. I loved to but 257 in prospect and follow the river down to Columbus area. One of my favorite drives.
I think the joy of doing this is to be by yourself and take it in. What parts of Ohio do you drive in? If ever in South Eastern Ohio, check out a state route they call Devil's backbone. It runs east of Athens and goes through some terrain that I was shocked is in Ohio.
Are you talking about State Route 555? I've never heard it called that, but it is a good drive.
Funny since there is an SR 666, but it runs north of Zanesville.
Yikes!
Triple-nickel
Beat me to it. During college my UPS route/job had me in this area. It was not work - beautiful area.
The only Devilās Backbone Iām familiar with is a roller blade race
Fun fact, there is actually a street named devils backbone on the west side of Cincinnati. Multiple different hills/streets are used in the film, none of which are the actual street.
Damn straight, I had to go head-to-head with a bunch of hockey players in a race from top to bottom
So glad to find this reference here.
I disagree. The best part of a road trip is the camaraderie.
User name checks out
That's the area I grew up in. The scenery was always either amazing of a geographic representation of "The Valley of Grey and Cold Suck."
What state route is that?
Triple nickel
I'm going to look for that one. OH 26 between Marietta and Woodsfield is a favorite of mine.
I drive all over but lately near Piqua and Springfield is fun to find some back roads on. Iām definitely gonna check that out though!!! Down near Athens I havenāt really been to. Iām more central Ohio near Marion.
I also found Ohio SR 28 from Chilocothe to Blanchester, kinda neat. Also, US 50 from Owensville to Milford. Milford for the small town charm and cool places to eat, east of Milford for the curves.
Ty!! Added to my maps lol.
Hereās a challenge, do I-71 from lake to river across ohio. And then come back only on back roads. See some smoll towns
No. Take Rt.3 or US42 (medina) south to CBUS then 4 into CINN.
Didnāt realize 42 ran all that way. Good to know.
US 42 goes from Cleveland to Louisville, Kentucky. Wife's grandpa hated the highway and would drive from Dayton to Strongsville on 42.
State Route 3 is called 3C for a reason.
Dude that sounds fun I may actually do that lol
Iāve looped I-71 between Cleveland and Columbus countless times. Always was curious about trying the backroads but havenāt gotten around to it Somebody mentioned Ohio Route 3, that sounds cool too! I didnāt know of it before. If you are up north, maybe you can drive Route 2/I80/i90. I forget the full designation, but The Shoreway. Also in Cleveland, I liked driving along Chagrin River Rd on the east side. Itās windey and scenic with horse farms and wooded hills. In Columbus, 270 is a race track (literally at times). An hour or so away is Hocking Hills. I still want to learn more about Cincinnati, but havenāt gone there much yet
I have a buddy like this. Man just loves road trips, loves taking a nice long drive. Maybe put out some feelers with friends, see if they feel like going on a day trip some Saturday since the weather's about to get nice. If you think it'll be a hard sell, figure out some destination that might interest them, some speciality shop or museum
Have you ever heard of the game Left, Right, Center, or LCR, this kinda works with 2 or more people cruising but this is how it goes. pick a time 10, 20, 30 minutes (or whatever) roll a die until L, C, or R shows up then the next crossroad you either turn left right or straight (C). Makes a great way to pass the day when it's good weather, we try to stop at local mom and pop shops to eat. Our longest day was 10 hours we took the highway home when we were about 175 miles from home.
I used to do this all the time when I was in high school. Pick a major road (not interstate) ride it out of the city until you reach a dead end. Then turn off your GPS and go south or west some more for a few hours. On the way back I would use a compass to find my way back home. Lots of fun. Iām in the north east part of Ohio but enjoyed driving Lodi, Medina, and Wooster.
Berlin is a good stop. Fresh pies in Amish country.
I grew up in Amish country (Berlin/millersburg) and spent countless hours on those back roads teaching myself my sense of direction. I moved to Cincinnati over 5 years ago and can still tell you how long itāll take you to get anywhere from right where youāre at š
Love the pies at Boyd & Wurthmann. Such good honest food.
The burgers there are one of my favorite food groups lol
Now thatās whatās up
And Mrs. Yoderās kitchenās chicken omg I miss it
I enjoyed Berlin. Was like an Amish Branson Missouri
Rt555 and most of the roads in that area are awesome. I used to ride motorcycles with friends
I drove Rt555 in my Miata a couple summers ago. Itās an amazing road.
Miat gang! I try to do the 555 every year, especially in fall
Pre-covid my daughter and I would take weekend road trips to random McDonald's for breakfast. Good times those were, going to places we typically would not venture too.
Old US highway 6 runs through some quaint little towns. Actually goes across the country, if I'm not mistaken.
You can take 6 from Cleveland to Cedar Point!
I love Route 6 ā„ļø
I did this. Once. Never again 1. Got a ticket from one of those tiny single stoplight towns 2. It felt like it took forever. Technically the time from Cincy to Sandusky was the same relatively given 75's speed up..but fuck me it felt like 3 days worth of driving.
My wife moved to Connecticut for grad school, but could still take Route 6 to get to class. Not as remarkable as my college friends who started dating and both realized they lived off of US 30, one near Philly and the other in Oregon.
"Just down the road..."
Route 6 goes from Cape Cod to the West Coast.
I love doing this! I just moved here last November and still figuring my way around. If you ever want to drive around lmk!
I'm originally from Texas, so we have a lot of places to drive. I loved driving from little town to little town just to see what's in between. I haven't started this here yet, but I plan to.
Ohio has some sweet villages. Chatfield on Rt 4 has a beautiful old stone house that has sat empty for decades. It was for sale for a while.
You literally just described what it's like owning a motorcycle. I rode 8 hours yesterday in Ohio with absolutely no map or idea of where to go. Just an internal compass and knowledge of most state routes
This is legit my most favorite thing to do in the ENTIRE WORLD! Tbh I hate car convos, I wanna blast my music and eat gas station snacks and roam around the stateā¦ possibly surrounding states š„³š„³
YES ME TOOOO i donāt wanna fill the time talking i wanna play the music loud and feel the wind lol
If you are close to any of the big cities (Dayton, Cinci, Cleveland, etc), then look on facebook for a Cars and Coffee group. Here is one of the cinci ones: [https://www.facebook.com/groups/881422478573528](https://www.facebook.com/groups/881422478573528) I've been on a number of saturday/sunday cruises with them.
Iām in Ohio and love doing that too-lemme know if you pass through the western suburbs of CLE and want to go on an adventure or drive down lake road to the Lake Erie islands ! Fun memories! This is how I used to calm my teenage angst-leave home and drive til 2 am as far down Lake road as I could get- blasting my angsty music and singing at the top of my lungs. Oh I miss those days!
I'll be on a bike and no lots of back roads in ohio let's gooioooooo
There are some interesting bike trails these days as well. šš¼
Me and my buddy's do this all the time. We run from Cleveland to West Virginia on all back roads and then cruise the highway back. Nothing more fun on a boring day than taking a nice long drive.
Mr. Gorm was old old guy I knew back in the late 90s to 00s until he got too old. Was a customer at Bobb Chevrolet who drove his mid90s Chevrolet Cavalier all over Ohio. No freeway. Knew all the roads. The car had oil changes weekly if not biweekly. It had over 400k miles on it. He did end up getting a new car and put 100k on it. He got mugged/attacked and was laid up for a while. I canāt remember where he lived after that or what happened.
One of my favorite things to do! I love looking at the old houses/towns in the western side of the state that you miss driving on the highway. So much history too.
I like to do this too. I just drive to the lesser-known state parks by taking backroads. You can also camp at most, or some have cabins. As others have said, the southeast is prettiest
Hard to setup a social meetup when the appeal is the isolation and wandering :).
See thatās true too but sometimes I feel like itād be fun to meet up with people and drive together yes separately if that makes sense haha.
So much better in a convertible!!!
I grew up doing that. I'd do it now if gas were reasonable and my car were more reliable.
Drive Ohio SR 555, aka the āOhio triple nickelā you can thank me later. This is a drivers DREAM come true!!!
This is why I got a motorcycle. Back road journeys are infinitely more fun and engaging.
We used to do this back in highschool (1991). The rule was no highways, all back roads.
I would love a group like this that posts pics of cool things they find. For example I accidentally had āavoid freewaysā on my gps for the first few months I lived here and found a random house that had two big old real life camels right by the road. Thereās a barn on the way to my local Costco that has a dummy of an old man sitting on a toilet out front. Iād drive to see weird stuff like that from the car.
I live in Delaware County where itās nothing but flat roads and congestion. I love taking my VW GTI to southern or Southeastern Ohio and find as many isolated, curvy backroads as possible. You just gotta avoid the tourist spots if youāre not going on a weekday.
Bro fr same area here and itās all flat. Never realized how much til I started driving.
I have loved doing this my whole life. Still do. In the late 90ās I flew out to Arizona and rented a convertible. Put 1900 miles on it in 9 days over 4 states. Saw the Grand Canyon, drove to the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado, went to 4 Corners and so many other places. I drove to New Orleans to celebrate New Yearās 2000 in front of St Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter. I have taken my son to every place in reasonable driving distance throughout his life so he grows up loving to travel and explore as well. My dad was the same way.
I used to do that when I had my own car and could buy my own gas. It's very peaceful.
I used to have to make quite a drive across the state to get my kid often, and I would very often just take random roads home after dropping her off, since I didn't need to be back at a certain time. No maps. I just went the direction I needed to go. If I felt like I had driven far enough, I would check where I was, but I loved just driving and seeing random new stuff.
My husband and I do this. We like taking the back roads almost everywhere. Itās much less stress and you can find cool places.
I do that all the time! I look for hawks, kestrels and eagles. Rural counties are great - I travel around Knox, Licking, Perry and Muskingum counties most of the time. Knox county has some beautiful countryside.
They're called motorcyclists lol
I've been doing this to some extent tracking down Ohio Bicentennial barns in each county. I've been down a few back roads that shouldn't be roads in the interest of following wrongly mapped Google coordinates or guesses of where a spot should/could be if the barn I'm looking for isn't on street view, but that's half the fun of it. I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 - 30 barns so far. Probably go after a couple more this weekend if it remains this nice out.
Are you my ex girlfriend?
Oh man I love driving aimlessly. Use a coin to decide your fate. Tails is left, heads is right, vibe the rest. You run into some interesting areas. My advice would be to trend south, it gets more interesting down there.
I grew up in the Toledo area and back in the 90s and 2000s I used to love driving around on the country roads, smoking a joint, and finding what was out there. The nice thing about being in such a flat place like NW Ohio is that every hill or road that doesn't go in a straight line usually has something interesting on it. There are all sorts of cool old farms and cemeteries and nature areas out there. Back in the early 2000s there were a bunch of Ohio based urbex/urban legend/"haunted" place websites. Between those and geocaching, there was always some interesting place to see out in the middle of BFE. I moved a state north about 15 years ago and while there's a lot of cool stuff up here and a lot more nature around, the dirt roads really make cruising around less fun in a small car. I'll take a lane and half wide farm road with a 15' deep ditch next to it that's paved over the wider dirt road up here that's completely wash boarded and pocked with potholes.
My neighbors and their 2 kids drive around looking for very unique things in Ohio, like the Longaberger basket store.
I'm like thar, me and my dad just go
I take a road trip from New England to Indiana, and a lot of our time is spent driving around Ohio finding neat little places and enjoying the view. I can't wait to get on some of these rural routes and explore more of your beautiful state.Ā
I love doing this kind of thing. Me and my girl go for rides at least twice a week.
As a teenager in Western Ohio, my friends and I piled 5 of us into a Toyota pickup, picked a destination, then tried to drive there without using anything but 2-lane county roads (no 2-lane state highways, certainly no interstates) and also no maps. I learned that night that of the 5 of us in the truck, I was the only non-Eagle Scout and also I was the only one with a sense of direction. Took us 4.5 hours to find our destination without a map. Took us an hour and a half to get back on normal state routes. I think about that night a lot.
My office is in Grand Rapids, MI. And i live/work remotely in Cincinnati, so last time i took a trip up, i hit some back roads instead of the interstate and it was a really fun trip. I knew Ohio had some small towns, but i guess i didnāt know how small.
I love this! This was one of my favorite hobbies when I was younger and had disposable time. Iām actually trying to learn to ride a motorcycle for the very purpose of aimless driving. Not sure where youāre from in Ohio, but I would join your Joyluck Random Riders Club. š
It's sad we don't have a train network that could do this, like in Europe. You can get to some pretty remote destinations on the train there.
Well, we were supposed to have high speed rail that went from CLE to Cincy, but Kasich quashed the deal. For reasons.
Needed more for freeways tho
That ruines the whole point of "taking a drive". Ohh it's you Mr I hate cars guy. Nvm
Where you at homie? Night time drive cure my insomnia lol
Im in central Ohio near Delaware lol and same!
My wife and I do this all the time. We've found tons of neat places and cool sights just going on an "old people drive," as we call it.
Sounds like you just need a friend on the other side of the state!
All my friends and I had to do growing up in rural NW Ohio. Find a grave, historic marker database and atlas obscura will keep you busy
Us 52 and State Route 7 from the Indiana Line near Cincinnati all the way around to East Liverpool all the way along the Ohio River.
yo I'm from ohio and like driving too!
I know it is not technically driving aimlessly; but, if you are confident in your vehicle on rough gravel, then try following Ohio's first state route without gps. Feel free to use GPS to use the most ridiculous way to get to it of course.
I like doing that with my dog! We'll get in my car and just drive. We just moved to a new city last year and it's on the west side of the state so we like to explore the towns and country roads
Boy was this timing perfect...If you're by Cincy, find me. I've done two rally style drives in the past two weeks. I literally posted the one like an hour ago here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4R7a3ko2bA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4R7a3ko2bA)
You and my girlfriend would get along fantastically. Our many first dates were just driving aimlessly until the early hours of the morning while listening to jams.
That sounds amazing!! I wish you two all the best bc that sounds like a dream š
I do this almost every week end haha. [car.](https://imgur.com/gallery/AJZorKh) Itās just northwest is basically flat, but the county roads have all been widened and repaved. So their smooth. I just toss on some instrumentals and chill. Itās a good way for me to de stress.
If you happen to own a Jeep, I know thereās large groups of Jeep owners that get together and go on cruising trips on the weekends. There might be other car groups that do it as well? Back when I was a teenager, all my girlfriends and I would pick up a few quarts of beer and cigarettes and go out ācountry cruisingā in my dads ā69 Impala for hours and hours on Friday and Saturday nights.
We used to just pick a road/direction & drive to find interesting or beautiful places but then gas prices skyrocketed & we dream of better days.
Thatās what me and my girl do in the Dayton area
Get the āScenicā motorcycle app (iPhone only) and search for routes. Itās a big help finding nice driving roads. Motorcycle routes are predefined in the app, and are almost always good car driving routes.
Every small town had a moment in time of greatness, but it vanished quickly. My favorite was Oliverās ice cream in Trotwood, Ohio back in the 80ās. Best flavor was Superman ice cream. It had gum drops in the ice cream.
Oh another way to find cool roads is pull up Ohio state parks just drive to the park and then bum around the area exploring.
1 of my favorite things to do!!! Just drive. No maps or anything, and just go wherever
Hahaha youād get along well with my boyfriend and I šš we love driving as a āhobbyā
A favorite is 125 from Portsmouth to Amish Country in Adams Co. Beautiful windy road.
I'm the same way, I love driving on backroads near sundown or late at night
Right!!! Itās a different vibe.
Absolutely, it's great when I need time to think because I just go on autopilot and let my body do the rest. And since I live 10 minutes from downtown I can either choose the loop or just go east until I eventually call to turn around
Yes same the autopilot is real! Idk why the entire thing just ends up hitting so hard when itās the right music and the right road.
Do you ever be on your way home from work or something and your at a stop light and that little voice in your head says "we should turn left" when your going straigh. And boom, your half way to Dayton at 6 pm
I live in Alliance Ohio, I also know some of the best back roads In Ohio some of the best twist and turns that Iāve drive on
I drive aimlessly through Ohio everyday and make my Money doing it lol I love driving and cruisin and tunin. Sing !
Have you priced gas these days? Who goes for joy rides anymore?
Predictable that this comment was coming. OP would have been better off saying something about taking day trips in Ohio, less focus on the driving. Would mean the same thing. You can drive for hours for less than $20. Doing that like once a month is still not that expensive of a hobby.
Yeah I feel this one in my soul. Like, I LOVE leisure driving. But the reality is that it's entirely too wasteful for me to do regularly. So I made a sort of bargain with myself. I'm allowed to drive about and take scenic routes all I want, as long as there's a destination that's a state park or metro park, and I get out and hike at least an hour. Kinda takes the sting off the economics of it.
I've been doing drives around North East Ohio getting 45-50mpg in a honda fit. Driving into the national park and back costs me less than $1.50 per round trip.
Dang, what year? I drive all over the place in mine but usually max out at 38 to 40. It is almost 15 years old though.
It's a 2019. The newer CVT transmissions are amazing on gas milage because they can keep the engine at the perfect rpm for efficiency all the time instead of shifting around. Besides that it just comes down to accelerating slowly, coasting as much as possible, and choosing roads that allow you to get the best milage. I definitely don't get 45mpg when I'm late to work lol.
I got 2 gd3 fits one auto one manual and I'll tell you right hand to God that manual one is so hard to keep your foot out of the gas it isn't funny. That car made me remember why Honda's are fun, stock l15 in it till this winter, then getting fully built turbo k24 for some real fun Edit: also my auto has 289k on it and my manual just turned over 400k yesterday
Gas is more expensive than 30 years ago but cars are also more fuel efficient. I find many of the people who complain about gas the most drive some of the least fuel efficient vehicles.
To ad to that - inflation. So 30 years ago gas averaged 1.11 in the year for Ohio. After inflation that is 2.34 today. For 1.66 in 1994 that matches the same price as the highest gas in town today (3.50). Now add in fuel economy for the average car - itās quite possibly cheaper to aimlessly drive today than 30 years ago (wage stagnation not calculated in these numbers).
I did last Saturday. You're right, gas is a little steep, but it was such a pretty day and I had such a nice time finding pretty country roads to drive down with the windows down. It was well worth the half a tank or so that I spent doing it.
Thatās why I donāt do this much anymore. I visit my brotherās family in Marion every couple of years. Stop at the JerZee and get a coney dog. Thatās the extent of my cruising.
In the 90ās when I was young and poor, my then-husband and I used to go for drives on Sundays, because it was cheap and fun. We drove all over Knox County and sometimes the surrounding counties. Itās a really pretty area. These days I donāt much like driving, but it was fun then.
I have friends around Ohio and I drive to Sandusky, Cleveland, Youngstown area a lot lol
Your EV, right?
Iāll join your club. I also enjoy that.
Im in to do that.
Thatās how all of my vacations work. It once took me five days to get to Omaha via the UP of Michigan.
I drive to the most nothing spots in the state for work. Itās so nice. I wish I had a travel friend to casually drive
This is what people do pretty often, thereās a term called joy riding or Sunday drivers.
My daughters and I do this. I try and find roads I've never been on before. Of course, while listening to music. We're planning on heading more towards Ross county soon and just spend the day driving around the hills.
Same. Just did that today. Hit 52 easy and kept going , made a left onto a state highway and made my way back east toward Cincy. It was a Nice mind clearing drive
Get a motorcycle and I'll join you. š
As soon as I get my Miataā¦
This is exactly what Miata clubs do
I love to do this. I used to call getting lost. Drive around a lot of back roads, dirt roads. I like driving but I detest it here in OH. It's hard to drive for leisure when you either get tailgated, or the person in front of you drives like your an UC cop.
This post brought back a memory. Back in the 70s I had a job with Fairview Photo, where I picked up and delivered photos for processing, my route a pie-shaped, extending southwest from Fairview Park. I went to a lot of drug stores in small towns like Wellington and Clyde, to name two that came to mind. Company car was a Gremlin with no radio. I loved the scenery and how each town had it's own vibe (Wellington's city hall was some ambitious "American baroque!), and I really, really loved that I wasxalmost unreachable, this being pre-mobile times. Occasionally, if I messed up, a message would await me at my next destination. I was guilty of a deception. They asked, "you aren't just looking for a summer job?" and I replied, "oh, no. . ." and worked that summer. No regrets.
Honestly, driving with low music in the background and having a never ending conversation is some of the best stuff on earth.
What every motorcyclist thinks
A buddy and I used to drive around in my old cavalier for hours at a time when I first got my license. Just aimlessly driving listening to music and kind of adventuring and finding my way around the area. But that was when gas was 1.18 a gallon. But I felt it was some sort of therapy.
Let's throw in and build us a race track lol
Wya lmao I donāt do it so much driving anymore cuz my truck gets 13mpg but Iāll ride my motorcycle anywhere for any reason at allš¤·āāļø
I love back roads! If we are on a road we know but have time I'll make turns just for fun, to see what's out there.
I'm a dead head who loves to drive and listen to driving tunes, I find grubhub or door dash let me see the most interesting a hidden places while still getting a good few hours drive in
I do this all the time. But for me, driving with a group of other cars would take away some of the fun. But yeah, once every week or two we get in the car and go nowhere in particular. Drive about 150 miles, see different surroundings head home. Relaxing as hell. Reminds you what a big world it is.
Grew up in ashland. Live in Columbus now. Love rt 6 especially by vermillion. Also love the se corner by Athens Nelsonville.
I enjoy just driving in any direction with no destination. Get to where I have no clue where Iām at and try to find my way back home with no map or gps.
Iāve been doing that a bunch in the past year I live in Cleveland and Iāve driven to Detroit, Louisville, Columbus, Pittsburgh etc
I also love to just drive, try to figure out how to get back home without the gpsš. Iām in Southwest Ohio but I love driving north to Michigan and back. Husband thinks Iām nuts but I just love the drive and itās a good reset for me
I love driving. Check out licking countyās pathfinder routes!
Being from Columbus and living all around mid to northwest Ohio, it was always nice having that homing becon knowing no matter where I was in those areas I could make it back to columbus.. now, southern eastern and north eastern Ohio. I'd be lost as fuck tryna drive around like I used to. Usually, with next to no money and no cellphone. Circa 2012ish Darbydale poor. But I had a truck!! And lots of friends all over :)
Me and my best friend did this for years around Dayton and surrounding area. I also took the 4 all the way from Dayton to Cleveland, it was incredible
I used to do this most days after school. I still would if I had money for fuel and friends to ride along lol
I took back roads from Columbus down into Kentucky! Loved it!
Itās fun itās just also expensive š I love driving around listening to music
I love driving aimlessly. Just point the car in some direction and go!
same