The Top 10 Longest Highways in the United States

10. US Route 12

US Route 12 is the tenth longest highway in the United States at 2483 miles long. It begins in Detroit, Michigan, and ends in Aberdeen, Washington. Construction began in 1926, and today, it shares parts of its route with interstates 90 and 94.

Route 12 passes through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. It goes over the Lolo Pass at Montana’s border with Idaho at an elevation of 5233 feet. It also crosses the Continental Divide at MacDonald Pass, which reaches an elevation of 6312 feet.

9. Interstate 40

Interstate 40 (I-40) is the ninth longest highway in the United States at 2555 miles long. I-40 begins in Wilmington, North Carolina, and terminates in Barstow, California.

Interstate 40 comes close to or runs through the following major cities:

• Raleigh, NC
• Greensboro, NC
• Knoxville, TN
• Nashville, TN
• Memphis, TN
• Little Rock, AR
• Oklahoma City, OK
• Amarillo, TX
• Albuquerque, NM

8. US Route 2

US Route 2 is the eighth longest highway in the United States at 2580 miles long. This highway is divided into two parts as it dips out of the United States into Canada and then re-enters the US. This division was planned as part of its original inception in 1926.

It runs to St. Ignace in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from Everett, WA. From there, Canadian roads take over until US Route 2 starts again at Rouses Point, NY, and goes to Houlton, ME. This highway is the farthest north out of any roads running from east to west across the nation.

7. US Route 60

US Route 60 is the seventh longest highway in the United States at 2670 miles long. It runs from Virginia Beach in Virginia to Quartzsite, Arizona.

In Arizona, US Route 60 is a major thoroughfare within the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. To the east, it travels through Globe into Apache Junction. From there, it connects Gilbert and Mesa with Tempe via the Superstition Freeway.

Route 60 then becomes the interstate until it veers off as Grand Avenue through Surprise. It leaves dense civilization at this point before heading toward its terminus in Quartzsite, Arizona, just east of the California border.

6. Interstate 80

Interstate 80 (I-80) is the sixth longest highway in the United States at 2899 miles long. I-80 is also the second longest interstate in the nation. It begins in Teaneck, New Jersey, and ends in San Francisco, California.

Teaneck, NJ, is in the New York Metropolitan Area. As it connects with San Francisco, it is the nation’s main artery, connecting two of the most popular metropolitan areas on opposite coasts. I-80 is the thoroughfare that traverses the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the Bay Area in California.

I-80 runs through the following major cities:

• New York City
• Cleveland, OH
• Chicago, IL
• Toledo, OH
• Des Moines, IA
• Omaha, NE
• Salt Lake City, UT
• Reno, NV
• Sacramento, CA
• Oakland, CA
• San Francisco, CA

5. US Route 50

US Route 50 is the fifth longest highway in the United States at 3011 miles long. This highway begins in Ocean City, Maryland, and ends in West Sacramento, California.

Route 50 is the Loneliest Road in America through Nevada. It was given this moniker by Life Magazine in 1986 because it winds through unpopulated desert for hundreds of miles. Despite this title, the highway runs through Baker, Ely, Eureka, Austin, Fallon, Dayton, and Carson City within Nevada State.

4. US Route 30

US Route 30 is the fourth longest highway in the United States at 3073 miles long. It begins in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and terminates in Astoria, Oregon.

Long pieces of this highway are now also a part of the interstate system. However, the road still officially exists, unlike US Route 66, which was decommissioned in 1985.

Route 30 also traverses many spots of the Lincoln Highway, the first road crossing the entire United States. The Lincoln Highway was opened in 1913, and in 1926, it became Route 30 between Wyoming and Pennsylvania.

3. Interstate 90

Interstate 90 (I-90) is the third longest highway in the United States at 3102 miles long. It is also the longest interstate in the nation. It begins in Boston, Massachusetts, and ends in Seattle, Washington.

I-90 goes over three significant mountain passes. One is the Snoqualmie Pass through the Cascades in Washington, which reaches an elevation of 3022 feet. Lookout Pass straddles the border between Idaho and Montana in the Rocky Mountains at 4710 feet in elevation.

This interstate also passes over the Continental Divide at the highest pass along its route. This occurs near Butte, Montana, at the Homestake Pass. This pass has an elevation of 6329 feet.

2. US Route 6

US Route 6 is the second longest highway in the United States at 3207 miles long. It starts in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and runs to Bishop, California. Its Provincetown beginning starts at the very end of Cape Cod at Cape Cod Bay in the Atlantic Ocean.

Between 1936 and 1964, US Route 6 extended from Bishop to Long Beach, CA. During this period, this highway was the longest in the nation. In 1964, California assigned parts of Route 6 to other highways, which demoted US Route 6 to be the second longest highway in the system.

1. US Route 20

US Route 20 is the longest highway in the United States at 3365 miles. It starts in Boston, Massachusetts, and ends in Newport, Oregon. It crosses the nation from east to west and goes through the following states: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon.

When Route 20 hits Yellowstone National Park, it technically stops for a stretch as roads within the park take over the route. When this highway was designed, it was supposed to terminate at Yellowstone. However, in 1940, it was extended to Oregon.