America’s Lost Highways Are Beautiful Monuments To Our Garbage Infrastructure

Screenshot: SidetrackAdventure/YouTube

This bit of highway was built in 1919, only to be abandoned in 1952 with the opening of a safer, modern tunnel straight through the the craggy Arizona mountain. It runs 21 miles from Superior, Arizona to Miami (Arizona, not Florida). This road must have been fairly dangerous back in the day due to steep uphill and downhill slopes, narrow roads and rock falls. There’s also the issue of drivers facing the choice of either a solid wall of rock or a deathly drop, should something go awry on the narrow hairpin turns up and down a canyon.

Due to the length of time its been closed and the repurposing of the road for the enjoyment of hikers and rock climbers, this one looks least like a road anymore. However, if you visit this abandoned highway, you are welcomed into a park rather than warned with an “Enter At Your Own Risk” sign, and the views around the old highway are spectacular.

It’s pretty wild to think it only took sun, rain and the passing of 70 years for this road to become almost completely unrecognizable in parts.