8 of the Shortest Motorcycle Roads in America
Motorcyclists are attracted to roads with distinguishing characteristics. They look for the longest, curviest, or most challenging asphalt ribbons out there.
But what about the shortest roads? Don’t they deserve some love, too?
Granted, an extremely short road doesn’t provide the typical thrills of motorcycling. However, getting to the tiny sliver of pavement can make for a unique moto adventure.
Additionally, on roads this short, the ride won’t take too much of your time. It’s worth doing just to say you did it.
Here is a collection of eight of the shortest roads in America that you can ride on a motorcycle (except one that’s just too short).
Maryland SR 939: 50 Feet
Maryland SR 939 is not a road. But it also is.
This stub of asphalt, leading to a dead end, protrudes off of SR 36’s southbound lane, just south of the town of Barton. At only 50 feet long, it’s in the run for the shortest officially designated road in America.
There is an explanation for this bizarre pullout’s existence. It follows SR 36’s original alignment, forming part of the old roadbed.
What doesn’t have an explanation is why Maryland chose to number it. The official designation means that this pointless go-nowhere “road” must be maintained in drivable condition by the state.
That’s despite the fact that you can’t even ride on it. Someone (the state of Maryland, presumably) has installed railing to prevent entry onto the road, leaving the “no outlet” signs behind it.
If you happen to be riding through western Maryland, make a stop to see this oddity. There are no signs for it, but you can find the aforementioned “no outlet” signs opposite the Bible Baptist Church outside Barton.
Nevada SR 781: 210 Feet
Nevada SR 781, again, stretches the definition of a road. It covers the length of exactly one bridge, spanning 210 feet over the Humboldt River in northern Nevada.
The bridge isn’t anywhere near other major roads—in fact, it doesn’t even connect to any other Nevada state route. SR 278 is nearby, but you must hop on the gravel Palisade Ranch Rd to reach the bridge that makes up SR 781.
All that said, the area around SR 781 is beautiful, although very rugged. It’s located within the Palisade Canyon, and the surrounding mountains and the Humboldt River make for a gorgeous backdrop. The bridge makes for a fun short detour for ADV riders already traipsing around in northern Nevada, perhaps while visiting Austin.
Pennsylvania SR 299: 260 Feet
Oh boy, we have our first “real” road! Or, well, it used to be a real road.
These days, Pennsylvania SR 299 is a mere 260 feet long, covering the Staff Sergeant Jeremy R. Horton Memorial Bridge in Millcreek Township, west of Erie. This short bridge spans two railway lines beneath it.
Yet, once upon a time (meaning from 1930 onward), SR 299 stretched for a whopping 1.3 miles between US 20 and SR 5. In 2011, the road was decommissioned—except for the bridge, which is the only remaining (if unsigned) section of SR 299.
It makes sense that the road got decommissioned, considering that the runway of the Erie International Airport cuts straight through its original alignment. The real mystery is why the bridge retained the commission.
After rolling through this shortest of all Pennsylvania highways, you should have plenty of time left in your riding day. Fortunately, SR 299’s original terminus at SR 5 will take you on an excellent lakeside tour along Lake Erie. Just don’t try riding across the runway, okay?
Utah SR 231: 450 Feet
Alright, this one isn’t a bridge, we promise. Utah SR 231 in Fairview is a genuine, bona fide, paved, all-American road, despite its length of mere 450 feet.
How SR 231 (signed as Canyon Rd) got this way is actually a complex story. It was originally part of a road between Fairview and Milburn, designated in 1912 as SR 32. In 1926, SR 32 was incorporated into the original alignment of US 89.
However, 11 years later, US 89 took a different route and the old Fairview-Milburn road became SR 91. This is how it remained until 1969, when the entire road was decommissioned.
The current short road segment nonetheless saw continued use as a busy connecting road between US 89 and SR 31. So, in 2018, the Utah Transport Commission added this piece of asphalt less than a block long back into the state highway system as SR 231.
For a ride longer than 450 feet, Fairview is near US 191, which can take you on a north-south cross-country tour. Alternatively, you could head to southern Utah to explore the Beehive State’s off-road possibilities.
California SR 275: 0.14 Miles
The story of California SR 275, connecting West Sacramento to Downtown Sacramento, mirrors that of Pennsylvania SR 231. This 0.14-mile jaunt starts and ends with the Tower Bridge across the Sacramento River, but it was once part of a longer road: the West Sacramento Freeway.
The road’s entire history is so long and complicated with endless redesignations and alignment changes that we won’t even try to cover it here. Suffice to say, when I-80 arrived in the ‘60s, the city of Sacramento wanted to maintain a state highway connection to the California State Capitol, which is what the freeway did.
Consequently, changes in the city’s road infrastructure led to the freeway being hacked apart piecemeal. In 1996, the entirety of SR 275 was struck from the state highway catalog.
That was until 2010, when SR 275 was resurrected, covering only the Tower Bridge. Make sure to ride across it as you head to adventure in the Sierra Nevada.
New Jersey SR 59: 0.15 Miles
Many roads on this list are tiny remnants of longer routes. New Jersey SR 59, on the border of Garwood and Cranford, is different.
Its 0.15 miles are part of a road that didn’t come to pass.
In 1927, a proposal was submitted for New Jersey SR 27. It would have spanned numerous counties, starting in Fairfield Township in the north and ending around 20 miles south in Rahway.
However, the plans fell through. SR 27 (in the planned form) was never constructed—except for one tiny section straddling the line between the aforementioned communities of Garwood and Cranford.
This orphan was named SR 59 in 1953. It serves as a connection between CR 610 (South Ave) and SR 28 (North Ave).
After visiting this ghost of a road that never was, motor north to find more ghastly ghouls along the haunted Clinton Road.
(A Section of) Arkansas SR 369: 0.19 Miles
All roads this short are unusual, but Arkansas SR 369 is just straight-up weird. It consists of three sections over nearly 95 miles, none of which are in direct contact with each other.
The shortest of them is the northernmost one in the town of Paris, serving as a 0.19-mile-long access road to a minor industrial area. That sounds dull, but the surrounding fields and mountains are actually quite pretty.
This part of SR 369 is almost 65 miles away from the northern terminus of section 2, which lies in the Albert Pike Recreation Area within the Ouachita National Forest. The final part is southwest of Nashville, covering a 0.75-mile span of Golf Links Rd/Mission Dr.
As we said; weird. However, linking all parts of SR 369 over one cross-Arkansas ride sure makes for a unique motorcycling story.
I-878: 0.7 Miles
To wrap things up, let’s look at the shortest interstate in the U.S. That distinction belongs to I-878, a 0.7-mile stretch of interstate connecting I-678 and the JFK Expressway on the outskirts of the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
You probably would never know you’re on the I-878, though, since it’s unsigned and forms a part of New York SR 878. The road is also maintained by the NYSDOT, so there’s no real distinction between the interstate and the state highway.
Yet, it is in the Federal Highway Administration register as I-878, so it’s undeniably an interstate. Riding this busy section of road isn’t the most glorious motorcycling experience, but as we said in the beginning—it’s worth doing just to say you did it.