This Is the Longest U.S. Road Trip With No Rest Stops

If you’re a road-trip junkie, you probably understand the significance of the all-important rest stop and what it feels like to drive a stretch of road without a single one in sight. Thankfully, a new study identified the longest road trip in the U.S. without rest stops, so that you can be prepared.

For its report, personal finance website MoneySuperMarket examined maps and geospatial data to unearth the absolute worst trek for bathroom breaks. Last December, the company surveyed 1,000 U.K. drivers and gathered data from OpenStreetMap API (a mapping website) about public toilet locations. An example of a public restroom would be at a fuel stop, service area, rest station, fast-food restaurant, or attraction.

After combing through all the data, it found that the 648-mile stretch between Belfield, North Dakota, and Mitchell, South Dakota, is the longest route in the U.S. without potty breaks. Traveling on this route, which runs along the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway, at an average driving speed of 62 miles per hour, would take 10.7 hours.

“Route-planning apps and most modern cars now offer advanced navigation and connected services, making it easier to … pre-plan rest stops. This can help drivers feel more in control and focused, so they can make their journey with less stress,” said Alicia Hempsted, a car-insurance expert at MoneySuperMarket, in a statement shared with Travel +Leisure.

The study also touched on a condition that many drivers suffer from: “toilet anxiety,” a medical condition that can make long road trips unbearable. It affects about one in three (31 percent) people. Symptoms include not just worrying about where the next restroom is, but also extreme concern about the cleanliness of public toilets.

“For many people, restroom anxiety is a very real barrier to going on a long car journey,” said Hempsted. “Anxiety experts warn that affected drivers can experience adrenaline surges and heightened stress when toilet facilities are few and far between, which can affect concentration.”

Urinating along the roadside is illegal in all 50 states and often treated as disorderly conduct or a public nuisance, which carries a fine of anywhere between $50 and $500. Some states might even classify the act as indecent exposure.

Coming in second place in the survey was a 513-mile journey between Fall River, South Dakota, and Cairo, Nebraska. A road trip in Kansas (between Scott City and Belleville) nabbed the third-place spot, at 324 miles. It should come as no surprise that all but one of the top-10 routes without rest stops were entirely in the U.S. West, covering the following states: Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The fourth-longest drive in the U.S., where you can’t find a restroom, is in Georgia, between Lavonia and Douglas. That trip takes about six hours, with an average speed of 52 miles per hour. Coming at No. 10 is a 265-mile route from Jackpot, Nevada, to Ely, Nevada. On that route, one would have to “hold it” for nearly four hours.