© 2024 WXPR
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Celebrating Roads Less Traveled

Randen Pederson

As fall color enters its prime, it’s Rustic Roads week. Since 1973 the state Department of Transportation given the designation to over a hundred lightly traveled roads in Wisconsin.

Rustic Roads Coordinator Jane Carrola says the program was a unique idea when it began.

"I like to refer to the Rustic Roads program as a 'Wisconsin original,'" she says. "It was a very innovative idea in 1973 and Wisconsin was one of the first states to have such a program.”

Carrola says the program is still going strong 40 years after it began. All Rustic Roads have a maximum speed limit of 45 miles per hour. They range from less than 2 miles long to almost 40 miles long. Carrola says the program is aimed at preserving and protecting the scenic routes.

"This is the first year Governor Walker has proclaimed a Rustic Roads Week in Wisconsin," she explains. "It’s a chance to draw attention to the 114 designated Rustic Roads all around the state.”

The DOT has a travel guide to Rustic Roads throughout the state on its website. There is at least one marked road in almost every northern county.

Up North Updates
* indicates required
Related Content