What state(s) in the US are there, where you can drive through miles and miles of open, barren desert?|103279

I_m aware that somewhere like Texas would probably be good for this, but when I do a roadtrip across America this summer, I wouldn_t like to detour that far south.

Are there any other states that resemble the typical hollywood depiction of driving a car, with your friends, through miles of open desert?

New Mexico, Northwest Texas, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, southeastern California and Nevada.
For instance in New Mexico there are places where you can travel 100 miles without seeing another car or a house! And I_m talking about highways. A lot of the Southwest is desolate. Or you can even do the Mojave desert in California.
Have fun!

NEVADA

I drove from Reno to Las Vegas.

it was a 8 hr round trip drive through nothing and nowhere, but relaxing

Absolutely. In my experience, most states in the western United States have an area or areas where the terrain is dry and open and very _desert romantic_. Your best bets are probably Utah and Nevada. Around these two states you could drive for days and stay in barren desert environs. The sky looks huge and the landscape vast and dry. There are some great state and National Parks to check out...like Arches and Bryce Canyon. Plus, you could always end it with a fun weekend in Las Vegas.!

I have done a lot of roadtrips through the western United States and really love the wide open spaces. Bring lots of great music and a sense of adventure. And, buy a great road atlas. Getting off the interstate and finding some less travelled highways will allow you to see more beautful spots and have bigger adventures!

Hope this helps. Have a great trip!

-Kango Traveler

California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas but you said that would be too far south.

Before you go blasting down some god-forsaken piece of two-lane black top ,plant this number in the back of your head and never ever forget it
While numerically only 20% of the accidents in the West happen in rural areas , statistically 80 % of the fatalities resulting from accidents happen in rural areas
The reasons:
The nearest hospital can be over 100 miles away and the nearest Level 1 trauma center can be many multiples of that
There are a lot of places where cell phones won_t work
Weather conditions are not always good for flying helos in so in many case you will be transported by ambulance
Newbies have more than a little difficulty with the reality of a the idea that head on colissions must be avoided at all costs .
Given the choice between a head on collission and going into a ditch at 70 mph you have to take the ditch bc the impact speed is 1/2 of the head on collission speed
The most common cause of head on collissions is people who completely misjudge the speed and distance of an oncoming vehicle when some one is using the oncoming lane as a legal passing lane.
The second most common cause is livestock in the road
Much of West is open range and on the open range fences are designed to keep things out not in
Enjoy your trip
Edit :
Now that I_ve hopefully scared the crap out of you, let me suggest a couple of personal favorites
US 50 from basically the jct of I-70 _ I-15 to Carson City NV
US 95 From reno to las vegas which takes about 8 hours one way
Alternate routing to that :
Reno_Tonopah NV _ Rachel NV via the extraterrestrial highwy and area 51 _ LAS
Almost anywhere on US 93 in AZ NV ID _ MT that isn_t in a city
From I -40 in Flagstaff :
US89 N_*US 89A N _ SR 389 W _SR 59 _SR 9
Almost all of US191 in AZ _ UT

New Mexico and Arizona.