US20 in Movies: Taking Woodstock (Trailer)

It’s been almost a year since I first reported that the movie ”Taking Woodstock” was being filmed on parts of US Route 20 in New York.

The movie is set to be released in the United States on August 28, 2009, with the country’s longest road serving as a backdrop.


More information on the film can be found on the official “Taking Woodstock” movie site, and the movie trailer is below.






The US Route 20 Blog homepage can be found usroutetwenty.blogspot.com, here.

US Route 20: "America’s Mainstreets" (video)

Here is a new documentary on US Route 20 (and also US Route 9) in New York, which was the result of a collaborative student project completed by undergraduate and graduate students Erin Dorbin (M.A. History and Media), Eric LaGrange (M.A. Fine Arts), Dale Mattison and Greg Pruden at the University at Albany in the Spring of 2009.

This documentary (video below) covers the history of US Routes 20 and 9 in New York, showing how the birth of freeways and thruways not only changed travel pattersn, but also changed the landscape of the US routes. This video represents the first edit of 22 minutes of their work.

More information about the video can be found at twojerks.blogspot.com. That web site indicates that “Erin Dorbin and Eric LaGrange are responsible for the completion of the Route 20 portion of the project, while Dale Mattison and Greg Pruden completed the Route 9/Frontier Town section of the documentary. Erin and Eric also have plans to continue the Route 20 portion of the documentary over the coming year.”

I found this video very interesting, and not just for the US 20 in NY perspective. Where I live – in Mentor Ohio – US 20 is very vibrant throughout my city and county (Lake County), along with neighboring Cuyahoga County (including the city of Cleveland) and Lorain County. This is despite the fact that two major freeways, US 90 and Ohio Route 2, run just about parallel to US 20, and sometimes only a mile away from US 20. Here, the freeways only helped US 20 to thrive. I consider myself very lucky to have US 20 remain an active, major thoroughfare here.

The US Route 20 Blog homepage can be found usroutetwenty.blogspot.com, here.

US20 In Wyoming: Casper

US Route 20 heads into Casper Wyoming, following both a “business” route, and also a “bypass” route. The business route heads directly into the city and is also known as the Yellowstone Highway, and as First Street in the heart of the city. It travels concurrent with the business routes for Routes 26 and 87. The bypass route is on the northern end of Casper and runs concurrent with bypass Routes 26 and 87, and I-25 as it skirts the city.

Casper sits at the foot of Casper Mountain, in the Laramie Mountain Range, with the North Platte River flowing around the city. It is the second largest city in Wyoming.

The city began as a frontier outpost called Fort Caspar, which was built during the mid-19th century to protect both mail and telegraph services. The city itself was founded long after the fort closed, and served as a railway stopping point. The city’s oil boom which started in the 1890s earned it the nickname ‘The Oil City.”

More information about the city can be found here:

The City of Casper

Casper Wyomomg Info Web Site

Casper Wyoming: A Great Place to Live - Video







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The US Route 20 Blog homepage can be found usroutetwenty.blogspot.com, here.

US20: Twenty West Videos

Just about a year ago I wrote here about a book written by Mac Nelson called “Twenty West” which covered his cross-country trip on US Route 20. I just recently uncovered the following videos on YouTube that are from a short film where Mac Nelson talks about this trip and US Route 20. Here are the videos! (Note: some of the videos have the audio and video slightly out of synch.)



20 West Part 1



20 West Part 2







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The US Route 20 Blog homepage can be found usroutetwenty.blogspot.com, here.

US20 In Wyoming: Greybull

Intersection of US 20, US 16 and US 14 at Greybull, Wyoming

A few years ago, when my husband and I drove to Yellowstone National Park, we drove via a route that took us through Shell Canyon. We came out of the canyon on some sort of rudimentary dirt road that certainly did not look like it was supposed to be a dirt road on our map. Thankfully the road was dry and we had four-wheel drive. When we reached near the end of the dirt road, we found ourselves in the town of Greybull, Wyoming , in Big Horn County. We stopped at a small restaurant (I forget the name) on what looked like their main intersection. We were surprised to see that it was US Route 14 converging with US Route 16 and US Route 20 . It was then that we realized that we could have taken US Route 20, which is only a quarter of a mile away from my home in Ohio, and driven all the way to Yellowstone.

Route 20, as it converges with these other two routes, is known as 6th Street, specifically North 6th and South 6th as it intersects with Greybull Avenue (US Route 14).

The town may have received its name from a legend of an ancient albino buffalo believed to be sacred by early area Native Americans. In the early 1900s a railroad through the area helped connect it with Cody, Wyoming and with southern Montana, and the railroad helped the town to flourish. The town celebrated its centennial in July 0f 2006.

Greybull itself is not a major destination, but it is very close by to some great geological sights and points of interest: The Big Horn Mountains, Shell Canyon (to its east) Chimney Rock, Sheep Mountain, Devil’s Kitchen, and the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite. There are also areas nearby for hunting and fishing.

If you’re planning a drive to Yellowstone National Park, whether you are going on US Route 20 or not, a stop in the Greybull area is worth your time. (Hopefully the dirt road is gone by now.) If you want to read more about Greybull, check out this on line book about Greybull, Wyoming.



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The US Route 20 Blog homepage can be found usroutetwenty.blogspot.com, here.

US20 In Nebraska: Bridges to Buttes Byway

As US Route 20 heads westward in Nebraska, there is a 197-mile stretch between Valentine Nebraska and the border of Wyoming that is called the “Bridges to Buttes Byway.” This drive includes various terrains, from rolling sand hills, prairies, pine bluffs, and plateaus.

The Sandhills are on the eastern end, and this is the largest grass-covered stabilized sand dune formation in the Western Hemisphere. The area is ideal for ranching. As US 20 moves west, the topography changes to valleys and pine bluffs and buttes, which includes the Nebraska National Forest. Farther west is a large prairie at the Oglala National Grassland, and the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.

There is so much to see and experience in this stretch of US Route 20. Here are two short videos that highlight some of the beauty of the Nebraska’s Bridges to Buttes Byway.


Bridges to Buttes By Way 2009 Podcast




Bridges and Buttes Byway Info Video






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The US Route 20 Blog homepage can be found at usroutetwenty.blogspot.com, here.

US20 In Ohio: Fremont, Home Of A President

In the north western area of Ohio, US Route 20 runs through the city of Fremont, the county seat for Sandusky County. As US 20 approaches from the east, it circles the city on the northern side via a bypass; however, it still technically runs through town as State Route 20 (State Street). The bypass is also named the “Grand Army of the Republic Highway), and it crosses the Sandusky River.
Not too far from where US20 runs through and around downtown Fremont is The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Hayes was the 19th President of the United States. The Center is on 25 acres of wooded land that was originally a part of Hayes’ estate; Hayes named the area Spiegel Grove. The 31 room Victorian home of Hayes and his wife Lucy Webb Hayes which is on the property is open to visitors. This is where they retired after Hayes’ presidency concluded. The house still contains much of the family’s original furnishings from that era. Hayes and his wife are buried at a memorial on the property.

Also part of the The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is the Hayes’ Presidential Library. This was created and opened in 1916, long before President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established a formal system for presidential libraries, but Hayes’ library is considered the first.

The site was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1964, and in 1966 was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

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The US Route 20 Blog homepage can be found usroutetwenty.blogspot.com, here.