About Open Road Guide

The story behind the guide — and the standard behind every entry.

Open Road Guide began with a habit I have never been able to shake: I cannot drive past a place without wanting to know its story. The mountain that used to be a mine. The town the highway almost missed. The reason the road bends where it does. More often than not, the answer turns out to be more interesting than the view.

I'm JoAnn. I am not an institution or a tourism board — I am a curious traveler with an inquiring mind and a long-standing weakness for the history and geology hiding in plain sight along American roads. Open Road Guide is where I collect what I find.

The aim is simple: build the road-trip guide I always wanted and could never quite find — one that tells you not just where to stop, but why the place is worth stopping for. Every point of interest and every story here is researched first and checked against real sources before it goes up. I would rather leave something out than make it up. Utah is the first state mapped in full; more of the country is on the way.

If you spot an error, know a story I have missed, or just want to talk roads, write to me at joann@openroadguide.com. I read everything.