This first part of the trip along the entire 648 mile length of US-22 was perhaps the most beautiful. Crossing the state of Ohio took 4 to 5 hours and traversed some interesting towns. Perhaps Wilmington and Zanesville were the least interesting and the most sketchy of them all, but there was plenty left to see. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop in all of them, but Washington Court House was worth a brief visit because of its... imposing court house. And having coffee in one of its coffeeshops! There followed towns like Circleville and Lancaster, both busy centers with shops, nicely preserved buildings and lots of American flags, and no significant traffic delays. US-22 is a 2-lane highway right across Ohio and most of southern and southeast Ohio is fairly flat. Despite that, the road retained an individual charm and beauty and at one point (near the junction of state route 207) I was able to locate an old milestone dating from the mid 1800s. The towns of Lancaster and Somerset merited brief stops so I could take photos.



This is the court house, with motorbikes in the foreground, in the town of Washington Court House


A coffeeshop directly in front of the court house of Washington Court House, where I took the photo with the motorbikes, had a vinyl record player


Route US-22 somewhere in the middle of Ohio - these roads existed and crossed the US before the interstate highway system was constructed

After Zanesville and before New Concord we stopped at the same diner I had visited the day before, but the service and food was less good this time. Leaving the diner we headed towards Cambridge, stopping for gas at the cheap filling station I stopped at the day before, finding the price of a gallon to have risen from $2.55 to $3.09. After Cambridge the road became a scenic byway, winding through villages with white churches and impeccably kept houses, traversing a state park and going past farmsteads. It was late afternoon, with a warm glow from the low sun illuminating the fields, trees and road. Southeast Ohio and its hilly and scenic country is one of my favourite places in the world, oddly.



A milestone on route US-22, dating from the late 1800s


I made a stop at the same classic diner on my return along US-22, but it was somehow less good than my visit the previous day

Shortly afterwards the road became a subdivided highway again and coursed across the country to Wierton where we crossed the Ohio river on a spectacular bridge which involved a 90° left turn to get onto the bridge. The short West Virginia part of the route was the least interesting and upon entering Pennsylvania the highway became more busy as we approached the Pittsburgh area. The road through urban Pittsburgh remains a highway, although an old, rundown and crowded one, and it forms a multiplex with both US-30 and interstate highway I-376. Near the airport on the western side of Pittsburgh we pulled off the highway to overnight at the Holiday Inn Express Green Tree.

19.06.25



US-22 in southeast Ohio, winding past farmsteads through the country


Going past Salt Fork Lake in Salt Fork State Park in southeast Ohio