Why Are Highways Called Blue

The title came from the old maps, which showed the main highways in red and the back roads in blue. The past fades and colors change, and the Rand-McNally atlas now paints the interstates blue and the minor routes gray and black. Yet the idea of the blue highways remains: a place where you can lose yourself.

What are the Blue Highways of Steinbeck's route and why are they called that?

The author, having lost his job and wife, packed a van he calls Ghost Dancing and set off from Columbia, Mo., to circumnavigate the nation, “a long (equivalent to half of the circumference of the earth), circular trip over the back roads of the United States.” He called the book “Blue Highways” because that was the …

What do blue roads on the Atlas represent?

Road maps and other general-use maps are often a jumble of color, with some of the following schemes: Blue: lakes, rivers, streams, oceans, reservoirs, highways, and local borders. Red: major highways, roads, urban areas, airports, special-interest sites, military sites, place names, buildings, and borders.