Take a walk on the unconnected side with a slideshow of five of the most technologically remote places in the US.

Eryn Leavens, Special Features & Copy Editor

May 1, 2015

5 Slides

Here at Light Reading, we tend to focus on words like connectivity and communication. The thrill of being always-on and at the frontline of breaking news is what keeps our motors running. But that's not the reality everywhere.

Some people would rather commune with the cows than post on social media (not that you can't combine the two!), and that's just fine.

We've rounded up five of these so-called tech-free locales in the following slideshow. Sure, there are lots of state parks and other remote stretches of land where signals are spotty, but the places we've found are less in tune with Mother Nature and more into fostering their own unique quirks. They are, for the most part, devoutly sans signal by choice. They value the slower lifestyle, relish the lack of FOMO and don't dwell on the absence of a constantly buzzing smartphone in their pocket.

Some are regular places where people live and work (and may actually be aiming to increase their signals), others are ephemeral destinations where visitors find solace from their everyday lives. What do they have in common? They're all just stuck in roam.

Wanna read about places where you'll actually be able to find a signal? Visit Light Reading's dedicated Gigabit Cities content channel. And be sure to register to attend Light Reading's Gigabit Cities Live event on May 13-14 in Atlanta.

We all like to complain about unreliable service and dropped calls, but these places don't necessarily see a lack of coverage as cause for complaint. In a 2013 mission to connect the 60 million Americans who don't use the Internet (that's 20% of adults), the Department of Congress attempted to answer the question "Why don't people go online?" and found some interesting survey results: "Half of offline households simply don't want Internet -- they either feel they don't need it, they can use it elsewhere or it infringes on their privacy. For the remaining non-users, the big factor is cost." Only 1% of households claimed that Internet was simply not available in their area.

So whether the words "No Service" put you in a state of stress-free bliss or send you running for the nearest cell tower (keep running!), click the picture below to see our list of five of the least-connected places in the US. You might just find your next tech-detox vacay. And don't forget to share more unconnected places with us in the comments section below!

Figure 1: Salina, Utah Salina is lacking in more services than merely cellphone reception. On a long stretch of highway between Salina and Green River, Utah, there aren't services of any kind for more than 100 miles. Not being able to call for AAA makes your trip a lot longer when you run out of gas at mile 68.  This unique expanse of asphalt has improved its cell signal in the past several years (rumor has it), but not by much. Travelers are still routinely stranded, making for some pretty interesting hitchhiking stories, we'd imagine. Salina is lacking in more services than merely cellphone reception. On a long stretch of highway between Salina and Green River, Utah, there aren't services of any kind for more than 100 miles. Not being able to call for AAA makes your trip a lot longer when you run out of gas at mile 68. This unique expanse of asphalt has improved its cell signal in the past several years (rumor has it), but not by much. Travelers are still routinely stranded, making for some pretty interesting hitchhiking stories, we'd imagine.

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— Eryn Leavens, Copy Desk Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Eryn Leavens

Special Features & Copy Editor

Eryn Leavens, who joined Light Reading in January 2015, attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before earning her BA in creative writing and studio arts from Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. She also completed UC Berkeley Extension's Professional Sequence in Editing.

She stumbled into tech copy editing after red-penning her way through several Bay Area book publishers, including Chronicle Books, Counterpoint Press/Soft Skull Press and Seal Press. She spends her free time lifting heavy things, growing her own food, animal wrangling and throwing bowls on the pottery wheel. She lives in Alameda, Calif., with two cats and two greyhounds.

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