About The Open Road Archive

The Open Road Archive is a growing collection of real-world highway journeys — filmed, mapped, and shared by people who love America’s roads. From coast-to-coast interstates to two-lane state highways, forgotten bypasses, scenic byways, and everything in between, we capture what it’s actually like to drive them. No filters. No gimmicks. Just the road, exactly as it drives.

What began as a simple way to plan and revisit our own road trips quickly evolved into something bigger. Like many travelers, we found that maps and satellite views only go so far. They can’t show you the traffic flow, the timing of an exit, the feel of a curve, or the subtle details that make a route memorable. That’s where we come in — with real-time drive footage, route context, and firsthand insight you won’t find anywhere else.

But the story doesn’t start here.

Before The Open Road Archive, the project lived under a different name: Interstate411.us. That site served as our original home — a place to catalog filmed drives on major U.S. highways and interstates. It was always meant to be practical: a tool for trip planning, research, or curiosity. And it struck a chord. Over time, our collection expanded far beyond interstates, and we realized we needed a platform that could grow with it.

So we rebranded.

The Open Road Archive became the backend — the engine that stores, tags, and organizes thousands of miles of footage. And RealRoads.tv became the public face — a viewer-friendly, story-first format designed for roadtrip fans, route chasers, highway historians, and everyday drivers alike.

If it’s paved and interesting, we want to document it. And whether you’re watching a scenic drive across Utah or reviewing exit signs in Ohio, you’re getting the same commitment to accuracy, authenticity, and respect for the journey.

We built this archive for people like us: the ones who see a road trip not just as a means to an end, but as the best part of the adventure.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Equipment Do You Use?

We are currently using a GoPro Hero 7 for our FPV video and a Hero 5 for side and other cameras. For trips where video is made outside the car or motorcycle, we use a Canon 10D dslr camera.

Vehicle wise, the vast majority of our older videos were taken in a Toyota Tundra, with a few being shot behind the wheel of a Ford Crown Victoria.  Our newer videos are taken either in a Toyota Tundra, Toyota Camry, or on a motorcycle.

When Are You Going to Film…?

We are constantly adding new routes all across the USA. In 2025, we will be posting video of over 3,000 miles of highway from all over the country.

We have lots of routes we are planning on taking, some of them are funded already, and others we are still trying to fund. This is why we have ads on our site and offer our Express Lane program to fund future trips.

We do take trip and route requests from our members, so if there is a particular route you would like to see, please become a member and let us know.

Where Do You Find Your Music

All of our new videos feature original music by our house band, The Open Road Collective. You can learn more — or even license a track — at theopenroadcollective.com.

Older videos may include music from a variety of sources, including AudioHero.com, the YouTube Audio Library, and Incompetech.com.

When Was a Video Filmed

We get asked this question a lot.  However, due to privacy concerns, we do not provide the exact date of our footage.  We do provide the month and the year at the beginning of our newer videos; however many videos lack this info.  Should you need the date of one of these videos, the best we can do is give you the season and the year the footage was captured.  Exceptions to this are for disasters or public-interest segments such as a riot or large gathering, and for law-enforcement reasons, provided a valid court order is provided..

How Can I Find a Particular Spot Along a Route?

Your best bet is to use our search feature. We are pretty good about putting popular sights or attractions along a particular route in the description of the video, and the search tool has all the descriptions indexed so you should be able to find what you are looking for if we have it listed.

Can I Use Your Videos In a Project?

You’re welcome to embed our videos on your site for personal, non-commercial use using the standard YouTube embed tool, with proper attribution.

We do not permit commercial use of our work — including footage, music, or branding — without a formal license. For commercial licensing inquiries, please email us at info@openroadarchive.com.

We retain full © copyright on all original works, regardless of where they’re embedded or viewed. If you share or feature our content, we’d love to hear about it — feel free to send us a link!

We also archive our original, unedited footage (real-time drives with no music or overlays), which is available for purchase.

Why You’ll See Ads

We’re not fans of ads either — and in a perfect world, we wouldn’t need them. But travel isn’t cheap. To help fund new road trips and cover hosting costs, we display a limited number of Google AdSense and affiliate ads throughout the site.

Every dollar earned — whether through ads or our Express Lane supporter program — goes directly toward keeping the archive online and the wheels turning.

Can I Submit My Own Highway Video?

Short answer: It’s possible — but there are a few requirements.

Long answer: We’re always open to collaborating with others who share our passion for documenting America’s roads. If you’ve filmed a highway and want to contribute, we’d love to hear from you — especially if your footage meets the following guidelines:

Submission Requirements:

  • Resolution: 1080p at 60 FPS or higher.  We prefer 4K at 60 FPS if possible.

  • Footage: Unedited video only. We don’t use original audio, so you’re welcome to remove or mute it — but the visual footage should remain untouched.

By submitting your video, you grant us:

  • Permission to adjust playback speed for pacing or accuracy

  • Permission to add titles, route overlays, and watermarks

  • Permission to replace the audio with a custom soundtrack

  • A permanent, exclusive license to use your footage in our videos, promotional materials, and any future derivative works

You’ll be credited in the final video, so please include your name and a link to your website or channel for attribution.

Interested in contributing? Email us at info@openroadarchive.com for submission details and next steps.