Hidden Roads Study – May, 16 2026

punk0 commentsAmerican Truck SimulatorEuro Truck SimulatorMaps1.571.581.59ATSbenelux reworkDLCEaster EggsETS2Guidehidden roadsIllinois DLCnewsNordic HorizonsScandinavia Refreshsecretssneak peekteaserviewpoints

Since the last update, both ATS and ETS2 1.59 and the Benelux rework for ETS2 have been released, alongside the Illinois DLC for American Truck Simulator. ATS 1.58 already added numerous new secret roads, and I had been considering updating the America guide after finding around 18 additional hidden roads, bringing the total to roughly 263 (though I may remove some older unmarked ones). With Illinois now released, I’m sure there are even more hidden roads waiting to be discovered, so the guide will continue growing as I explore the new map.

The reason I mostly skip mid-tier guide videos comes down to how YouTube ranks and promotes content. Older videos usually appear first, while guide-style videos below them tend to have very poor discoverability and low view counts. I don’t really want to spend dozens of hours making a guide that ends up with 900 views. (The ETS2 guide currently has around 2.3K views, while the ATS version is still about 1.2K.) The same issue affects 100% discovery guides and map combo content. I know there’s interest from my audience, but without YouTube helping push this type of content, it quickly gets buried.

Below you’ll find all hidden roads in ATS and ETS2 discovered in version 1.57 and later updates. You can also check the complete list of cities with hidden paths here: https://trucksim.top/y9t6. It probably won’t reveal the exact secret road locations, but it can help you figure out if you missed any areas.

I’ve been covering hidden secret roads in both American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 since 2022, when the feature was first introduced in ETS2 and ATS 1.44. For now, though, I’ll likely slow down these uploads a bit and let others continue expanding the coverage.

ETS2 (updated 01.24.2026, actual on 1.58 with Scandinavia Refresh and Nordic Horizon DLC, 110 roads so far)

ATS (updated 12.26.2025, actual on 1.57 with Louisiana DLC, 245 roads so far)

Secret Roads of Benelux and Volvo Experience Center on ETS2 1.59

New hidden roads with footages on Route 66 (collection of videos)

The Illinois DLC is now released

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The wait is over — the Illinois DLC for American Truck Simulator is officially out now! 🚛

The Prairie State expansion brings players to iconic locations including Chicago, Springfield, Quincy, Effingham and many more, while also completing the legendary Route 66 journey across ATS from Chicago all the way to Santa Monica.

Illinois delivers a strong mix of dense urban areas, industrial zones, rural highways and classic Midwest scenery, making it one of the most anticipated ATS map expansions so far.

Alongside the DLC release, SCS Software also introduced two new trucks — the Volvo VNL and the fully electric Volvo VNR Electric – making ATS 1.59 one of the biggest updates in recent months.

One notable surprise however is the absence of the traditional World of Trucks Cruising event that usually accompanies new state releases.

The DLC released on May 14 alongside ATS 1.59 update.

4 new achievements also added to Steam

#AmericanTruckSimulator #ATS #IllinoisDLC #SCSsoftware #TruckSim

First Map Combo for ETS2 1.59 – Tutorial – May, 12 – 2026

punk0 commentsEuro Truck SimulatorMapsModsVideos1.59africaDLCEAAETS2ets2 map comboEurafricaeuro truck simulatoreuropegrand utopiaGuidejava road revolutionMap Combomap modMapa EAANordic HorizonsRoexRusmapsibirmapsj mapswedish islandsTrucksimtutorial

ETS2 1.59 is finally here and I combined several maps to extend vanilla game area.If you just jumped in trucking simulators world don’t ignore Beginner’s Guide which can answer a lot of important questions but unfortunately outdated a bit since the new changes in 1.59.
Today’s combo includes Roextended, Rusmap, EAA, Eurafrica, JRR and other maps. 9 maps, 27 files, RCs, fixes. As always please follow the instructions in video and note that combo designed to version 1.59 and requires all map DLCs. Paid mods are optional. Extra mods are not recommended unless they are compatible with other mods and tested.
And consider to support Trucksim on Patreon

Links

📌Roextended 5.1 (paid or free version) https://trucksim.top/dlpr
📌Roex Road Connections https://trucksim.top/4jdz
📌Eurafrica 4.0 https://discord.gg/a2GwuHnEkE (Premium mod, optional. To purchase Eurafrica join Discord, choose tier, make Paypal payment and then open ticket)
📌EAA 1.59 v2 (paid, optional) https://trucksim.top/x0j8
📌EAA Rescaled 2.5 https://trucksim.top/ytr5
📌JRR (Java Road Revolution) 0.92a https://trucksim.top/toe0
📌Swedish Islands by BenganJ 2.2 https://trucksim.top/tbxe
📌Grand Utopia Map 1.19.4 https://trucksim.top/a6bq
📌European Grand Utopia 1.9 https://trucksim.top/sddf
📌rusmap 2.59 https://trucksim.top/d5zv
📌Sibir Map 2.12.1 (Free version) https://trucksim.top/w1tp
📌SJMap R7 https://trucksim.top/zt8m
📌Santiago de Compostela 14 https://trucksim.top/vag4

Mandatory Map Background:
📌Dark Background Map – Dark Grand Utopia+ 2.7 https://trucksim.top/5nld

Euro Truck Simulator 2 1.59 Released

punk0 commentsEuro Truck SimulatorNews1.59benelux reworkETS2netherlandsnewsqolreleasescsui

SCS Software just released ETS2 1.59. If you tried beta don’t forget to disable it – go to Steam client → LIBRARY → right-click on American Truck Simulator → Properties → Betas tab → Beta Participation drop-down menu → None.
And if you tuned up buffer settings before this version it is time to disable it in config file.
ETS2 1.59 brings us reworked Benelux Rework. Below you can find couple videos with my discovery of new areas.

Changelog 

Map

  • Benelux Rework Release
  • Volvo Trucks Experience Center

Vehicles

  • Thermo King Update

Gameplay

  • Tow to Road Feature

UI/UX

  • Advisor Update – Finances & Damage Widgets
  • Skills UX Redesign
  • QoL UI/UX Changes
    • Improved News Banner Readability
    • World Map Pin Enhancements
    • Save Icon Update
    • Garage Cutscene Skipping
    • D-pad Accessibility Improvements

Visuals

  • Height Blend Improvements

Sounds

  • Traffic Sound Rework

Other

  • Detour Feature Maintenance

American Truck Simulator 1.59 Released

punk0 commentsAmerican Truck SimulatorNews1.59ATSnewsqolreleasescsui

SCS Software just released ATS 1.59. If you tried beta don’t forget to disable it – go to Steam client → LIBRARY → right-click on American Truck Simulator → Properties → Betas tab → Beta Participation drop-down menu → None.
And if you tuned up buffer settings before this version it is time to disable it in config file.

Changelog 

Gameplay

  • Tow to Road Feature

UI/UX

  • Advisor Update – Finances & Damage Widgets
  • Skills UX Redesign
  • QoL UI/UX Changes
    • Improved News Banner Readability
    • World Map Pin Enhancements
    • Save Icon Update
    • Garage Cutscene Skipping
    • D-pad Accessibility Improvements

Visuals

  • Height Blend Improvements

Sounds

  • Traffic Sound Rework

Other

  • Detour Feature Maintenance

Trucksim.top Turns 6: From First Posts to Thousands of Miles

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Today marks 6 years since I started trucksim.top.

What began as a simple idea — sharing tips, discoveries, and experiments in American Truck Simulator and Euro Truck Simulator 2 — turned into something much bigger than I expected.

🚛 What happened over these 6 years

  • Dozens of guides on profiles, map discovery, and game mechanics
  • Experiments with save editing and optimization
  • Coverage of new DLCs, updates, and features
  • YouTube content alongside the blog
  • A growing audience of people who actually care about the details

Some posts were simple. Some took hours (or days) of testing.
But the goal stayed the same: make useful, practical content for truck sim players.

🔧 What makes this blog different

There are a lot of ATS/ETS2 blogs and videos out there.
Most repeat the same info.

Here, I try to go deeper:

  • Not just what works, but why it works
  • Not just guides, but real experiments
  • Not just news, but context

If you’ve ever used one of my profiles, strings, or guides — you know what I mean.

📈 What changed

A lot.

The games evolved.
The map got bigger.
Tools and mods became more advanced.

And honestly — the expectations are higher now.
People want faster, better, more detailed content.

🔮 What’s next

I’m not planning to stop.

In fact, I want to push further:

  • More advanced guides (especially around map data & automation)
  • Better tools and reusable templates
  • More structured content instead of one-off posts
  • Deeper integration between blog and YouTube

🙌 Thanks

If you’ve been reading, watching, or using anything from trucksim.top — thank you.

Even if you just stopped by once to grab a guide — that still counts.