Even living in the country, knowing the back roads routes is the way to go.
I used to live in Fulton NY, close enough to Nine Mile to keep alternate routes out of the area in the back of my mind.
The LAST route I would take out of an area is the interstate or major roads.
Yes, the back roads and side streets would be your best be.
Free yourself from being restricted to recognized “roads” and the options are greatly improved. Those 4wd vehicles are not just ego or trendiness, not the functional ones with high clearance and offroad tires at least. There are so many unimpeded routes that people never consider because we’re trained to the point of hardwired to think only of “road.” Rights of way for electric utility high tension wires are always kept clear and are everywhere, for instance. Knowing your destination and knowing available options might be the difference between making it or not.
If it’s really that bad, what to do once you get there is another matter.
Some of the most enjoyable routes I have found were the result of backups on clogged interstates. Be sure to take a detailed paper map because GPS will only look for the shortest way back to the route you just left in desperation. The new route will not be the shortest distance but will be infinitely less frustrating and probably take less time overall.