Meander is a noun that refers to a bend in a sinuous or winding
river. Wikipedia notes, ...in Classical Greece the name of the
river had become a common noun meaning anything convoluted and
winding, such as decorative patterns or speech and ideas [...]
Strabo said: "... its course is so exceedingly winding that
everything winding is called meandering." Thus, one might refer
to a route as a meander, although the adjectival form meandering
is more frequently heard. Some related adjectives include
circuitous, roundabout, tortuous, winding, serpentine, crooked,
sinuous, snaky. Some of these are also used as nouns; for
example, serpentine meanings include "coiled distillation tube".
One might plausibly call a winding route a serpent. One could
also say, "It's rather an excursion" to indicate that a route is
unnecessarily roundabout.