Scenic Drives
 

We love to take road trips and would like to know about particularly scenic drives in the U.S.

Scenic drives in the US of A. What a topic! There are so many. In my experience here are a few I would recommend: <BR>1. The Blue Ridge Parkway from the Smokies to Mabry Mill in Virginia. <BR>That is a long stretch. My favorite stretch is from Waterrock Knob near Maggie Valley to Blowing Rock NC. <BR>2. Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. <BR>3. The Beartooth Higway from the Northeast Gate of Yellowstone over to Red Lodge, Montana. <BR>4. The Million Dollar Higway from Ouray Colorado over to Durango. <BR>I think lesser drives, but still spectacular include: <BR>1. Tioga Pass into/out of Yosemite. <BR>2. Monument Valley in Arizona. <BR>3. A drive along the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. <BR>4. The Avenue of the Giants along US 101 in northern California where the huge redwoods grow.The area is south of <BR>Crescent City. <BR> <BR>On a 3rd tier, I would rate the <BR>drive though the North Cascades in Washington State and the Kancamagus Highway in Vermont. (I am guessing at the spelling of the last one.)

Thanks, Bob. That is just what I was looking for.

Northern AZ is highly scenic. <BR>A drive to Sedona from Flagstaff <BR>through Coconino Forest is scenic. <BR> <BR>So was the drive from Flagstaff to <BR>Page through the red mountains

Us 395 from Pendleton, Or, south through the Blue Mountains to John Day, OR. <BR>Hwy 49 from Auburn, CA, to Nevada City/Grass Valley and up the north fork of the Yuba River to Downieville, then on to Sierraville, past the Sierra Buttes, and across Yuba Summit to Sierra Valley and Lake Tahoe.

The Kancamangus Highway is in New Hampshire. It is Rt. 112 from Lincoln to Conway, and it is especially beautiful in summer and fall. <BR> <BR>I think the Coast of Maine is a spectacular drive, starting anywhere, going anywhere...

I hate to correct Bob Brown, as he's such a wealth of terrific information, but the Kancamagus highway (also ? the spelling, I don't know it either) is in New Hampshire, not Vermont. <BR> <BR>The drive through Oak Creek Canyon into Sedona, and then on to Jerome and over to Prescott, AZ is one of my favorites. <BR> <BR>

Shoot, I misspelled my last name. It's Stark, not Start. I'm the one who said, "Live free or die." What a concept.

OOPPS. New Hampshire it is. We crossed from New Hampshire to Vermont close to St. Johnsbury. Should have looked at a map. <BR> <BR>I forgot to include the Oregon Coast. <BR>The drive south from Yachats to Newport is my favorite stretch, but different people have different sections that they like. <BR> <BR>The Monument Valley I had reference to is in northeastern Arizona. So, yes, by all means, northern Arizona. <BR> <BR>I should have incuded in the top tier the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier National Park. For some reason it slipped my mind. It is stunning; right up there with Trail Ridge Road and some others. It will open when the snow has been plowed off or blasted off. <BR>Usually mid June is when the road opens but it depends heavily on how much snow there was over the winter and how warm the temperatures get in the spring. <BR>Light snow and warm temperatures can lead to an early opening date. <BR> <BR>I did not mention the Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper because I assumed that the US was the focus. <BR> <BR>But if I can fudge just a little and included Alberta, I rate the Icefields Parkway right up there in the top 5; maybe even the best one of them all. <BR>I depends on which day you asked me. <BR>At least it is the longest best one!! <BR> <BR>Again, sorry for misplacing the New Hampshire route. At least I had the name right.

Agree w/ John's Hwy 49 post, especially in the fall...Our New England. <BR> <BR>My favorite scenic drive is <BR>Hwys 560/56/520/530/50 on Kauai from Haena to Polihale...Absolutely breathtaking. <BR>Kal

I just thought of a scenic drive on a lesser scale than some of those mentioned earlier. The drive from Colorado Springs toward Buena Vista approaches the Saguache Range, which has the highest peaks in Colorado. (Not necessarily the steepest.) <BR>But the drive toward the peaks and then north toward Leadville enables the viewer to see peaks like Mt. Princeton, Mt. Massive, and Mount Elbert. There is a whole row of fourteeners along that route.

I'd add votes for Calif. SR1 southbound from Ft. Bragg to San Francisco, and 2 in Alaska, the Seward Highway from Anchorage to Seward, and the Haines cutoff in Alaska/BC. Haven't driven the haul road to Prudhoe Bay (friends have) but am told it's awesome. <BR> <BR>Maybe not first tier, but the old Columbia Gorge road on the Oregon side is pretty good, as is a drive through the Washington Palouse region - Walla Walla to Pullman and all around - in spring (right now) greengreen, landscape almost architectural with furrows and rolling hills. <BR> <BR>North shore of Cape Cod is pretty good, too.

Definitely first tier is the drive in California south on Rt.1 from Carmel through Big Sur. Awesome!

Did I read that the Glacier Park highway will be closed for redoing? <BR> <BR>We had an excellent two-week trip following the Colorado scenic highways. This included driving to the top of 14,000-foot Mt. Evans. <BR> <BR>You can get our itinerary by clicking Colorado on . . . <BR>http://www.geocities.com/judcomp <BR> <BR>We like the Pacific Coast highway from Astoria to San Francisco and some of the highways in Wyoming.

Hands down, my favorite is Highway 1 from San Francisco to Santa Barbara. Here are a few more that have not been mentioned yet: <BR> <BR>1. Hwy 70 from Denver, CO to Glenwood Springs <BR>2. Hwy 1 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Key West <BR>3. If you like skylines: the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Golden Gate Bridges. <BR>4. Hwy 7 from Russelville, AR to Jasper.

Another one of my favorites is Hiway 61 from Duluth to Grand Portage, on the north shore of Lake Superior. There's one beautiful state park after another, and innumerable fantastic overlooks. At the end is Grand Portage Falls (highest in Minnesota) and, if you want true wilderness, you can take a boat to Isle Royale Nat Park.

Don't miss: Trailridge Road, Rocky Mt Nat Park; Going to the Sun Hwy, Glacier, N.P.; North Shore of Lake Superior, Minnesota; Alaska-Canada Highway between British Columbia and Fairbanks, AK; Hurricane Ridge, Olympic N.P.; Sea to Sky Hwy, Vancouver B.C. to Whistler B.C., Hwy through Banff and Jasper NPs in Alberta; Pacific Coast Hwy, Northern CA to Northern OR.; Anything in Grand Teton NP or Yellowstone. <BR> <BR>OK, Anything in the Rockies; California Between Kings Canyon and Lake Tahoe; Beartooth Pass near Red Lodge, MT <BR> <BR>Don't bother: Anything in: Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota (except for the Black hills), Iowa, Eastern Montana, Indiana, Illinois, much of Western Utah and Eastern Nevada. Sorry, don't mean to offend anyone, these places are just a good place for a snooze during a drive (if you're the passenger).

Blue Ridge Parkway (already mentioned) .... do it in the Spring. The Dogwoods mixed w/the Pines ... incredible! <BR> <BR>Then at the end, stop in at the Biltmore!

The Paris Pike out of Lexington, KY. The tree branches meet to form a tunnel over the road with horse farms on either side.

I'd try Chuckanut Drive south of Bellingham, WA: not only is the road very scenic as it winds along the sandstone cliffs of Chuckanut Mountain, with its gnarled madrona trees and tall firs, but it also has great views of the San Juan Islands anda couple of good restaurants from which you can watch sunsets in style. Best of all, you can find very pretty fern and tropical plant fossils in the rocks peeling off the cliffs. <BR>If you get tired of driving, you can hike trails up the mountain to even better views, and to very secluded mountain lakes.

I second the vote for the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. It is beautiful. There are several small towns along the way and lots and lots of well maintained state parks. I love Grand Marais, MN - it is a beautiful small town on Lake Superior with many gift shops and lots of art and artists.

Most memorable and beautiful drive I;ve been on is<BR><BR>Las Vegas to Zion<BR>Zion to Bryce Canyon<BR>Bryce to Capital Reef (ROUTE 12)<BR>Capital Reef to Canyonlands & Moab<BR><BR>Road is 2 lane - no stress driving - with a more magnificant view around each turn than the last

Gold Camp Road, a 36 mile gravel road, that goes over the mountain from Colorado Springs to Victor. <BR>The stretch of rt. 550 that goes from Ouray to Durango in Colorado.<BR>

Texas, hwy 170 west from Terlingua as far as it goes. Wild and wonderful.<BR> <BR> http://www.visitbigbend.com/02vbmap.html

I'm biased I know, but practically any drive in Oregon is a scenic drive. Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway is not to be missed. Century Drive out of Bend is breathtaking. Highway 97 from border to border. The entire coast on 101. There are many more.

I would add the drive up the mountain (through Leadville) through Independence Pass, Colorado. It is only open in summer and not for the faint of heart.<BR><BR>In Canada, driving almost anywhere on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

There is a National Scenic Byways program, run by the Federal Highway Administration. Go to http://www.byways.org/ . A nice benefit of your tax dollars at work.

Brockway Mountain Drive near the tip of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. <BR><BR>Emmet County Scenic Route #1 along Lake Michigan between Harbor Springs and Cross Village.<BR><BR>I-25 north of Las Cruces, New Mexico<BR><BR> Keith

I second the Chucanut, Million Dollar Highway, and the Going to the Sun Highway. <BR><BR>This summer will get to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. Definitely looking forward to that!

Ocean Drive in Newport, Rhode Island
1-70 west from Denver

We just got back from Yellowstone so I suggest, the Beartooth Highway from the Northeast Gate of Yellowstone over to Red Lodge, Montana. Red Lodge is a cute western town.

A few of my favorites, in no particular order:

Rapid City, SD from Mt. Rushmore to Custer National Park, and through the park.

Sheridan, WY through Big Horn National Forest to Cody and entering Yellowstone from the East.

Moab, UT

Seconds for Highway 1 from San Fran northward to Crescent City, anywhere on the Oregon Coast, Monument Valley, Rocky Mt. National Park in CO., Ocean Drive, Newport, RI

CA 1, south of San Francisco--but, mindblowing at Big Sur...

Highway 1 in California south of Monterey is one of the most scenic drives. Also Highway 89 along the west side of Lake Tahoe.

Robert Louis Stevenson said it best, &quot;The greatest meeting of land and sea ever created by God.&quot; Highway 1 from Monterey, CA to Big Sur. With a detour on 17 mile drive at Pebble Beach.