The Most Beautiful Roads in America

[MULTIZ321]

The Most Beautiful Roads in America
By Road & Track Staff/ Car-Culture/ R&T/ roadandtrack.com

"Take the long way home.

Pavement meanders through all 50 of these United States, from the hardwood forests of Vermont to the craggy coast of California's Big Sur. Most of it goes somewhere; some of it goes nowhere. The roads on these pages are a few of our backcountry favorites. They're not always the fastest way to travel on land—thank the interstate system for that. But they all beg to be explored. It's going to be a long summer. Fill the tank and go...."

CANON EOS 7D, 11–16MM f/2.8 LENS @ 11MM, ISO 100, 1.0 SEC @ f/13.0
Brian Stowell

The Historic Columbia River Highway (above) curls eastward just outside Portland, Oregon, the terrain changing from deciduous forest to rolling grassland along the way. Here, the road climbs Rowena Crest. Washington State is visible to the north, just across the river.

I'm not sure how much of the Pacific Coast Highway is open now because of the mud and rock slides. Will probably be a long time before complete repairs are made.

As usual, this is an arbitrary list - feel free to add your favorites.


Richard

 

[WinniWoman]

There are so many beautiful drives in this country. Too many to even list.

Two listed in the article I am very familiar with.

I drive the Storm King/9W road at least once per month as it is in my neck of the woods so to speak and the best route to West Point where I have work related things to do.

Of course, being a Smuggs owner we have driven the notch road more times than we can ever count, including at night and also once by snowmobile at night.

 

[Talent312]

I've driven parts of a few of those roads... In my youth, _all_ of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
You must have plenty of time to kill. You can drive for hours and barely move the map.

That highway in Colorado is terrifying. I rounded those rail-less curves at 20 mph.
I'm surprised that Going to the Sun Road in Glacier Nat'l Park didn't make the list.

.

 

[WalnutBaron]

My top 5, in no particular order:

• The world-famous Pacific Coast Highway or--as we Californians refer to it--the PCH. The stretch from San Simeon to San Francisco is simply breathtaking. The first half of that stretch from San Simeon to Big Sur is closed indefinitely due to storm damage, but from Big Sur to San Francisco it's open and awaits you.
  
• The Blue Ridge Parkway, especially the stretch from Asheville, NC to the Cherokee Indian reservation through the Cherokee National Forest. Go in Early October and drive slow to appreciate it all.
  
• The amazing Going To The Sun Highway in Glacier National Park in northern Montana. Reaching an elevation of 9600 feet, the highway crosses the Continental Divide and offers alpine vistas unlike anyplace else.
  
• The stunning Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper, Alberta. Be sure to trade the driving, because your head will be on a swivel with each turn.
  
• Highway 163 through Monument Valley in Utah. Get there before sunrise because the road is open 6am-8pm from May through September and 8am-5pm the rest of the year.
  

 

[WinniWoman]

I am looking forward to traveling on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, but I am also scared as I am deathly afraid of heights.

 

[Blues]

My top 5, in no particular order:

• The world-famous Pacific Coast Highway or--as we Californians refer to it--the PCH. The stretch from San Simeon to San Francisco is simply breathtaking. The first half of that stretch from San Simeon to Big Sur is closed indefinitely due to storm damage, but from Big Sur to San Francisco it's open and awaits you.

Sorry, pet peeve time. That stretch of road is NOT the PCH. It is quite simply Highway 1. Or, if you want to be pedantic, Cabrillo Highway, though no one but CalTrans calls it such. PCH ends (in the northerly direction) at Oxnard. Our beautiful highway through Big Sur is Highway 1. No northern Californian would call it PCH.