America's best road trips

[GetawaysRus]

Probably some gems in here. I have some homework to do. We've only done a few of these trips, but I do recognize some of these routes from posts I've read on TUG.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/americas-best-road-trips

and

https://www.geotab.com/road-trip-ratings/

My wife and I recently drove Route 12 in Utah (mentioned in the first link). I first learned about that road here on TUG. And you were all correct. It was a fabulously beautiful trip. The article doesn't mention it, but don't miss the Burr Trail - this comes off Route 12 in Boulder, Utah. For Route 12, the Route Guide found here helped me quite a lot: https://scenicbyway12.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/route_guide.pdf

 

[DaveNV]

Glad you enjoyed the drive on Highway 12. It's pretty amazing. Imagine driving it in late September, when the Aspen trees are in full Fall color, and the air is filled with sailing clouds of those leaves. Just amazing.

Dave

I've posted this before, but it's one of my favorite pictures from our time on Hwy 12.

 

[Passepartout]

Not bad, Dave. Not bad.

 

[GetawaysRus]

We gotten to like combining a timeshare stay with our trips (both domestic and international). That gives us a week at the timeshare to relax and go at a somewhat slower pace either before or after the more hectic sightseeing portion of our trip.

For Utah Route 12, that was pretty easy. Park City, UT is about 4 to 4 1/2 hours north of Torrey, UT (and Capitol Reef National Park). St. George, UT and Las Vegas are not terribly far from the southern end of Route 12.

When I have the time to read through this list of potential road trips, I'll be thinking about how we might combine a road trip with a timeshare vacation.

 

[WinniWoman]

We live in a such a beautiful country.

 

[mjm1]

Thanks for sharing this article. I agree. We live in an amazingly beautiful country.

We are currently on the far end of a two week road trip as we sit in Rapid City, SD. Our itinerary has been, in order: from Las Vegas, Park City, Jackson Hole, Cody WY (drove through and explored Yellowstone), Sheridan WY (toured Little Bighorn Battlefield in route) and Rapid City (went to Devil’s Tower, Deadwood and Mt Rushmore yesterday in route and Badlands today). We leave tomorrow for Cheyenne, then Vail, then St George before returning home. It has been an amazing trip and we have checked off a few bucket list places and others that we learned about along the way.

We may need a relaxing vacation when we get home.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[WalnutBaron]

Two comments on the list: 1) there are, indeed, some amazing trips listed; I've driven on 14 of the 26 shown, and all of them were fantastic; 2) any list that does not include Highway 1 from Monterey through Big Sur to Santa Barbara is not a legitimate list! To prove my point, here are some views of that trip:

Carmel Highlands, from Hiway 1, just south of Monterey

The famous Bixby Bridge, built in 1932, is one of the most iconic bridges on the Pacific Coast. It's about 16 miles north of Big Sur.

McWay Falls at Big Sur. Breathtaking.

Ragged Point, about 40 miles south of Big Sur.

The town of Cambria, about 25 miles south of Ragged Point.

Pismo Beach, near the end of the journey.

One of the many vineyards near Santa Barbara.

The entire distance from Monterey to Santa Barbara is 306 miles on Highway One. It's best taken over several days. I recommend stops in Carmel, Big Sur, Cambria, Solvang, and Santa Barbara, though there are many other choices. A couple of tips: avoid Monterey and Santa Barbara during the 5pm hour, and especially on Fridays and Sundays when the local traffic combined with tourist traffic can be overwhelming. Get on the road early, and get settled somewhere near the beach in time to watch the sunset.

For more on this stunningly beautiful drive, visit The Highway One Discovery website. It's filled with great ideas.