We all love a good road trip. What’s better than loading up the car and driving somewhere new? There are plenty of places that are best seen by car across North America, and for those smaller drives, you don’t have to dedicate serious PTO time to taking in the country’s natural landscapes.
Scenic drives are a little different than hopping on the parkway for a full-on road trip. We’re talking driving for the sake of driving, heading out on a day trip—journeys that don’t have a destination, but instead offer beautiful views and new perspectives, giving passengers a chance to meditate as the surroundings and small towns slip by. As Alain de Botton says, “Journeys are the midwives of thought,” and few pastimes offer such opportunities to cogitate like a pop philosopher. In fact, these routes offer plenty of pullouts and scenic overlooks for pondering any Great American road trip, er, joyride thoughts over breathtaking views.
If you’re heading on one of these scenic drives soon, don’t forget to load up on healthy road trip snacks.
West
Chuckanut Drive is 21 miles you won’t forget in a hurry.
Photo by Cascade Creatives / Shutterstock
1. Chuckanut Drive, Washington
Distance: 21 miles
The quickest way between Vancouver and Seattle is the I-5. But like any direct route, the fast food–riddled freeway can get monotonous. So detour for a few miles along Chuckanut Drive, which laces its way along the coast between Chuckanut Mountain and Puget Sound past locally owned cafés, a generous handful of parkable viewpoints and overlooks, and Bat Caves trailhead (hikers: a wooded path wends down to the flying creatures’ rocky home).
Cannon Beach is a beautiful spot to end your drive along the Oregon Coast.
Jessie Beck
2. Pacific Coast Scenic Byway, Oregon
Distance: 350 miles
Completing the whole of this curvy coastal 101 route in one day wouldn’t be fun (it’d take you hours), but the scenic drive can be taken in smaller doses. Start at Garibaldi, a 90-minute drive from Portland, then head north to Astoria in Oregon’s northwest corner, passing artsy Cannon Beach and its iconic rock formations, wildlife hot spot Ecola State Park (also great for tidepools, hiking trails, and surfing), and another outdoor recreation favorite, Nehalam Bay State Park. Or turn south, visiting Tillamook (home to the eponymous creamery) before heading west along the Trees to Sea scenic byway and then south for the Three Capes Scenic Loop. End with a beer on the beach at Pelican Brewery in Pacific City.
Hurricane Ridge is one of the most easily accessible mountain areas within Olympic National Park and is perfect for hiking, skiing, and snowboarding.
Photo by Nathaniel Gonzales/Shutterstock
3. Hurricane Ridge, Washington
Distance: 17 miles
Take a look at the picture at the top of this piece; it speaks for itself. Hurricane Ridge is the most accessible mountain area in the near-million-acre wilderness of Olympic National Park, offering memorable vistas without overly technical driving (although it’s often closed in the winter).
Known for its stunning natural beauty, Pebble Beach has attracted the rich and wealthy to its shores for decades, including Clint Eastwood, who’s a longtime resident of the area.
Photo by Jessie Beck
4. 17-Mile Drive
Distance: 17 miles
You have to pay for this drive, but it’s worth it. Your $11.75 gets you more than a dozen miles of circuitous roads winding between Monterey cypress trees along California’s surf-drenched rugged coast near the equally pretty towns of Carmel and Pebble Beach. Lone Cypress is a popular spot, but there are numerous places to pull off the road to soak in the stunning views, or just drive super slowly. The coastline further north, in Pacific Grove, is another (free) scenic drive worth an hour or so.
Great Sand Dunes National Park is home to the tallest sand dunes in North America.
Photo by Kris Wiktor/Shutterstock
5. Los Caminos Antiguos, Colorado
Distance: 128 miles
Colorado has 26 scenic and historic byways, but Los Caminos Antiguos is among the state’s most memorable. Winding its way through the San Luis Valley, it passes Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (where you can slide down 750-foot dunes on a disk) and Fort Garland, a historic military outpost with an exhibit that describes the role of African American soldiers in the expansion of the West.
Other scenic road trip options in the West include a dreamy portion of the famous Highway 1 on California’s Mendocino Coast and the Beartooth Highway, which stretches from Montana to Wyoming.
Northeast
French explorer Samuel de Champlain gave Vermont’s iconic mountain range its name in 1647 and dubbed the mountains “Verd Mont.”
Photo by Shannon Alexander/Shutterstock
6. Connecticut River Byway, Vermont
Distance: 410 miles
This is another long one, but pick a stretch and you can’t go wrong—particularly in cooler months when the fall foliage is painted shades of red, orange, and yellow. The route traverses Vermont’s Green Mountains to New Hampshire’s White Mountains, on both sides of the Connecticut River and past 53 communities and 10 waypoint centers. It’s Vermont’s only designated National Byway and it’s packed full of mountain ranges and natural beauty.
The banks of the Delaware River can be a great place to spot autumnal foliage.
Photo by Mihai_Andritoiu/Shutterstock
7. Hawk’s Nest, New York
Distance: 70 miles
Starting in Port Jervis, about a 90-minute drive out of New York City, and snaking along a mountain ridge by the Delaware River, this scenic drive commands you to slow down and enjoy it—due to both the views of the wooded cliffs tumbling into the river and the winding nature of the section of State Route 97 it follows. Continue all the way up to tiny Hancock, where you can get out and kayak down a stretch of the river for another view.
Rural Connecticut is full of picturesque pastoral scenes.
Photo by Stuart Monk/Shutterstock
8. State Route 169, Connecticut
Distance: 36 miles
Rolling hills, pristine woodlands that come into their own during fall, quaint New England towns, colonial farms—this short ride has it all. Running north to south through the northeastern portion of the state known as the Quiet Corner, it’s a calm, peaceful drive that’s part of the undeveloped and rural Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor.
Other great scenic drives in the Northeast include New Hampshire’s Kancamagus Highway, Massachusetts’s Mohawk Trail, and Maine’s Park Loop Road.
South
It’s hard to beat the views from Florida’s Overseas Highway.
Photo by Mia2you / Shutterstock
9. Overseas Highway, Florida
Distance: 125 miles
Running from Miami all the way south and west to the tip of the Florida Keys, this stretch of U.S. Route 1 is a scenic highway that follows the course of the historic Florida and East Coast Railroad. A hurricane knocked out the tracks in 1935, but a few years later the route reopened as a highway, often suspended high above the archipelago of some 1,600 islands, that whisks visitors past palm trees, beaches, coral reefs, and crocodile habitats.
Also known as the 360 Bridge, the Pennybacker Bridge was the second bridge in the world to be built with a cable support system when it was constructed in 1982.
Photo by Artchive/Shutterstock
10. Loop 360, Texas
Distance: 14 miles
A short drive out of Austin, Loop 360 gives you a whistle-stop look at Texas Hill Country, with views of the state Capitol and the University of Texas, as well as a crossing over the Colorado River on the striking Pennybacker Bridge. It gets busy at rush hour, so plan your drive outside the usual commuting hours. It’s accompanied by a bike trail, too.
Kisatchie National Forest is the only national forest in Louisiana.
Photo by William Dillingham/Shutterstock
11. Longleaf Trail, Louisiana
Distance: 23 miles
The Louisiana Byways program includes 19 scenic drives, taking in all the state’s famous signposts: bayous, live oaks, and more than a few alligators. This trip, though, winds its way through the Kisatchie National Forest, passing the eponymous pine trees and a rockier terrain of mesas and buttes, as well as plenty of opportunities for hiking if you need to stretch those legs (and a bayou waterfall!).
Looking for longer road trips in the South? Set the navigation for 200 miles of Texas Hill Country or try Alabama and Georgia’s Civil Rights Trail.
Midwest
Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive is perfect for architecture fans.
Photo by James Kirkikis / Shutterstock
12. Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive, Illinois
Distance: 26 miles
Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive is a must for architecture fans who like their buildings complemented with parks and beaches. Following the contours of Lake Michigan, it’s a scenic drive featured in several movies (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Blues Brothers) and best driven northwards. The Chicago Lakefront Trail is a mixed-use walking and cycling path if you want to see it all at a slower pace.
The Apostle Islands encompass 22 beautiful islands in Lake Superior.
13. Lake Superior Byway, Wisconsin
Distance: 70 miles
Another scenic route that’s particularly pretty in the fall, the Lake Superior Byway follows the southern shoreline of its namesake lake, through the Gaylord Nelson Wilderness Area, taking in several sandy beaches and cute harbor towns along the way. The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is here, too, a small archipelago with one inhabited island (Madeline). Hire a boat or a kayak and explore the sea caves, which turn into magical ice caves in winter.
Custer State Park is home to a large herd of 1,500 bison.
Photo by Anh Luu/Shutterstock
14. Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway, South Dakota
Distance: 70 miles
With the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore, and Badlands National Park, South Dakota is home to plenty of impressive sights set among memorable scenery. But for a truly stunning drive, try the Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway, which curves its way through granite tunnels and around pigtail bridges as it passes through both Custer State Park (plan a drive during wildflower season, head to the visitor center for information on the best places to see them) and Black Elk National Wilderness Area before passing the famous presidential faces.
For more road trip ideas in the Midwest, try Minnesota’s North Shore Scenic Drive or Michigan’s Historic Upper Peninsula.
This article originally appeared online in 2020; it was most recently updated on August 31, 2023, to include current information. Erika Owens contributed to the reporting of this story.
