Top Classic American Road Trips America's most iconic road trips, ranked — from Route 66 and the Pacific Coast Highway to the Road to Hana, the Tail of the Dragon, and the scenic byways every road-tripper should drive at least once. It's a big country; this is the bucket list for seeing it from behind the wheel.
52 items · Updated Jun 30, 2026 · Copy link
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Sign in 52 shown Sort Most iconic By region A–Z
1. Route 66
Illinois / Missouri / Kansas / Oklahoma / Texas / New Mexico / Arizona / California
The original 'Main Street of America,' Chicago to Santa Monica — the single most iconic road trip in the country, synonymous with American car culture, neon motels and Mother Road nostalgia.
2. Pacific Coast Highway
California
600+ miles of cliffside Pacific coastline from San Francisco to San Diego — the definitive American coastal drive and a near-universal bucket-list pick.
3. Going-to-the-Sun Road
Montana
A 50-mile engineering marvel over Logan Pass through Glacier — glacial lakes, hanging valleys and the Continental Divide make it one of the most jaw-dropping drives on earth.
4. Blue Ridge Parkway
Virginia / North Carolina
'America's Favorite Drive' — 469 miles of Appalachian ridgelines linking Shenandoah to the Great Smokies, peerless for fall foliage.
5. Road to Hana
Hawaii (Maui)
600+ curves and 50+ bridges past waterfalls, rainforest and black-sand beaches — the quintessential Hawaiian drive and a glaring omission from any American road-trip list.
6. Overseas Highway
Florida
113 miles island-hopping across 42 bridges (including the Seven Mile Bridge) from Miami to Key West — driving across the open ocean.
7. Trail Ridge Road
Colorado
The highest continuous paved road in the U.S., cresting above 12,000 ft across the alpine tundra of the Rockies.
8. Beartooth Highway
Montana / Wyoming
Switchbacks to nearly 11,000 ft on the way to Yellowstone's NE gate — Charles Kuralt called it 'the most beautiful drive in America.'
9. Oregon Coast Highway
Oregon (US-101)
363 miles of sea stacks, lighthouses, dunes and rainforest down the full Oregon coast — a classic Pacific Northwest drive missing from the list.
10. Million Dollar Highway
Colorado
Cliff-hugging, guardrail-free switchbacks through the San Juan Mountains — one of the most thrilling mountain drives in the country.
11. Skyline Drive
Virginia
105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge with 75 overlooks of the Shenandoah Valley — the genteel northern complement to the Parkway.
12. Seward Highway
Alaska
125 miles past Turnagain Arm, glaciers and the Kenai mountains — an All-American Road and one of Alaska's signature drives.
13. Natchez Trace Parkway
Tennessee / Alabama / Mississippi
444 commercial-free miles along an ancient Native American and pioneer trail from Natchez to Nashville — history and Southern scenery.
14. Tail of the Dragon
North Carolina & Tennessee (US-129)
318 curves in 11 miles at Deals Gap — a legendary driving and motorcycling pilgrimage that any enthusiast would expect to see.
15. San Juan Skyway
Colorado
A 233-mile loop through the San Juans linking Durango, Ouray, Telluride and the Million Dollar Highway — a complete Rocky Mountain circuit.
16. Scenic Byway 12
Utah
An All-American Road over slickrock, hoodoos and the Hogback ridge connecting Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef — red-rock Utah at its best.
17. Cherohala Skyway
Tennessee & North Carolina
43 miles climbing above 5,400 ft between Tellico Plains and Robbinsville — Blue Ridge-caliber views with a fraction of the traffic.
18. Avenue of the Giants
California (Humboldt Redwoods)
31 miles through the world's tallest trees in Humboldt Redwoods State Park — often called the finest forest drive on earth.
19. Historic Columbia River Highway
Oregon
America's first scenic highway, threading waterfalls (including Multnomah Falls) and cliffside viewpoints through the Columbia River Gorge.
20. Newfound Gap Road
Tennessee & North Carolina (Great Smoky Mountains)
The dramatic 33-mile crossing of Great Smoky Mountains National Park — the most-visited national park's signature drive, dedicated by FDR.
21. Mount Desert Island Loop Road
Maine
Acadia's 27-mile Park Loop Road past Sand Beach, Thunder Hole and Cadillac Mountain — the first place to see sunrise in the U.S.
22. Cades Cove Loop
Tennessee (Great Smoky Mountains)
An 11-mile one-way loop through a historic mountain valley ringed by peaks — the park's premier wildlife-viewing and pioneer-history drive.
23. Monument Valley Scenic Drive
Arizona / Utah
The Forrest Gump highway into the Navajo Nation's iconic sandstone buttes — the most photographed view of the American West.
24. Kancamagus Highway
New Hampshire
34 miles through the White Mountains with no services — a New England fall-foliage legend over Kancamagus Pass.
25. Great River Road
Minnesota to Louisiana
3,000 miles tracing the Mississippi from its headwaters to the Gulf — the great north-south river journey through America's heartland.
26. North Cascades Highway
Washington (SR-20)
A 140-mile byway past Diablo Lake and 300+ glaciers through 'the American Alps' — one of the most rugged scenic drives in the country.
27. Vermont Route 100
Vermont
216 miles up the spine of the Green Mountains past covered bridges, farmstands and ski towns — the definitive New England foliage road trip.
28. Mount Blue Sky Scenic Byway
Colorado (formerly Mount Evans)
The highest paved road in North America, climbing above 14,000 ft to a Fourteener summit past mountain goats and alpine lakes.
29. Olympic Peninsula Loop
Washington
A loop circling Olympic National Park's rainforests, mountains and wild Pacific coast — three ecosystems in one drive.
30. Hells Canyon Scenic Byway
Oregon
A 218-mile loop overlooking North America's deepest river gorge — remote, dramatic Snake River country.
31. Chain of Craters Road
Hawaii (Big Island, Volcanoes National Park)
19 miles dropping from 3,700 ft to the sea across lava fields, craters and petroglyphs in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
32. Mohawk Trail
Massachusetts (MA-2)
New England's first scenic auto road (1914), 'hairpin turn' and all, climbing the Berkshires toward Mt. Greylock — a foliage classic.
33. A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway
Florida
Florida's Atlantic coastal drive past historic St. Augustine, beaches and barrier islands — the East Coast's answer to the PCH.
34. Pikes Peak Highway
Colorado
19 miles to the 14,115-ft summit that inspired 'America the Beautiful' — a famous toll road and hill-climb course.
35. Texas Hill Country (Willow City Loop / Highway 16)
Texas
A 13-mile ranch-road loop off Highway 16 that erupts with bluebonnets each spring — the signature Texas Hill Country wildflower drive.
36. Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway
South Dakota
Pigtail bridges, granite tunnels framing Mount Rushmore and the Needles Highway — a Black Hills engineering showpiece.
37. Black Hills Loop
South Dakota
A grand circuit linking Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park and Wind Cave — the full Black Hills road-trip experience.
38. Mount Washington Auto Road
New Hampshire
A 7.6-mile climb to the highest peak in the Northeast, home to some of the world's worst weather — and the famous 'This Car Climbed Mt. Washington' bumper sticker.
39. Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail
Alabama (US-80)
A 54-mile All-American Road retracing the 1965 Voting Rights March across the Edmund Pettus Bridge — the most significant Civil Rights drive in America.
40. Red Rock Scenic Byway
Arizona
An 8-mile All-American Road through Sedona's red-rock cathedrals — short but among the most photographed vistas in the Southwest.
41. 17-Mile Drive
California
A coastal loop past the Lone Cypress, Pebble Beach and Pacific surf — a polished California classic.
42. Chief Joseph Scenic Byway
Wyoming
46 miles over Dead Indian Pass with sweeping Absaroka views — a stunning, lesser-known approach to Yellowstone and the Beartooths.
43. North Shore Scenic Drive
Minnesota
A drive along Lake Superior's rugged North Shore past Split Rock Lighthouse and waterfalls — the Midwest's great inland-sea coastline.
44. High Road to Taos
New Mexico
A mountain backroad through historic Hispanic and Pueblo villages and adobe churches between Santa Fe and Taos.
45. Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway
New Mexico
An 84-mile loop around Wheeler Peak through Taos, Red River and Eagle Nest — high-desert and alpine New Mexico in one circuit.
46. Turquoise Trail
New Mexico
A back-road alternative between Albuquerque and Santa Fe through old mining and artist towns like Madrid along the Sandia Mountains.
47. Apache Trail
Arizona
A rugged historic route through the Superstition Mountains and desert canyon lakes east of Phoenix.
48. The Loneliest Road
Nevada
Nevada's stark, empty stretch of US-50 across the Great Basin — a Western road trip defined by sheer solitude.
49. Talimena Scenic Drive
Oklahoma / Arkansas
A ridgetop drive over the Ouachita Mountains — the South's best-kept fall-foliage secret.
50. Creole Nature Trail
Louisiana
An All-American Road through Cajun bayous, marshes and Gulf beaches teeming with gators and birds — 'Louisiana's Outback.'
51. Alaska Highway
Alaska
The legendary 1,400+ mile wilderness route to Alaska — the ultimate North American overland adventure.
52. Extraterrestrial Highway
Nevada
The desolate highway past Area 51 and the alien-themed town of Rachel — a quirky, only-in-America cult road trip.
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