Every State’s Best Road Trip Route — Ranked by How Badly You’ll Want to Move There

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Some of the most beautiful places on earth are not destinations. They’re the road between destinations. And America — with its 4 million miles of public roads — has more of these between-places than anywhere else.

Here is the one drive in every state that shows it at its absolute best.

The Routes That Will Actually Change Your Life

Before the state-by-state breakdown, these five routes are in a category of their own.

• Pacific Coast Highway (California)

  — U.S. Route 1 from Leggett to Dana Point. 655 miles of the most dramatic coastal scenery on the continent. Big Sur alone justifies the entire drive.

• Going-to-the-Sun Road (Montana)

  — 50 miles through Glacier National Park over the Continental Divide. Open only in summer. The most scenic drive in the national park system by near-universal consensus.

• Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia and North Carolina)

  — 469 miles along the crest of the Appalachians. No commercial vehicles, no billboards. The most visited unit of the national park system for a reason.

• Overseas Highway (Florida)

  — U.S. 1 from Florida City to Key West across 42 bridges over turquoise water. The Seven Mile Bridge is one of the most famous road photographs in the world.

• Trail Ridge Road (Colorado)

  — Rocky Mountain National Park’s crossing of the Continental Divide at 12,183 feet. The highest continuous paved road in the U.S.

The Pacific Coast: Three States, Endless Ocean

• Washington — Olympic Peninsula Loop

  — U.S. Route 101 loops around the Olympic Peninsula — rain forest, Pacific coast, Puget Sound. 330 miles that cover three completely distinct ecosystems.

• Oregon — U.S. 101 (Oregon Coast Highway)

  — 363 miles of sea stacks, sand dunes, lighthouses, and small coastal towns. The Oregon coast is more dramatic than California’s PCH in many sections and has a fraction of the traffic.

• California — Pacific Coast Highway

  — Listed above. The benchmark for all road trips.

• Alaska — Seward Highway

  — From Anchorage to Seward along Turnagain Arm and through the Kenai Mountains. Beluga whales visible from the road at certain tides. Eagles perched on nearly every telephone pole. Genuinely surreal.

• Hawaii — Hana Highway (Maui)

  — 64 miles of rainforest, waterfall, black sand beach, and one-lane bridge. Technically a highway. Actually an experience.

The Mountain West: Roads Built for People Who Like Altitude

• Montana — Going-to-the-Sun Road

  — Listed above. Non-negotiable.

• Wyoming — U.S. 26/89/191 through Grand Teton and Yellowstone

  — Drive north from Jackson through Grand Teton National Park directly into Yellowstone. Two of the three most spectacular landscapes in the country in a single afternoon of driving.

• Colorado — San Juan Skyway

  — A 233-mile loop through the San Juan Mountains hitting Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Ridgway, and Telluride. One of the most complete scenic drives in the United States.

• Utah — Utah Highway 12

  — From Panguitch to Torrey through Bryce Canyon country and Grand Staircase-Escalante. National Geographic named it one of the most scenic roads in the world. The section across the Hogback ridge has no guardrails and 1,000-foot drops on both sides.

• Idaho — Sawtooth Scenic Byway

  — Highway 75 from Twin Falls through the Wood River Valley to Stanley. The Sawtooth Mountains emerge around a corner and look too dramatic to be real.

• Nevada — Extraterrestrial Highway (SR 375)

  — Past Area 51 through the Nevada desert. Eerie, empty, and unlike any other drive in America. The Little A’Le’Inn in Rachel is required.

• Arizona — Arizona Highway 89A through Oak Creek Canyon

  — From Flagstaff down through the Oak Creek Canyon switchbacks to Sedona. One of the most abrupt and dramatic landscape transitions in the U.S. — ponderosa pine forest to red rock desert in 20 minutes.

• New Mexico — Enchanted Circle

  — 83-mile loop out of Taos through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Valle Vidal. Wheeler Peak, Angel Fire, and Red River are all on the loop.

The South: Routes Through America’s Most Complex Landscape

• Tennessee and North Carolina — Blue Ridge Parkway southern terminus

  — The Parkway’s southern section near Asheville and the NC-TN border has some of its best overlooks and the highest points on the entire route.

• Mississippi and Tennessee — Natchez Trace Parkway

  — 444 miles of parkway following an ancient travel corridor from Nashville to Natchez, MS. No trucks, no billboards, no stoplights. One of the most peaceful drives in America and almost nobody knows it.

• Louisiana — Great River Road

  — Following the Mississippi River from New Orleans through plantation country to Baton Rouge. Spanish moss, antebellum estates, and bayou life at the edge of every turn.

• Georgia — Savannah to Tybee Island

  — A short but perfect 18-mile drive through salt marsh, Spanish moss, and live oaks from one of the most beautiful cities in America to an uncrowded beach.

• Florida — Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41)

  — From Miami to Naples across the width of South Florida through the Everglades. Airboat country, alligators on the road shoulder, and Big Cypress National Preserve.

• Alabama — Alabama Coastal Connection

  — From Mobile to Perdido Key along the Gulf Coast. The whitest sand beaches in America, historic Fort Morgan, and Dauphin Island with its migratory bird sanctuary.

• South Carolina — Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway (SC 11)

  — 130 miles through the Blue Ridge Foothills at the base of the Appalachians. Apple orchards, peach stands, Revolutionary War history, and Table Rock State Park.

• Virginia — Skyline Drive

  — 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge through Shenandoah National Park. The first completed section of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Deer on the road. Views every quarter mile.

• North Carolina — U.S. 64 through the Mountains

  — From Raleigh through Pittsboro, Brevard, and into the Nantahala Gorge. The section through Gorges State Park and into Cashiers is extraordinary.

• Arkansas — Pig Trail Scenic Byway (AR 23)

  — Through the Ozark National Forest with 19 miles of tight curves through dense hardwood. Fall color is comparable to New England and the road is far quieter.

• West Virginia — Highland Scenic Highway (WV 150)

  — High-elevation parkway across the Pocahontas Plateau. Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, overlooks at 4,500 feet, and almost no other cars.

• Kentucky — Red River Gorge via KY 77

  — The Natural Bridge and Red River Gorge are among the most dramatic and unknown geological formations in the eastern U.S. The drive through the gorge is staggering.

The Midwest: Routes That Will Change What You Think the Midwest Is

• Ohio — Ohio Amish Country (U.S. 62)

  — Through Holmes County, home to the world’s largest Amish community. Horse-drawn buggies, roadside bakeries, quilts hanging from fences. A completely different America.

• Indiana — Brown County Roads

  — The state park roads through Brown County State Park near Nashville, Indiana, in fall color. Indiana’s little-known answer to Vermont’s fall foliage.

• Illinois — Great River Road (IL section)

  — Following the Mississippi River down the western edge of Illinois past Galena, Nauvoo, and into the river town landscape that Twain wrote about.

• Michigan — M-22 along Lake Michigan

  — From Traverse City north through Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the Leelanau Peninsula. Voted the most scenic drive in America by viewers of Good Morning America.

• Wisconsin — Great River Road (WI section)

  — Following the Mississippi River through the Wisconsin bluff country from Prescott to Prairie du Chien. Eagle sightings are common in winter.

• Minnesota — North Shore Scenic Drive (MN 61)

  — Lake Superior’s north shore from Duluth to Grand Portage. Waterfalls, birch forest, and the greatest Great Lake viewed from every pullout for 150 miles.

• Iowa — Loess Hills Scenic Byway

  — Through the Loess Hills along Iowa’s western border — a unique geological formation found only here and in China. More dramatic than anything most people picture when they picture Iowa.

• Missouri — Highway 94 through Missouri Wine Country

  — Along the Missouri River from I-70 west of St. Louis through Augusta and Hermann, the heart of German-immigrant wine country. Fall harvest season is spectacular.

• Kansas — Flint Hills Scenic Byway (U.S. 177)

  — Through the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve and the Flint Hills. One of the last significant tallgrass prairie ecosystems on earth. Genuinely moving in its open vastness.

• Nebraska — Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway

  — Through the Nebraska Sandhills on U.S. 83 and Nebraska 2. The world’s largest grass-stabilized dune formation under wide open sky. Feels like the end of the world in the best way.

• South Dakota — Needles Highway (SD 87)

  — Through the Black Hills, past granite needle formations, through tunnels cut specifically for this road, to Custer State Park. The most underrated scenic drive in the Great Plains.

• North Dakota — Enchanted Highway

  — A 32-mile route off I-94 with giant metal sculpture installations in the middle of the prairie. Eccentric, unexpected, and oddly moving against the big sky backdrop.

The Northeast: Old Roads Through Old Country

• Maine — U.S. 1 along the coast

  — From Kittery to Eastport, past lighthouse after lighthouse, lobster shack after lobster shack, through Acadia country and into the Bold Coast. Maine’s slow road is its best road.

• Vermont — VT 100

  — The spine of Vermont, running north-south through Mad River Valley, Stowe, and the Northeast Kingdom. Best in fall, when the color is the most saturated in the eastern U.S.

• New Hampshire — Kancamagus Highway (NH 112)

  — 34.5 miles through White Mountain National Forest with no commercial development. One of the best fall foliage drives in New England.

• Massachusetts — Route 6A on Cape Cod

  — The old King’s Highway through the historic Old King’s Highway National Scenic Byway. Antique shops, historic homes, salt marshes, and the quieter face of the Cape.

• Connecticut — Litchfield Hills (U.S. 202 and CT 41)

  — Through the Connecticut hill country northwest of Hartford. Stone walls, village greens, covered bridges, and the most New England-y landscape in Connecticut.

• Rhode Island — Ocean Drive (Newport)

  — A 10-mile coastal loop from Newport that passes the Cliff Walk, Hammersmith Farm, and some of America’s most extravagant Gilded Age shoreline. Short, perfect.

• New York — Route 28 through the Catskills

  — From the Hudson Valley through Woodstock, Phoenicia, and into the Catskill Mountains. The Hudson Valley stretches back toward the city in one direction; the wilder Catskills open up in the other.

• New Jersey — County Route 517 through the Highlands

  — The New Jersey Highlands are one of the most complete surprise landscapes in the Northeast — forested ridges, glacial lakes, and Revolutionary War sites within an hour of Manhattan.

• Pennsylvania — Route 6 through the Pennsylvania Wilds

  — From the Pocono Plateau through the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania (Pine Creek Gorge) to Elk County. The elk herd near Benezette is the largest free-ranging elk herd in the Northeast.

• Maryland — National Road (U.S. 40 Alternate) and Scenic Byway

  — America’s first federally funded road, from Cumberland through the mountains to Hagerstown. Historic tollhouses still stand. The original immigrant highway west.

• Delaware — Coastal Heritage Greenway (U.S. 9)

  — Small but perfect: through the Delaware Bay salt marshes, Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, and along the shore to Lewes. Shorebird migration in May and September is extraordinary.

The Essential Road Trip Supply List

Every great road trip requires the same foundation.

• A car charger for every device in your group — dead phones are the leading cause of road trip arguments
• A physical road atlas — cell service disappears on many of the most spectacular routes in this list
• A small cooler with drinks and snacks — the best route through the Sandhills of Nebraska has no towns for 90 miles
• Downloaded offline maps for the entire route before you leave service
• A reservation at your first and last nights’ accommodation — the middle can be flexible
• A camera, not just a phone — at 70mph through the Needles Highway, you want to be able to take a real picture without stopping
• A tank of gas whenever you drop below half in remote states (Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Alaska)

The best trip you’ll ever take might be a state you’ve driven through a hundred times without stopping. Stop this time.