Do you like long trips to picturesque places? You are in the right place! The USA offers a variety of impressive roads that will surely mesmerize travelers. Picturesque oceanfront, rocky hills, lush forests, and secluded villages – we’ve prepared some of the most beautiful roads in the United States that are ideal for a car trip. So, fasten seat belts and go to the most picturesque roads of America!
Skyline Drive, Virginia
Skyline Drive stretches for 170 km from the north to the south and passes through the Shenandoah Park – America’s natural treasure. On the route you’ll find as many as 75 observation platforms offering stunning views of Shenandoah to the west and the foothills of the mountain range to the east.
While enjoying the views, look on the road carefully: deer, bears and other ‘forest owners’ consider Shenandoah their home and cross the road every day.
When traveling south on Skyline Drive, look at the signs on the right side – they will help you to find diverse interesting places. The speed limit is 56 km/h, so you will need about three hours to explore this route.
Dinosaur Diamond Highway, Colorado-Utah
A highway with traces of prehistoric reptiles runs through western Colorado and the eastern part of Utah. In these places, the remains of dinosaurs that lived on Earth 150 million years ago were found. Today, you can find there museums, collections of fossils and research centers.
Prehistoric Highway stretches for 770 km, and this road trip will take you about 3-4 days. On the way you will see red stone canyons, rivers and stunning geological formations. Having reached the reserve of dinosaurs, don’t miss the “Wall of Bones”, where more than 1500 thousand dinosaurs’ bones are still preserved in the rock.
Southwest’s Four Corners, Colorado-New Mexico-Arizona-Utah
‘Four corners’ is too prosaic name for this stunning area. The forces of time have made the miracle of nature. But if you want to overcome 845 kilometers-long highway just in 1 day, you won’t see anything amazing. These landscapes have been born for thousands of years, and it is difficult to assess their perfection at the speed of 100 km/h.
Therefore, it’s recommended to spend at least 2 days on the road – you will have enough time to stroll through the parks and reserves, as well as take photos of red cliffs in the form of columns, red sands on the horizon, meerkats, lizards and steppe foxes.
Alaska’s Seward Highway, Alaska
If you put together all the billboards posted along Seward Highway, then you can get to… nowhere. There are no billboards, no payment terminals, very few cities and almost no gas stations.
But if you are looking for whales, waterfalls, blue glaciers, ponds with trout and fjords along a raging ocean, Alaska is what you need.
The United States government called Seward Highway ‘the all-American road’. It can be traveled in less than 3 hours, but you shouldn’t do this. It’s better to spend the whole weekend to go to the most amazing places in the northern state.
Loneliest Road, Nevada
Highway 50 is a distant and absolutely empty route passing through the desert of Nevada. In the mid-1980s Life Magazine called it ‘The Most Deserted Road in America’. According to the article, the road is absolutely empty, there is nothing interesting there, and motorcyclists should avoid it, if they are not sure about their survival skills.
However, Loneliest Road is a route offering great views of pristine nature and wild reserves. So, if you want to try the taste of authentic America without a crowd of tourists and snack bars then hone your survival skills and set off to the most desolate route in the US.
Pacific Coast Highway, California
Fasten your seat belts and get ready for a dizzying journey! One of the most picturesque roads of America will take you along the coast of central California. At a comfortable speed, this route can be traveled in 5 hours.
Stretching for 198 kilometers, Pacific Coast Highway covers both Big Sur Highway, and San Luis North Coast Byway. The route begins in historic Monterey, passes through the art-town of Carmel, and runs through Big Sur, where the coastal cliffs disappear in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Then go to Morro Bay, and enjoy the bizarre hilly landscapes. By the way, in some places there are narrow curbs and sharp cliffs, so be on the alert.
Maui’s Hana Coast, Hawaii
Maui’s Hana Coast is black-sand beaches, waterfalls and an eye-popping route. You will see a blue ocean to the left and noisy waterfalls, jungles of bamboo and fruit trees to the right. During the stops, be sure to visit the Cultural Museum of Hana and the Hasegawa store, where authentic Hawaiian wines, clothing and fishing equipment are sold.
It’s believed that Hana is the most Hawaiian place on Earth, and the road along the coast is the best remedy against the daily routine and the vagaries of winter on the continent.
A picturesque car trip to the USA is a great way to explore the wildest and unexplored, and therefore the most beautiful places of the country. So, choose your best road and go on a trip! You probably will need a jeep car rental in the US, because some parts of the routes run through countryside area, where the car with off-road capabilities is required.
