Scenic Drives

5 journeys to witness our country's majesty

America’s scenic drives, from gentle coastal highways to heart-grabbing mountain passes, offer the perfect opportunity to leave behind increasingly busy lifestyles and embrace nature’s beauty from the comfort of your car. These five drives provide some of the most beautiful country that can be seen through a windshield. You may want to get out of the car and stay awhile.

White Mountain Trail

Located within the confines of White Mountain National Forest in central New Hampshire, this 40-mile stretch of scenic byway stretches between the towns of Lincoln and Conway. Though it’s relatively short, this drive packs a visual punch, offering breathtaking vistas and wooded glens.

Just out of Lincoln is the Cannon Mountain Aerial Tramway, where riders can ascend the 4,182-foot summit where an observation deck lends an unobstructed view for miles.

Stop at exit 2 on Highway 93 to get the best view of the famous Old Man on the Mountain. From the side, a 40-foot-high rock resembles a human face whose chin juts out with the stoicism of a New England pioneer.

The White Mountain drive quickly surrounds the motorist with unfettered beauty, says Katya Maiser, director of the Lincoln-Woodstock Chamber of Commerce. “There are some unbelievable views,” Maiser says. “Layers of mountains after mountains appear.”

At Lincoln, turn east onto Highway 112, also known as the Kancamagus Highway. Here “the Kanc,” as locals call it, rises about 3,000 feet, offering a spectacular forested view. Take note: This is commercially undeveloped territory, so it’s best to buy the fixings for a picnic lunch in Lincoln. And a good place to enjoy that picnic is Sabbaday Falls, where a three-level waterfall empties into an inviting pool.

As the descending road follows the aptly named Swift River, it leads to the Rocky Gorge Scenic Area, carved away over eons by the flowing water. This section of the White Mountain Trail ends in a few miles in Conway, home to inviting bed and breakfasts and covered bridges.

North Shore Drive

The shimmering surface of Lake Superior, the world’s largest freshwater lake, is almost always in sight on this 150-mile scenic drive paralleling the coastline of northeastern Minnesota from Duluth to Grand Portage.

This drive offers the outdoorsman plenty of access to canoeing, kayaking, hiking, and fishing, and provides a sense of solitude for those seeking a respite from the busy routines of life.

From Duluth, the drive along Highway 61 follows the coastline in a northeasterly direction to the village of Two Harbors. “Two Harbors Lighthouse (is) the oldest in the state,” says Rachelle Maloney, director of the Lake County Historical Society. “There, the keeper’s quarters is now a bed and breakfast.”

Superior is a lake, but in name only. Large container ships, usually found only on the ocean, continue to ply its vast waters. At Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, visitors can see the cliff-top beacon that warns of treacherous waters.

French-Canadian fur traders named the town Grand Marais, which means “big marsh,” but that hardly describes this former trading post settlement. Now, it bristles with charter fishing outfitters, quaint bed and breakfasts, and arts & crafts galleries.

The North Shore Drive ends at Grand Portage, an overland route the American Indians and, later, fur trappers, preferred to the white-capped rapids of the nearby Pigeon River. The town became established at the portage’s trailhead and has flourished since the 1700s. The nine-mile long Grand Portage, itself, still is a marked trail and can be enjoyed as a day hike.

Beartooth Scenic Highway

Charles Kuralt once called this high-climbing 68-mile ribbon of asphalt “the most beautiful drive in America.” Most people will be hard pressed to disagree, especially as they take in the exhilarating view from the 10,947-foot summit of Beartooth Pass.

The Beartooth begins in Montana and loops down into Wyoming. Its eastern terminus is Red Lodge, a south central Montana community founded in 1890 by miners intent on tapping rich veins of coal.

But the views—not coal—make this small town rich today, says Mervin Coleman, a nature photographer based in Red Lodge. “July would be the peak season because of the wildflowers. Paint brush, shooting stars, and the mountain sunflowers; they can be a beautiful sight,” Coleman says.

From Red Lodge, the two-lane highway heads south, ascending through Rock Creek Canyon until reaching a vista with a panoramic view of the canyon, mountain goats, and beyond, fields of sage. Near the Wyoming state line, visitors arrive at Gardner Lake, where they can hike the 10-mile Beartooth Loop National Recreation Trail.

The next stop is Beartooth Pass, one of America’s highest roads. From its summit, the Beartooth descends about 1,900 feet to Beartooth Lake, a favored destination for fishermen and campers.

The Beartooth ends as it began, in a small town. The western terminus is Silver Gate, Mont., just a few miles from the entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

Hells Canyon Scenic Byway

Oregon’s rugged northeastern corner, with its mile-deep gorge and mountains that tower nearly two miles up, always has provided impediments to travel, and much of the region remains inaccessible today.

Adventurous visitors who include Hells Canyon in their itinerary, however, are rewarded with breathtaking scenery.

The 220-mile route begins in Baker City, an old gold-mining town where more than 120 buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places. From Baker City, Highway 86 leads to a land of fertile farms in stark contrast to the erosion of the Hells Canyon gorge further ahead.

The Snake River comes into view as it approaches the southern end of the canyon, the continent’s deepest river-carved gorge. In some sections, the water’s blunt force has shaved away rock and soil to a depth of 8,000 feet. The 652,488-acre Hells Canyon National Recreation Area contains some of the country’s most unique scenery, plants, wildlife, and geology.

At several points, hikers can venture off onto trails in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, also known as the “Switzerland of America.”

Joseph, famous for its bronze foundries, is a gateway to the wilderness, which includes the ice-cold water of Wallowa Lake. On the shore is a monument to Old Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe.

From Joseph, the Hells Canyon Byway changes to Highway 82, which leads to the nearby town of Enterprise. The Hells Canyon tour ends at La Grande, where visitors can learn more of the Nez Perce Indians at museums and shops, have a nice meal, and reflect on the splendor one can find in this land between sea and shining sea.

Blue Ridge Parkway

This picturesque road was built by hard times. During the Depression, construction of the 469-mile scenic highway was a government works project, to give employment to thousands of unemployed. But its residual benefits far outlasted a paycheck.

Connecting two gems of the National Park Service—Great Smoky Mountains to the south and Shenandoah to the north—the Blue Ridge Parkway provides a visual and cultural feast of what once was a remote section of the country.

The southern tip of the roadway begins in the wedge of western North Carolina sandwiched by Tennessee and South Carolina. Here, as the road gains in elevation, visitors pass through the Cherokee Indian Reservation, where, in the town of Cherokee, shops sell native crafts and museums interpret the ways of American Indian life.

The road then begins its switchbacking ascent to the top of Mount Pisgah, named for the peak from which Moses first viewed the Promised Land.

One good view deserves another should be the Blue Ridge’s motto. About 40 miles on down the road is Mount Mitchell, where motorists can leave the parkway for a short drive to the 6,684 foot summit—the highest peak east of the Mississippi River.

As the parkway leaves North Carolina and enters Virginia, steep mountains give way to gentler inclines. Near the parkway’s northern terminus, Buena Vista Overlook offers both eastern and western views. This spot also offers a last chance to see how settlers might have lived here in the 1700s, with reconstructed farm dwellings and other structures open to visitors nearby.

Stephen Leon Alligood lives in middle Tennessee, where his bags always are packed for travel.

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