As a counterpart to the thread about boring/bad stretches of highway, I offer this opportunity to mention the opposite. Which roads/highways offer the best scenery or are interesting in other ways?
I humbly offer our own Seward Highway as one of the most scenic of drives, and it is in fact listed as a Scenic Highway. A close second is the Denali Highway from Paxon to Cantwell, and the highway going into the park itself.
Interesting in other ways: The Top of the World Highway from Dawson, BC to Tok, Alaska. It’s interesting because of the scenery, of course, but also because it’s the worst goddamn road in Alaska, with hairpin turns, sheer drop-offs, mushy shoulders, huge potholes, washboards that rattle your teeth at 20 mph, and periodic washouts.
I also like Highway 101 throughout most of its length, but particularly the Oregon Coast and the Redwoods.
Pretty short and probably not quite what you had in mind but those who have done the Highway 17 commute between Santa Cruz and the SF Bay Area find it …interesting.
Some of the best motorcycling I’ve ever done was on the PCH. Unfortunately, I’ve never taken the bike on the Million Dollar Highway although I’ve been over it a gazillion times.
Sorry for not explaining better for those not in California. The PCH is State Route 1 and runs for about 650 miles along the california coast. It is noted as the Pacific Coast Highway between about Oxnard and the 5 near the mexican border, Cabrillo highway, Shoreline highway and other names in various places.
The Adirondack Northway (Route 87, for the name-challenged) north of Glens Falls, NY. It actually was named the most scenic Interstate in the US (albeit by Look Magazine in the early 60s), and it’s makes its way through the Adirondack mountains. Driving it in fall when the leaves are changing is a sight to be seen.
Under the “Today is a good day to die” definition of “interesting”, I submit the stretch of highway before the GW memorial bridge in New York city. Those lines on the road don’t mean nothin’
There was also the place where southbound I-395 and I-95 came together just south of Washington DC about 10 years ago. There were about 8 lanes of traffic, the right-most two being for the next exit in 1/2 mile, and a good portion of the 3 left lanes wanted to take that exit. That was some wacky fun. But I hear they cleaned that one up.
On the nicer front, I-395 & whatever it becomes through DC takes you past the Pentagon, the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol. If you like that sort of scenery, it’s a nice drive.
I-5 near the California and Oregon border is gorgeous. So is whatever interstate that runs east-west from LA to Las Cruces near the Arizona and New Mexico border.
For anyone planning on ever being in or near Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; The Cabot Trail.
I’ve never had a chance to travel it, but it’s definitely on my bucket list.
US Route 89 in northern Arizona and southern Utah. There is some spectacular scenery on that highway. The hugeness of the land actually scared me a little.
The highway from Nuweiba’, Egypt to the Israeli border. The Sinai is ridiculously gorgeous, and that particular trip is burned into my mind thanks to my cabbie’s homicidal driving.
CA-1 is always good, too. Once I was driving around and I got lost and ended up going north on Highway 1 (I didn’t want to be on the coast at all and I definitely didn’t want to be going north) and it was so damned pretty that I said “fuck it” and just kept driving. I watched the sun set into the Pacific…and then I found an exit and turned around and went south.
Adding my vote for CA-1 between L.A. and San Fran. However, as spectacular as it is going north, I hated going south. Too terrifying for me to ever do again, especially in a car. I might reconsider doing it on the motorcycle as we did going up one year.
I like both the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Natchez Trace Parkway. I realize that not everyone is going to agree with me; these roads are considered boring by many (the NTP’s route through forests and fields is said to be particularly sleep-inducing).
The A82 between Dumbarton and Inverness, Scotland is nice. Well, if you can fight your way past the American tourists in rental cars, the European tourists with the steering wheel on the wrong side, and the caravans. Oh God, the caravans…
I went over the Blue Ridge this summer. Although it provided some nice views, the hills are absolute murder on your vehicle. Our tires were worn down to the metal and brakes were ridiculously overheated, although I like to blame that on Mr Nascar who can’t stand criticism of his driving. Whatever, he paid the repair bill.
Let me lengthen that stretch from US-395 in Lone Pine (Mt. Whitney) northward, through Bishop, Mammoth, (including the CA-203 spur), towards Lee Vining/Mono Lake and then westward on 120 towards Tioga Pass, the back area of Yosemite, Tuolumne Creek/Meadows area and Lake Tenaya, and Olmstead’s Point where you can see the Yosemite Valley from above, in reverse.
For another type of ‘interesting’, there is always the Pikes Peak Highway that climbs up and around for 38 miles on the 11,000 foot mountain that is Pikes Peak. As I recall there are few if any guardrails and the road runs right along the edges of the mountain.
The really scary thing is they have a road race up the mountain every year and the record time is 10 minutes 1 second for the 12.5 miles that is gravel. Those people are truly nuts.