My personal favorite is Hwy 16 A, Iron Mountain Road, from Hwy 16 (about 1 mile west of Mt. Rushmore) into Custer State Park.
Two wooden “pigtail” bridges (loop upward). Two one-lane tunnels where you come up to them like you’re about to drive off a cliff, then take a 90 degree turn into the tunnel. Be sure to honk like mad to let people know you’re coming! See Mt. Rushmore framed by both tunnels after you pass through.
A middle portion that used to not be paved. Many years ago I was tired and wasted going through there, and with no other traffic around, I started to get a real creepy vibe from the disappearing roadway, like I was going backwards in time. Since been paved.
Nice scenic overlook.
Crazy assed bikers. And I mean BICYCLE bikers. On narrow twisting mountain roads.
A really nice stretch, assuming it’s open, is Idaho Highway 75 once you get about fifty miles north of Twin Falls up into the mountains through Ketchum (Sun Valley area) over Galana Pass towards Stanley. It’s absolutely beautiful, but is murder (if it’s open) in the winter. I haven’t been past Stanley but it’s well worth the drive.
I vote for the Sea-To-Sky from Vancouver to Whistler. I’ve done the stretch up to Squamish a number of times. The scenery is unbelievable but the highway itself is definately in the “Interesting” class. Rockslides, mudslides, dropoffs and idiots. It’s also going to be the main route to the 2010 Winter Olympics. In, uh, winter of course. Should be VERY interesting…
I’m going to vote for either the Pacific Coast Highway or the “Going To The Sun Highway” (although I’m not certain if that’s really considered a highway).
I drove this in October with my husband, and I have to say that it would have been lovely…if it hadn’t have been for all the damn roadworks! Couldn’t stop or see a damn thing for most of the way. Hopefully all the visitors to the Olympics will appreciate the lovely wide road!
I asked my husband, and our vote does to this, for the moment. Beeootiful.
Being from Scotland too, I should probably vote for this. But I’m an east coaster. So I can’t
I’ve driven every mile of the West Coast from the Canadian border to Ensenada Mexico on whatever road is closest to the ocean (this means you have to find some logging roads and suchlike in Washington) and about 80% of it is stunning enough to make your jaw drop fifty times an hour. I confess an overall preference for the Oregon coastline–more lush and verdant.
Highway 395 never fails to impress, and I have also to note that Highway 139 between Klamath Falls and Susanville has some of the most fun driving curves I’ve traversed–especially on a cold but clear night in early April with a 3/4 moon and absolutely zero traffic. Very nice–no idea about the view though, but it looked great in moonlight! Also of note in that area off 395 is the tiny dirt road (it may be paved these days, who knows?) that goes to the abandoned mining town of Bodie NV. Scary, only open in summer and at an insane elevation, but some beautifully desolate scenery all the way and the town is very cool.
SR 14 (Washington side) and I-84 (Oregon side) through the Columbia Gorge is frigging impressive, especially between Troutdale and The Dalles. Likewise, the historic Highway 30 that roughly parallels 84 in spots is incredibly fun to drive, nicely engineered for all it was built in the '30s or so–in a few spots it’s been turned into a bicycle path because the old windowed tunnels are too narrow to allow most traffic these days. You’ll see more waterfalls along that route than you’d ever think possible, especially in spring. You get crazy ass weather on that route, though. Not fun in winter!
Highway 242 that branches off from 126 at Belknap Springs OR along the McKenzie river over to Sisters is an amazing drive. It winds through beautiful scenery, including huge stretches of old lava flows that crop up through lush valleys down around the flanks of some gorgeous mountains. There’s a mountain observatory up there, built on a lava flow from the black rock and you can see mountains hundreds of miles away–just breathtaking. Again, only open in summer. Belknap Springs is a resort that takes advantage of the heavy hot spring activity in the area–they have a swimming pool that’s all filled with hot spring water, nice. Terwilliger Hot Springs is also along 126–clothing optional natural hot springs, quite famous.
One of the more interesting and surprising drives I ever took was on a road probably none of you have driven. If you drive west from Coalinga, CA on 198, you cross 101 and enter into the Ft. Hunter Liggett area. You follow a narrow paved road called G18 which climbs up into the Santa Lucia Range through some very pretty territory, crossing the San Antonio River and finally reaching the summit, where it turns (or turned) into a one lane dirt road that winds down the western slopes, and finally pops out onto the PCH. On the map 30-some years ago, it looked like a shortcut.
By the way, in my original post, I talked about 101 being scenic all the way. Not so. I meant to say that it’s great down to where it forks with Highway 1. I agree with all who love that highway.
I’ll definitely second the nomination of the Going-To-The-Sun highway in Glacier Park - a road you must drive before you die.
In the same league is the Beartooth Highway from Red Lodge to Cooke City, MT.
Certain roads in the French Alps stick in my mind. One example would be the road (D900?) from Les Celliers to Barcelonette. Don’t fail to stop at the old bridge where there’s a plaque to the memory of 17 people who died when their bus went off the road and down the cliff.
On the island of Martinique . . . I was heading east from the town of St. Pierre, and I took a wrong turn . . . wound up on a road other than the one most people take. It wound its way, in a single lane, through a very steep mountain range, hugging the cliffs . . . many times there was a sheer cliff on one side of the car, and a sheer drop on the other. And hairpin turns. And waterfalls. And if another car was coming from the opposite direction, one of you had to find a place wide enough to pull over. Some of the most breathtaking scenery I’ve ever seen . . . except I couldn’t take my eyes off the road long enough to appreciate it.
In the U.S. I’d have to say parts of Rte. 12 in southern Utah, between Capitol Reef and Bryce.
Parts of that road - where you’re driving on bedrock - can be pretty brutal. We did it a few years ago.
Here’s a spectacular drive: the road down into and through Ngorongoro Craterin Tanzania. Troops of baboons, elephant herds in the crater, black rhinos, lions. Here is a photoof the accommodations where we stayed at the Crater Lodge.
I-70 between Salina, Utah and the Colorado border.
From Wikipedia:
We went through there on a driving trip in mid 2007. It’s one of the few stretches of road where I kept swiveling my head around, trying to catch the incredible views while I was driving. Dangerous? Yes, but I wasn’t about to miss the sheer beauty of the area.
Here in Canada, I’ve driven both the Sea to Sky Highway in BC and the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia. Both are terrific drives, very scenic, and well-worth detouring for.
I’ll add Highway 17 through northern Ontario, from Kenora to Sudbury. It’s long and it does have its boring spots, but winds nicely and has enough lakes, trees, and Canadian Shield around the next bend to keep any scenery fan happy. Add in occasional views of Lake Superior east of Thunder Bay, and you’ve got a very nice, interesting drive.
For “interesting” from a historical point of view, I’d recommend the Big Hill on Highway 1, just east of Field, BC (the Kicking Horse Pass route). The roadbed of the highway is the original Canadian Pacific railway roadbed, which stopped being used by trains once the CPR put in the Spiral Tunnels. It’s a steep hill, and even driving it, you are amazed at how trains could actually make it to the top–and, conversely, how they didn’t go madly out of control on the way down. Of course, there is plenty of mountain scenery, but there is also a lookout where you can stop to watch trains circle around themselves as they navigate the Spiral Tunnels.
