Nice DrivesBest Coastal Scenic Drives in the USA
By Dylan Stones · · 5 drives
The most dramatic coastal drives keep the water in constant view — blue open water against cliff face, or the almost-eerie flat expanse of a barrier island road running just above the tide line. The United States has coastlines on three sides and some of the world's most varied waterside roads. Here are the best of them.
Photo by Pom' from France, European Union, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 1: 📍 Florida
Overseas Highway
101 mi2 hr 42 mineasy
Nothing else in the continental United States looks like the Seven Mile Bridge — a road running just above the open ocean with nothing visible on either horizon but water. US-1 through the Florida Keys is part infrastructure project, part feat of civic ambition, and one of the most singular driving experiences on the continent.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 2: 📍 Maui, Hawaii
Road to Hana
45 mi1 hr 40 minchallenging
Hawaii's most celebrated drive follows the northeastern Maui coastline through dense tropical rainforest, with waterfalls tumbling down cliff faces to the Pacific below. The road hugs the contours of the land so closely that it crosses more than 50 one-lane bridges — slowing the drive to a pace where you actually see the place you're passing through.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 3: 📍 North Carolina
Outer Banks Scenic Byway
53 mi1 hr 28 mineasy
NC-12 runs the full length of a barrier island chain with ocean on one side and sound on the other. In places the island is barely wider than the road. Wild horses descend from Spanish Mustangs; Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was physically moved 2,900 feet inland when the ocean got too close. The Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry makes a natural ending to an exceptional drive.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by Jrozwado, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 4: 📍 Oregon
Historic Columbia River Highway
68 mi1 hr 55 mineasy
The first scenic highway in the United States, completed in 1922, follows the Columbia River Gorge past more waterfalls per mile than almost any other road in the country. Multnomah Falls at 620 feet is the flagship, but the historic stone bridges, Crown Point Vista House, and the gorge itself are the real reason the road was built — and still worth the journey.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by Paxson Woelber, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 5: 📍 Alaska
Seward Highway
127 mi2 hr 45 mineasy
The Seward Highway follows Turnagain Arm — a fjord-like inlet where the tidal bore is sometimes visible as a wave rolling up the inlet — before crossing the Kenai Peninsula to Resurrection Bay. Dall sheep graze on cliffs directly above the road; hanging glaciers are visible from the car. No coastal road in the lower 48 comes close to this scale of wilderness.
View the route map, stops & reviews →
All five drives are mapped on Nice Drives. Click any card to open the full route, see highlighted stops, and read community reviews from people who've driven them.