Nice DrivesTop 10 Scenic Drives in the USA
By Dylan Stones · · 10 drives
The United States contains some of the most varied and spectacular driving roads on earth — from tundra summits in Alaska to barrier island strips barely above the waterline, from Hawaiian rainforest curves to dry desert canyon shelves. These ten drives represent the country's best: roads where the journey is the destination, and where pulling over every few miles to look around is not optional.
Photo by Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 1: 📍 Hawaii
Road to Hana, Maui
45 mi1 hr 40 minchallenging
52 miles of tropical rainforest, 50 one-lane bridges, and more roadside waterfalls than you can count. The Hana Highway demands an early start and a slow pace — the journey is the destination, not Hana itself. Stop at every fruit stand, pull off at every waterfall, and arrive at Wai'anapanapa State Park's black-sand beach as a reward for the patience.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 2: 📍 Montana / Wyoming
Beartooth Highway
64 mi1 hr 56 minmoderate
Charles Kuralt called it the most beautiful drive in America. US-212 climbs to 10,947 feet on a series of dramatic switchbacks before crossing a high alpine plateau where snowfields survive into July. The views from the Rock Creek Vista Point back down the switchbacks are among the most photographed in the American West.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by D&RG Railfan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 3: 📍 Colorado
Million Dollar Highway
33 mi1 hr 7 minchallenging
US-550 between Ouray and Silverton is shelf road driving at its most intense — sheer cliff faces on one side, vertical drops with no guardrails on the other. Three mountain passes, two historic mining towns, and some of the most concentrated scenery per mile in the Rockies. Not for the faint-hearted, but unforgettable for those who commit.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by Pom' from France, European Union, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 4: 📍 Florida
Overseas Highway
101 mi2 hr 42 mineasy
US-1 through the Florida Keys is the only place in the continental United States where you can drive through the open ocean for seven uninterrupted miles. The Seven Mile Bridge runs just above the water with nothing visible on either side but turquoise and cobalt — a genuinely unique experience that no photograph quite captures.
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
127 miles of raw Alaskan wilderness between Anchorage and Seward. Turnagain Arm, Dall sheep on cliffs above the highway, hanging glaciers visible from the road's edge, and beluga whales in the fjord below Beluga Point. No other road in America puts this scale of wilderness within reach of a major city.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by Washuotaku, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 6: 📍 Tennessee / North Carolina
Tail of the Dragon
57 mi1 hr 49 minchallenging
318 curves in 11 miles with almost no intersections to interrupt the sequence. US-129 near Deal's Gap is the benchmark against which every other winding road in the eastern United States is measured. Drive it slowly and precisely, stop for photos at the Tree of Shame, and connect it with the Cherohala Skyway for a full day of exceptional mountain roads.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 7: 📍 New Hampshire
Kancamagus Highway
38 mi1 hr 10 mineasy
The Kanc is the definitive fall-foliage drive in New England — 34.5 miles of northern hardwood forest that turns in a sustained color wave through October. No gas stations, no shops, no development along the route; just the Swift River, several easy waterfall hikes, and the kind of quiet that makes October weekends here worth booking a year in advance.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 8: 📍 North Carolina
Outer Banks Scenic Byway
53 mi1 hr 28 mineasy
NC-12 runs the length of a barrier island chain barely wider than the road itself, with the Atlantic on one side and Pamlico Sound on the other. Wild horses roam the northern dunes near Corolla. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse stands 198 feet above the sands. The ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke makes a dramatic finale for a drive with no real parallel on the East Coast.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 9: 📍 Utah
Zion-Mount Carmel Highway
25 mi51 minmoderate
UT-9 delivers the most dramatic landscape transition available from any single drive in America. One end of the 1.1-mile Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel opens into lush canyon drama; the other exits onto open red-rock desert. The switchbacks west of the tunnel are carved directly into the cliff face with views straight down into Pine Creek Canyon.
View the route map, stops & reviews →Photo by G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Number 10: 📍 Virginia
Skyline Drive
97 mi1 hr 57 mineasy
105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park, with 75 overlooks looking out over the Shenandoah Valley. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, the road stays at or above the ridgeline for its entire length. October color makes this the most accessible and most spectacular fall drive in the mid-Atlantic region.
View the route map, stops & reviews →
All ten drives above are mapped and available on Nice Drives with route overlays, stop points, and community reviews. Click any drive card to open the full route on an interactive map.