Ah, the freedom of the open road. In honor of dropping gas prices and the four wheels of America’s favorite mode of transportation, here are four great drives that send our traveling hearts from 0 to 60 in record speed:
Highway 1, CA
Meandering along the Pacific Coast between the craggy cliffs of Northern California’s Fort Bragg and the wide swathes of beach peppering Southern California’s shores, this winding roadway ushers drivers past such iconic sites as the Golden Gate Bridge and Hearst Castle, while offering long stretches in sparsely populated and breathtakingly gorgeous areas like Big Sur. Chances for rustic relaxation abound along the drive. Camp at state parks like Big Sur’s Julia Pfeiffer Burns or bunk in luxury tents near Half Moon Bay at Costanoa. For posh overnights, there are plenty of options in the upscale towns dotting this route. Try mixing woodsy retreats with stops in the chic enclaves of Sausalito, Carmel and Malibu. Snaking past San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbera, Los Angeles and San Diego, this drive also promises plenty of opportunity for urban adventure.
Blue Ridge Parkway
From the forested hills of Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park to its southern end at the entrance to North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park, this 469-mile drive can be done in a day or spread out over longer periods of time. In the summer, outdoor enthusiasts and cyclists slowly make their way along the route, with stops at the nine campgrounds or jaunts into the surrounding wilderness areas and family-friendly attractions like Linville Falls, the Shenandoah Caverns and Natural Bridge. While colder months put a damper on camping and hiking along the way, the drive can still be a rewarding one simply for the bucolic landscape and quaint country towns you’ll spot. Head to Virginia’s Wintergreen Resort for golf in the summer and skiing in the winter or plan a relaxation-driven stop in artsy Asheville, NC with an overnight at the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa.
Route 66
Crossing two-thirds of the United States on its way between Chicago and Los Angeles, this historic roadway offers a lot more than a chance to get your kicks. While there are some long and relatively boring portions that are worth skipping, doing the drive in its entirety can be rewarding just for the sheer wonder that comes with watching the Midwestern landscape give way to the central plains and, later, barren desert, morph into the Grand Canyon and then change yet again once you reach California. Lovers of kitschy roadside attractions will revel in all this drive has to offer. Stop in Holbrook, Arizona at Stewart’s Petrified Wood to view giant mannequin-eating dinosaurs statues or bunk on the town’s Wigwam Village Motel. Park it in Springfield, IL and pay homage to our nation’s gas-guzzling past with a visit to Shea’s Gas Station Museum. Or view the world’s largest rocking chair in Fanning, MO.
Overseas Highway from Miami to Key West
Though this three-and-a-half-hour drive is easily manageable over the course of a day, it’s one that many combine with longer getaways on the islands along the way or in the hot cities at waiting at either end. Follow the mile markers from the mainland along the route, which crosses 42 bridges – the most famous of which is the Seven Mile Bridge connecting Marathon to Bahia Honda State Park. Farther south, Big Pine Key boasts the world’s sole population of tiny Key deer, who make their home in the island’s National Key Deer Refuge. At the drive’s end lies Key West, known as much for the party spirit that always seems to be alive and well along Duval Street as it is for cultural attractions like the historic Ernest Hemingway Home and the Southernmost Point just 90 miles from Cuba’s coast. If you have extra time, spend a day at Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas National Park located 70 miles off the coast and accessible via ferry rides onboard the Yankee Freedom.