35 Iconic American Drives

Plot Along is for people who care about the road itself, not just the destination. So it felt only right to fill it with some of the best roads there are.

Here are 35 famous drives spread out across the contiguous United States, running the gamut from the cliffs of Big Sur to the switchbacks of the Tail of the Dragon. From the highest paved road in the country to a one-way loop around the deepest lake, every one of these drives is guaranteed to make an impression, and on Plot Along you can explore and copy them to plan your next road trip.

They’re grouped into seven regional collections. Every route is a live map: open it to trace the full line, see the waypoints we picked out along the way and check the distance, drive time and elevation pulled straight from the road. No account or credit card required.

Pacific

California's coast and mountains

6 routes

Big Sur · CA

Big Sur Coast Highway, CA-1

Ninety-plus miles of cliffside curves and pocket coves where the Santa Lucia Mountains fall straight into the Pacific, with no inland shortcut for an hour in either direction.

• 93 mi
• 4h 23m
• 13 stops
• 928 ft

View route

San Gabriel Mtns · CA

Angeles Crest Highway, CA-2

• 61 mi
• 1h 49m
• 8 stops
• 7,901 ft

Northern Coast Ranges · CA

California State Route 36

• 135 mi
• 3h 27m
• 6 stops
• 4,297 ft

East Bay · CA

Mount Diablo Summit Road

• 21 mi
• 1h 31m
• 6 stops
• 3,760 ft

Santa Monica Mtns · CA

Mulholland Highway (The Snake)

• 9 mi
• 20m
• 4 stops
• 1,769 ft

San Diego County · CA

Palomar Mountain South Grade, County S6

• 12 mi
• 27m
• 3 stops
• 5,557 ft

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Cascades

Washington and Oregon volcano country

4 routes

Loop

Crater Lake NP · OR

Crater Lake Rim Drive

A 33-mile loop around the deepest lake in the United States, ringing the caldera of a volcano that collapsed some 7,700 years ago.

• 35 mi
• 1h 18m
• 12 stops
• 7,841 ft

View route

Samish Bay · WA

Chuckanut Drive, WA-11

• 15 mi
• 37m
• 6 stops
• 237 ft

Mount Rainier NP · WA

Mount Rainier: Paradise and Chinook Pass

• 79 mi
• 2h 20m
• 11 stops
• 5,418 ft

North Cascades NP · WA

North Cascades Highway, WA-20

• 102 mi
• 2h 55m
• 6 stops
• 5,484 ft

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Rockies

Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho

7 routes

Glacier NP · MT

Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

Fifty miles across Glacier National Park to Logan Pass on the Continental Divide, a National Historic Landmark and All-American Road.

• 52 mi
• 1h 45m
• 11 stops
• 6,627 ft

View route

Beartooth Plateau · MT/WY

Beartooth Highway, US-212

• 42 mi
• 1h 7m
• 7 stops
• 10,909 ft

Hells Canyon · OR/ID

Hells Canyon Scenic Byway

• 105 mi
• 3h 34m
• 4 stops
• 6,093 ft

Front Range · CO

Mount Blue Sky Byway, CO-5

• 28 mi
• 1h 19m
• 4 stops
• 14,119 ft

Pikes Peak · CO

Pikes Peak Highway

• 20 mi
• 59m
• 7 stops
• 14,103 ft

Sawtooth NF · ID

Sawtooth Scenic Byway, ID-75

• 88 mi
• 2h 2m
• 5 stops
• 8,692 ft

Rocky Mountain NP · CO

Trail Ridge Road, Rocky Mountain National Park

• 49 mi
• 1h 52m
• 12 stops
• 12,145 ft

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Southwest

Utah, Arizona and the Texas Hill Country

4 routes

Bryce to Capitol Reef · UT

Utah Scenic Byway 12, Bryce to Capitol Reef

An All-American Road threading red-rock country between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef, routinely ranked among the most scenic drives in the country.

• 102 mi
• 2h 28m
• 7 stops
• 9,583 ft

View route

Eastern Arizona · AZ

Coronado Trail, US-191

• 98 mi
• 2h 54m
• 5 stops
• 9,364 ft

Santa Catalina Mtns · AZ

Mount Lemmon (Catalina Highway)

• 33 mi
• 1h 14m
• 8 stops
• 9,066 ft

Loop

Texas Hill Country · TX

The Twisted Sisters, Ranch Roads 335/336/337

• 96 mi
• 2h 9m
• 4 stops
• 2,400 ft

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Heartland

The Black Hills and the Ozarks

4 routes

Custer State Park · SD

Needles Highway, SD-87

Fourteen miles engineers said couldn't be built, with one-lane granite tunnels and tight curves threaded between the Black Hills' slender rock spires.

• 14 mi
• 39m
• 5 stops
• 6,376 ft

View route

Black Hills · SD

Iron Mountain Road, US-16A

• 19 mi
• 53m
• 4 stops
• 5,411 ft

Boston Mountains · AR

Ozark Pig Trail, AR-23

• 81 mi
• 2h 4m
• 5 stops
• 2,044 ft

Ouachita Mtns · OK/AR

Talimena Scenic Drive, OK-1 / AR-88

• 62 mi
• 1h 25m
• 6 stops
• 2,579 ft

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Appalachia

The Blue Ridge and Great Smokies

6 routes

Deals Gap · NC/TN

Tail of the Dragon, US-129

Eleven miles, 318 curves and not a single intersection. It has a fair claim to the best-known driving road in the eastern United States.

• 15 mi
• 29m
• 3 stops
• 1,937 ft

View route

Marion to Tazewell · VA

Back of the Dragon, VA-16

• 35 mi
• 1h 13m
• 5 stops
• 3,423 ft

Great Smoky Mtns · TN

Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains

• 18 mi
• 1h 18m
• 6 stops
• 2,133 ft

Unicoi Mtns · NC/TN

Cherohala Skyway, NC-143 / TN-165

• 51 mi
• 1h 26m
• 7 stops
• 5,372 ft

Great Smoky Mtns · NC/TN

Newfound Gap Road, US-441

• 36 mi
• 1h 19m
• 8 stops
• 5,044 ft

Shenandoah NP · VA

Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park

• 81 mi
• 2h 43m
• 14 stops
• 3,673 ft

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Northeast

New England and the Mid-Atlantic

4 routes

White Mountains · NH

Kancamagus Highway, NH-112

Thirty-five miles across the White Mountains with no gas, no food and no cell service. Just ‘the Kanc’ and a 2,855-foot pass through national forest.

• 37 mi
• 1h 23m
• 7 stops
• 2,836 ft

View route

Upper Delaware · NY

Hawk's Nest, NY-97

• 24 mi
• 38m
• 6 stops
• 813 ft

Northern Berkshires · MA

Mohawk Trail, MA-2

• 38 mi
• 1h 3m
• 6 stops
• 2,153 ft

Mount Mansfield · VT

Smugglers' Notch, VT-108

• 18 mi
• 33m
• 4 stops
• 2,115 ft

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Make any of them yours

Every featured route is a starting point. Copy one and it’s yours to change. Add stops, reroute a segment to take the road you actually want or invite your whole group to plan alongside you in real time. When you’re ready to go, open it in Google Maps, Apple Maps or your GPS.