Do you have a favorite drive/road trip?

H

helenbacque

Senior Member
Location
Central Florida
Mine: U.S.- Blue Ridge Parkway and northern CA coastal and among redwoods. Canada - Around Gaspe Peninsula but going west to east. Italy - Amalfi Coast. Scotland - anywhere on Isle of Skye. Australia - Great Ocean Road. What's yours?
 

The 101 loop on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. It's an all day drive that covers everything from a floating bridge to a rain forest, to waterfalls, to the place they filmed the Twilight movie series, to a driftwood filled ocean beach to hot springs, and the most wonderful people and attitudes you can imagine.101loop.jpg
 
Speaking of 101, Old US Route 101 through Oregon, down to mid California, along the coast, was nice back in the 50's. Redwood forest, beautiful coastline...
 

Mine are all just little rides in the country near my home.

In the summer and fall it's to get some fresh produce at the local farm stands, hit some tag sales or maybe a ride to one of the lakes, on a sweltering day, to have a fish sandwich or an ice cream cone by the water. My luxurious twenty dollar vacations, LOL!!!

I always take the side roads so I can gawk at the scenery, every so often I put my blinker on and pull over so the people on my tail can go by. Why will people ride your tail and try to push you along but never get up the gumption to pass? Oh well that's another topic, for another thread, LOL!!!
 
Oregon coast highway
US 89 from northern Arizona up into Utah. Bryce Canyon and Zion NP
Driving through the Ocala National Forest.
The Overseas Highway down the Keys. The miniature deer on Big Pine key are really neat.
The Cabot Trail up in Nova Scotia.
 
A very short (52 miles) but beautiful road trip, is the main highway through Glacier National Park in Montana. It's called Going to the Sun Highway. We went there in the 50's. I used Google StreetView a couple of years ago to inch over parts of it. Hasn't changed a whole lot.

NB-Biking-to-the-Sun.jpg
 
Thank you, Nancy! I drove the Going to the Sun highway in the early 90s but made the huge mistake of driving it in a motorhome. Consequently, I saw little more than the rocks to my left and on-coming traffic to my right. I will Google Streetview it to see what I missed. Cheers, Helen
 
helenbacque said:
Thank you, Nancy! I drove the Going to the Sun highway in the early 90s but made the huge mistake of driving it in a motorhome. Consequently, I saw little more than the rocks to my left and on-coming traffic to my right. I will Google Streetview it to see what I missed. Cheers, Helen
Click to expand...

Maybe it was better than driving on the outer edge, and seeing a huge drop off straight down right below your window. :) I think riding with someone else driving on roads like that is more upsetting. I was always a passenger, always leaning away from the edge.
 
It is a short hop from here in Carlisle over the border into Scotland and one of the most overlooked areas in the UK - Dumfries and Galloway (that's the name of the county). The Highlands, 150 miles further north are of course spectacular and they are what most people associate with Scotland, but the Dumfries coast is stunningly beautiful and not all that much visited. Within an hour I can be here..

portpatrick.jpg
 
Highway 12 scenic byway in Utah. We were headed towards Bryce Canyon from Moab and took this road. Had read how beautiful it was, but were blown away by it. Elevation at one point was over 10,000 feet and it was actual open ranges up there. It was in the fall and the aspens were gold in color. Have driven many beautiful road trips, but this tops 'em all.
 
I seem to be the only mid-westerner.
My favorite roads are done on motorcycle.
The Great River Road National Scenic Byway - it follows along the Mississippi River for 3,000 miles from northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. I've only done southern MN to MO.
My fav road trip near home is WI hwy 78 in southern Wisc. Wonderfully hilly and curvy through some very pretty country.

I second the Blue Ridge Parkway and include US 129 in TN and GA, called the 'Tail of the Dragon' because of how many sharp turns there are.
 
Perhaps our best road trip was when I retired, and we took a month to drive through Canada, then back through Montana, and finally back to Missouri. There is a huge triangle starting at Jasper...just west of Edmonton, Alberta...then SW to Kamloops, BC, then East to Calgary, and back to Jasper, that has some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. The drive through Glacier Natl. Park was the "exclamation point" at the end of that scenic drive. The Canadian Rockies aren't as high as some of those in Colorado, but the mountains are newer, and more spectacular. About the only drawback to this route is the abundance of Elk, Moose, and Mountain Sheep which also like to travel via the roadway, and being a cautious driver is a Must.

That was over 15 years ago....now, our favorite drive is to the casino's.
 
love the coastal drive from Christchurch, New Zealand to Nelson via Kikoura, New Zealand as well as the in land route over the Lewis Pass
with a stop off at Hanmer Springs for a Spa.
 
This is such a nice drive because there are so many places to stop. It's really cut out for the tourist traveler. I never get tired of the scenery along Lake Superior.

The spectacular scenery of the North Shore of Superior, including seven state parks, has earned this scenic route a national designation as an "All-American Road." Small shoreline towns offer restaurants serving local fish and produce as well as unique shops and art galleries.

http://www.exploreminnesota.com/things-to-do/2889/north-shore-all-american-scenic-drive
 
NancyNGA said:
A very short (52 miles) but beautiful road trip, is the main highway through Glacier National Park in Montana. It's called Going to the Sun Highway. We went there in the 50's. I used Google StreetView a couple of years ago to inch over parts of it. Hasn't changed a whole lot.

View attachment 37693
Click to expand...

I agree Nancy, been there, beautiful park to explore and lovely drive.
 
I guess my favorite was the Road to Hana drive in Maui Hawaii. We took a couple of long vacations in Hawaii in the early '80s and checked out lots of roads, beaches and islands.


Maui

 
We have one local drive that we adore. The San Francisco Bay Area is a great place to live, but crowded. But the drive on small country roads in and out of Valley Ford in the county of Sonoma, that goes through the unincorporated area of Two Rock, is heartbreakingly beautiful in mid-spring. All rolling hills and small ranches.

You are only 15-20 min from one of the most crowded freeways in Northern CA, but the two-lane roads are virtually empty.

With a short drive you can reach hundreds of big-city restaurants, some of them Michelin-starred. But you can drive for a couple of hours out here and maybe see four or five cars, max. It's a stunning contrast.
x1 2rock.jpg

We did a 6 wk driving tour from NorCA up through the PNW. I was pleasantly surprised to find the section of I-5 North from Yuba City to the OR border was actually a lovely drive! Beautiful forests, some amazing buttes, nice swooping curves that are quite unlike the utilitarian I-5 going down to Los Angeles.

And then you round a bend and the snow-covered Mt. Shasta almost seems to hit you in the face! So impressive in its sudden appearance.

We took the coastal 101 back south to come home, but I actually preferred Hwy 128. Love that road, you can take it all the way into Napa and it's so much better than the southern approach on 121/37.

If you want some driving excitement, take Hwy 120 between 101 and 1. Steep hills and twisty curves, with lumber trucks chasing you all the way - LOL! But it's actually a faster way to go from Mendocino on the coast and Hwy 101 North/South.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top