What is Your Favorite Driving Road?
Roads give us freedom. They take us to our destination, whether that’s an actual place or a metaphorical reference to the thrills and fulfillment of the perfect combination of automobile and path. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a miles-long straight, a gravel farm road, mountain pass, or canyon asphalt, we all have at least a few favorites on our lists.
So we humbly ask members of the Hagerty Community one question to help us celebrate next week’s special award: What is your favorite driving road?
This is normally where your humble author chimes in with a suggestion in hopes of spurring conversation. But good driving roads are over an hour away from me, and I rarely get the chance to drive that far just to drive some more.
Don’t Look At Me
Instead I have this monstrosity, the Katy Freeway, just a couple of miles from me. I admit the flyovers can give you a giddy little thrill sometimes, but otherwise my life as a car enthusiast revolves around visits to other places with better roads, smaller highways, elevation changes, and a lack of streets designed around a grid.
So help me out here, Hagerty Community, and tell me your thoughts on the matter. What are some good driving roads, and what is your favorite driving road?
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In New York , State Route 97 from Port Jervis New York north to Hancock New York , is a scenic paradise weather you are skirting the Delaware River in many spots or the twisties of the “Hawks Nest”. Many pull off areas and if you stop at the Historic Roebling Bridge you may even see a Bald Eagle or two diving for a fish dinner where the Lackawaxen River meets the Delaware River, I’ve seen it and it is something you will not forget . The drive is very relaxing.
I’ve found lots of great roads over many years as an enthusiast, but #1 has to be highway 276 between Merietta, SC and the top of the mountain at Cesar’s Head State Park. The backroads of Floyd and Patrick counties in SW Virginia are a close second. They didn’t do lots of grading, they just followed the lay of the land and the land is ultra rural and beautiful.
My favorite road is Highway 1 in Northern California starting in the coastal town of Half Moon Bay and traveling some 20 miles south to the village of Pescadero. This section of Highway 1 has everything . . . world class scenery by the Pacific Ocean, sensuous rolling hills, intoxicating curves, stimulating straights, and light weekday traffic. Then, when you reach your destination, the village of Pescadero, you can enjoy the finest coffee for miles around at the best coffee shop in Northern California, Downtown Local. Who could ask for anything more! And if this stimulating journey begins just a quarter of a mile from a warehouse that holds the your classic car collection, you are a lucky man. I am that lucky man.
I love that stretch of hiway ! And I really like to see what rolls up on any given Tuesday ! 😉
Old Highway 141 between Sioux City and Smithland in western Iowa. The view over the Missouri river valley is outstanding. Just watch out for the deer, and the John Deere!
Million Dollar Highway from Ouray,CO to Silverton,CO
Colorado State Highway 14 heading west from Teds Place along the Poudre River, through the Poudre Canyon, connecting to US40. Then continuing west over Rabbit Ears pass to Steamboat Springs.
The Woodward cruise in Michigan
1- US-421 North from Frankfort, KY at least 18 miles to Defoe. Or continue to Madison, IN.
2 – US-460 from Paris KY at least to Mt. Sterling. Or continue to the Red River Gorge area.
US Highway 89 and US Highway 395….end to end!
Definitely Route 66 especially through New Mexaco and Arizona, so much history and scenery,absolutely amazing
I have two favorite roads: the “tunnel of trees,” Highway 119 between Harbor Springs and Cross Village in northern Michigan, and the Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys.
Hwy 17 in Santa Cruz ca, during the Covid shutdown. They had just repaved a long section and there was like nobody on the road. Now it’s back to same old idiots driving on it every day.
I really like the Pacific Coast Highway but the Road To Hana in Maui is the craziest road I have ever driven. Lots of bridges and curves. I can say I survived the road to Hana.
Sunday morning, 7:00, I meet up with three friends and the formation departs; two Porsche 911 (one old, one new) and two Lotus Elise. It’s shocking to think that the new 911 weighs nearly as much as any two of the other three, but that’s neither here nor there, the road hugging weight is offset by a lot of loud in the loud pedal.
We head out to Jenner heading north on Highway 1 with our first stop at Stewarts Point for some world class baked goods and a cup of dark brown warmth, bitterness and wonder. While sitting and chatting, which is really the best part of any drive with this group, we decide to take the long way today, which means heading inland on Stewarts Point – Skaggs Springs Road. The first bit is a glorified goat trail and, frankly, is mostly just endured until arriving at The Bridge. Any local sportscarist or motorcyclist knows this is where a stop is required to praise the Army Corp of Engineers for their profound wisdom and excellent use of public funds in the design and construction of the route that leads to Warm Springs Dam, and eventually Healdsburg. On this particular day, we don’t make it as far as The Burg, but rather, we fly our formation easterly on Dutcher Creek Road and follow that to Cloverdale.
After a gas stop for the thirsty old 911 (no, it’s not stock) and a cruise up Main Street to wake up a couple of locals who may have spent a little too much time in revelry last night, heading west, back out to the Coast, on Highway 128. The pavement has taken a hit over the past couple of winters with heavier-than-normal rainfall, but when it’s smooth, it’s really smooth. And fast. Did I mention fast? Well, it is.
A local farmer of a particular type of herb in a 1983 Toyota Truck that probably has somewhere north of 790,357 miles on it, and is mostly made up of iron oxide and hope, waves us by with enthusiasm as Boonville is approached and departed.
We reach Highway 1, just south of the village of Mendocino and three of our cars are easily seen through the suddenly heavy, thick, wet fog; bright blue and red are easy to see, but one of the Germans is a color called chalk, which never really looks clean (or dirty). Thankfully, it has modern headlights that function both for illumination, but in the rearview mirror of my Lotus, also seem to function as a moodring, changing illumination levels automatically (Colin Chapman would be aghast).
A clean run down Highway 1 means Gualala is reached in time to have an early lunch at Trinks Café, which is where the conversation topics range from good-natured disparagement of chosen cars and lack of a third pedal, discussion of what “The Girls” might be up to, is your garden fully planted yet, and if the following workweek will be productive, or much more fun than that?
We retrace our route south on Highway 1 to Jenner, finding more SUVs, rental Mustangs and Sprinter vans than earlier, but that just means we can actually chat a little bit over the radios and enjoy the scenery. There is a set of curves just south of Fort Ross that we plan for, beginning the slow roll a couple of miles before in order to create a gap where this set of rightleftrightleftrightleftrightleftrightleft can be property dispatched. It’s fun to see the difference in rear engined technique and midengined technique both through the windscreen and in the rearview mirror. When the road straightens a bit, I silently give thanks to the excellent engineers at the Yokohama Tire Company, with no apologies given (or needed) from my squadron-mates for any road debris set aloft by the stickybuns.
On the way back to our little town, we enjoy Bohemian Highway to Occidental, a quick in-n-out on Bitner Road (which was just repaved and is devine), then east on Occidental Road.
As the cars tink-tink-tink at the sidewalk in front of my house, we agree that the roads were sublime and we share the unspoken sentiment that the company was easily equal.
Indiana Highway 62 between Madison and Dillsboro is a little-used and twisty thoroughfare. Madison is a trip back to the 19th century—a great place to overnight. You can cross the Ohio at Madison on US 421 and pick up US 42 to Louisville.