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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One thing about the Dragon that I thought was really cool was that they let you drive. A sign on the side of a shop at the start on the Tennessee side says “drive fast – don’t die”
We agree with Ron on ‘THE MILLION DOLLAR HIGHWAY”. It’s our favorite whether on our Harleys or in the Mustang GT. The curves and scenery are outstanding especially going North.
1. Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia, Canada. 2. High Road to Taos, New Mexico. 3. Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline Drive.
As a member of the 1.5 million mile club (I drove Motor Coaches for 13 years along with 36,000 miles a year as a teenager/young adult), I think pretty much anywhere in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and southern Ohio is a enjoyable drive if we are basing the survey on scenery as well as quiet, peaceful roads with small country stores and roadside attractions thrown in. I also very much enjoyed driving around Toronto, ON, CN, was pleasurable because it was such a a clean town with interesting places to visit.
A while back I lived in western North Caralina in the middle of a highway they call the Rattler. It has 290 curves in 24 miles. It is fun the first few times but after a while you get to where you wish you could straighten it so you could get somewhere quicker.
I love Road America and Road Atlanta as well and of course Laguna Seca and Sears Point on the west coast. I am lucky to have raced them and more with POC and PCA Porsche Clubs over the years. For the street I live in SoCal and we are blessed with so many great roads. Most have to be driving during the week to avoid all the nasty traffic and idiots. But during the week we love all the canyon roads in Malibu that go from PCH to Mullholland for some really fun short drives. Topanga, Las Flores, Malibu, Latigo, Decker, Ensinal, Yerba Buena, Deer Creek are all awesome canyon roads. For a longer drive I agree Angeles Crest is fantastic. Another good really long drive going north is Hwy 23 from 101 to 126 to 153 to Ojai, then 33 (James Dean run) to 164 to PCH, then an easy cruise home trough Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, Ventura Oxnard, back to Malibu and then LA.
Hagerty – do us all a favor!!! Take all of this great input and make a book. I would buy it and start making road trip plans
Yeah man, great idea – that’s a best seller for sure!
Head north of San Francisco on 101 and over the course of several days take EVERY east/west road between 101 and the 1 (it’s not called the PCH up there.) Some are fast and curvy, some are slow and curvy-every one is a blast! Lots of redwoods, ocean cliff views, interesting places to stop and eat. Plan on buying new tires when you’re done.
For me it would have to be the kancamagus hwy in the white mountains of New Hampshire although My experience was on my motorcycle I know that it would be a blast in my 69 vette
Spoggetoi* junction (aka the Gravely hill interchange)in Birmingham (not Alabama), monument valley, but the journey from Davos over the Stelvio pass in a convoy of Cobras takes it.
*how the locals pronounce Spaghetti
I really enjoy the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton Nova Scotia. I’ve done it twice on a motorcycle, and plan on doing it in my Mustang or BMW Z4 next month.
Put the top down and go to any southern California beach. My favorites, Highway 101 to Ventura and Highway 1 to Big Sur.
Pure exhilaration specially if it is a 65 Mustang Convertible with the Beach Boys blasting on the radio.
Needles Hwy in Custer State Park, SoDak
U.S. Highway 12 in Washington State from I-5 (just south of Chehalis over White Pass to Yakima is one of my favorites. It’s not really a technically challenging road, but it covers so many differing types of geography that it’s just a pleasure (except in winter!) to travel on. From flower and blueberry farms down around Mossyrock, to amazing views of the backside of Mount Rainier up by Randle, to the orchards of Fruitvale. It’s more of a “route choice” to take when traveling across that state than it is a “cruising road”. I take it every trip to and from the Puget Sound area – weather permitting!
Anchorage, Alaska to Palmer then the Glenn Highway from Palmer to Glennallen, head south to Valdez and put your car on the ferry to Whittier, drive through a mountain tunnel and return to Anchorage. Mountains and more mountains, massive glaciers, waterfalls, extensive wilderness, terrestrial and marine wildlife. Hard to beat a drive like that!