Great road you have driven

[fillup420]

I drove on US 25/70 yesterday from I-40 to I-26, and the section from east of Newport to I-26 was a fantastic ribbon of asphalt. Smooth surface, well-banked curves, ample passing lanes, not a lot of traffic, and good signage were all attributes that I noticed. What is your favorite road that you have driven on recently and why?

[Max Rockatansky]

I guess it depends on what you mean by "great."    To mean that means that the road is fun to drive or has some sort elevated status in terms of road lore..  To that end some of the roads I'd put towards the "great"  status I've been on this year would include:

CA 1 from Carmel to Gorda
CA 25
CA 198 from US 101 to CA 33
CA 9
CA 130
WA 706 and Paradise Road
WA 99 on the Alaskan Way Viaduct
WA 304 and the Bremerton-Seattle Ferry
UT 9
I-15 in the Virgin River Gorge
NV 172 aka Old US 93 over the Hoover Dam
Las Vegas Boulevard
CA 46 at Cholame Junction aka Dead Man's Junction on US 466
CA 180 east of Fresno

[Techknow]

The best urban route I have driven is I-280 in California from I-380 to CA 85. It's well maintained, incredibly scenic for a freeway (it's even signed as an Scenic Route!), and for the most part it is four lanes in both directions, dropping to three lanes for half a mile but also extends to 5 and 6 lanes where it intersects with CA 92.

And there's Big Oak Flat Road and Tioga Road at Yosemite National Park. It's very well paved and maintained by the NPS, despite being on the cliff side much of the time, so try not to get distracted by the scenery! Don't underestimate how long it takes to drive it from Yosemite Valley, it's over 50 miles and you're going 30-40 MPH most of the time

[Max Rockatansky]

The best urban route I have driven is I-280 in California from I-380 to CA 85. It's well maintained, incredibly scenic for a freeway (it's even signed as an Scenic Route!), and for the most part it is four lanes in both directions, dropping to three lanes for half a mile but also extends to 5 and 6 lanes where it intersects with CA 92.

And there's Big Oak Flat Road and Tioga Road at Yosemite National Park. It's very well paved and maintained by the NPS, despite being on the cliff side much of the time, so try not to get distracted by the scenery! Don't underestimate how long it takes to drive it from Yosemite Valley, it's over 50 miles and you're going 30-40 MPH most of the time

Heh, I totally forgot about the Wawona Road now that you mention Yosemite.  I actually hiked up the original route in this winter to Inspiration Point, that must have been an oddessy until the Wawona Tunnel was built. 

[SSOWorld]

I-15 in AZ
CA 1 (Big Sur, Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods)
(If no tropical cyclone hits) Overseas Highway (this July)
Yosemite Valley
Zion Mt-Carmel Highway (twice!)
Glenwood Canyon
I-90 Columbia River crossing
Trail Ridge Road (Colorado)
US-163 (Monument Valley)
Valley of Fire State park
Lake Shore Drive (Chicago)
FDR Drive (NYC)
Name that bridge in NYC (all of the bridges connecting Manhattan)
Mighty Mac (No, not the mighty Mouron)

[sparker]

Favorite drive, period:  US 101 from Ukiah, CA to Astoria, OR.  Nicest road (at least in CA) I've driven on in the last decade:  a tossup between I-15 from Victorville to Barstow post-repaving (nice job!), or the new section of CA 99 from the Madera County line NW to the outskirts of Merced.  Nothing like new pavement under one's tires!

[index]

I haven't driven on it myself, but BC 17 on Vancouver Island was quite nice, as well as the TCH. The BC MOT seems to be very adept at maintaining their roads. When I drove on US 601 here in Union County, everything was quite nice. The signage was proper and complete, the road was smooth and the markings were good, etc etc.

[hbelkins]

I drove on US 25/70 yesterday from I-40 to I-26, and the section from east of Newport to I-26 was a fantastic ribbon of asphalt. Smooth surface, well-banked curves, ample passing lanes, not a lot of traffic, and good signage were all attributes that I noticed. What is your favorite road that you have driven on recently and why?

It's been many years since I've driven it, but when I did I wasn't really impressed with the road on either side of the state line. There must have been some improvements made on it -- possibly in anticipation of another long-term I-40 closure for people who don't want to detour all the way up to Johnson City/Kingsport on I-26 and I-81?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I got the impression the OP was only interested in the physical quality of the road, not the scenery. Interesting thought I guess. I'll go with I-20 east of Birmingham for that answer.

<- Otherwise...

[fillup420]

I got the impression the OP was only interested in the physical quality of the road, not the scenery. Interesting thought I guess. I'll go with I-20 east of Birmingham for that answer.

<- Otherwise...

It can be any reason. My answer just refers to the physical quality. As far as scenery goes, my answer is definitely US 191 between I-70 and Moab. It feels like I'm driving across Mars.

[Max Rockatansky]

I got the impression the OP was only interested in the physical quality of the road, not the scenery. Interesting thought I guess. I'll go with I-20 east of Birmingham for that answer.

<- Otherwise...

It can be any reason. My answer just refers to the physical quality. As far as scenery goes, my answer is definitely US 191 between I-70 and Moab. It feels like I'm driving across Mars.

Hell I'd put US 191 as probably the most scenic US Route of all.  You get close access to a large number of National Parks, the Colorado Plateau and even stuff like the Coronado Trail. 

[cjk374]

Two highways in Arkansas are awesome drives: AR 23 (aka The Pig Trail), and AR 7 from Camden to Diamond City.

[1995hoo]

Interpreting "recently" as referring to within roughly the past year, I'd say Corridor H.

Looking longer-term, I'd probably put the Cabot Trail and US-163 at or near the top of the list. Have not been on the Cabot Trail since July 2008; drove US-163 in September 2015.

[US 41]

For me it is definitely the Autopista Durango - Mazatlan (MX 40D) that I drove on this past November. 60 tunnels and the continent's highest bridge. Can't beat that.

[SSR_317]

Arizona State Route 88, the Apache Trail, between Apache Junction and the Theodore Roosevelt Dam. I drove it in the late 1980s, when the pavement ended at Tortilla Flat (in recent years the asphalt has been extended a little further east). The Fish Creek Canyon area was SCARY, but the locals were roaring through this narrow, winding path which clings to a nearly vertical rock wall... in their massive RVs towing boat trailers! If not for the lone power/communications line near the road (and an air conditioned rental car), one could easily imaging being back in the frontier days at many places along this spectacular route.

[Max Rockatansky]

Arizona State Route 88, the Apache Trail, between Apache Junction and the Theodore Roosevelt Dam. I drove it in the late 1980s, when the pavement ended at Tortilla Flat (in recent years the asphalt has been extended a little further east). The Fish Creek Canyon area was SCARY, but the locals were roaring through this narrow, winding path which clings to a nearly vertical rock wall... in their massive RVs towing boat trailers! If not for the lone power/communications line near the road (and an air conditioned rental car), one could easily imaging being back in the frontier days at many places along this spectacular route.

Double that up with AZ 288 and you got a full day of dirt superhighways.  There certainly something special about AZ 88 with all those canyons, one-lane bridges, a ghost town, dirt and just the right mountain range with the Superstitions.  I used to do weekend runs out there in my Camaro to Tortilla Flat to get buzzard strips.  Ran into a Phoenix PD cruise when I was there last in 2016:

0d by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Speaking of dirt superhighways, what about UT 261 on the Moki Dugway?  The Dugway might be one of the best quality dirt/gravel roads I've ever driven on.  The road is very well graded and despite being on the edge of a plateau has plenty of room for two vehicles at all times:

1 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

5 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[SSR_317]

Arizona State Route 88, the Apache Trail, between Apache Junction and the Theodore Roosevelt Dam. I drove it in the late 1980s, when the pavement ended at Tortilla Flat (in recent years the asphalt has been extended a little further east). The Fish Creek Canyon area was SCARY, but the locals were roaring through this narrow, winding path which clings to a nearly vertical rock wall... in their massive RVs towing boat trailers! If not for the lone power/communications line near the road (and an air conditioned rental car), one could easily imaging being back in the frontier days at many places along this spectacular route.

Double that up with AZ 288 and you got a full day of dirt superhighways.  There certainly something special about AZ 88 with all those canyons, one-lane bridges, a ghost town, dirt and just the right mountain range with the Superstitions.  I used to do weekend runs out there in my Camaro to Tortilla Flat to get buzzard strips.  Ran into a Phoenix PD cruise when I was there last in 2016:

0d by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Speaking of dirt superhighways, what about UT 261 on the Moki Dugway?  The Dugway might be one of the best quality dirt/gravel roads I've ever driven on.  The road is very well graded and despite being on the edge of a plateau has plenty of room for two vehicles at all times:

1 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

5 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Cool, thanks for sharing, Max!

[oscar]

Two highways in Arkansas are awesome drives: AR 23 (aka The Pig Trail), and AR 7 from Camden to Diamond City.

I drove the Pig Trail many years ago -- during an unexpected ice storm. It was not pleasant at all. I had to camp overnight in St. Paul, to wait out the storm and for temperatures to rise enough to melt the accumulated ice, before continuing south to the Interstate.

For some more positive experiences:

Hawaii's Hana Highway (HI 360 and part of CR 31)

For urban freeways, I-280 in California between Page Mill Rd. (where it starts its traverse across the outer reaches of the Stanford campus, AFAIK the only university campus crossed by an Interstate) and CA 1, and also CA 163 through Balboa Park

Nova Scotia's Cabot Trail, with a sign telling you to "experience the masterpiece"

BC 5 between Hope and Kamloops

Both the historic Columbia River Highway in Oregon, and the parallel I-84

US 50 in Nevada between Fallon and Ely -- pretty well hyped, but lives up to it, can be comfortably driven well over the 70mph speed limit if your car and conditions permit

The Glenwood Canyon segment of I-70 in Colorado

I-70 in Utah between Salina and Green River

The entire Alaska Highway, from Dawson Creek BC to Delta Junction AK

[US 89]

Hell I’d put US 191 as probably the most scenic US Route of all.  You get close access to a large number of National Parks, the Colorado Plateau and even stuff like the Coronado Trail.

US 89 is right up there with 191, perhaps even more so. It's even called the National Parks Highway and was named the #1 drive in the world by National Geographic. Although I suppose US 191 has an advantage in that it doesn't really pass through any major metropolitan areas, so you get to focus on the scenery the whole time. 89 goes through the Salt Lake City urban corridor and historically also went through Phoenix and Tucson.

US 550 also is incredibly scenic north of Durango, but the section through New Mexico is relatively boring in comparison.

But my vote for most scenic would be US 163. Although it's not all that long (only 64 miles as opposed to 89 and 191, both of which are more than 1000 miles), it has high scenic value for that entire length.

[SSOWorld]

I seems to have forgotten AZ-89A.  Passing through Jerome and Sedona (former is a town built on the side of a mountain, the latter has all the red rock).

[Max Rockatansky]

I seems to have forgotten AZ-89A.  Passing through Jerome and Sedona (former is a town built on the side of a mountain, the latter has all the red rock).

It even had a historic US 89A section through Cottonwood and Clarkdale.  It's actually a pretty solid alternate to the standard historic US 66 flair.

[bugo]

US 1 through the Florida Keys.

Nexus 5X

[Mr. Matté]

This one in the Princeton, NJ area

[TheStranger]

Combining both aspects of this thread:

A few weeks ago I went up Route 1 north through Pacifica, and a repaving project for the outer northbound lane was underway.  Smooth ride + a fun bit of curves on the freeway segment!

[TXtoNJ]

TX-118 between Alpine and Study Butte/Terlingua is pretty spectacular