Your favorite low-traffic scenic routes

[mcdonaat]

Mine would have to be the trek through north central Louisiana. Take LA 496 from MacArthur Drive in Alexandria northwest, then take LA 121 to LA 1200. Follow LA 1200 to LA 8 East around Boyce on the Thompson Red River Bridge, then follow the highway until you get to LA 123. Turn towards Dry Prong, then follow LA 123 to US 167. Go north along US 167 until you get to LA 472, following it back to US 167. Turn north along US 167 through Winnfield, then turn on LA 156 to LA 1232 to LA 501, then follow LA 501 north to the community of Friendship.

What you get is a low-travelled scenic highway consisting of flat farmlands following bayous, a few old towns (with the exception of Winnfield), and plenty of beautiful forests. It also mostly consists of 55 MPH speed limits with graceful curves, and LA 472 is home to a camping site, in case a hotel isn't an option. If you follow LA 8 towards Jena instead of turning, you pass through plenty of maintained national forests, with a great overlook on LA 8 near Fishville. You can see water towers in Jena, about 20 miles away, from the top of the hill.

What are other great scenic drives with little to NO traffic? It can't be one that's widely known, but is like your little secret for a Sunday drive.

[Rothman]

Taking MA 116 from Deerfield to Conway and then Shelburne Falls Road into Shelburne Falls was a favorite drive of mine.  Lots of scenery in western MA off of the Mohawk Trail and outside of the tourist-overrun Lenox-Stockbridge-Lee triangle.

[TravelingBethelite]

CT 341, from Kent to Warren, then south along CT 45, and then from there to US 202, and CT 47 to  north of Washington, CT, and CT 109 from there to US 6/the GAR.

[kurumi]

CA 160, through the Delta from Sacramento to Rio Vista (example 160 bridge)

[cpzilliacus]

U.S. 48 (a/k/a Corridor H) in West Virginia;

I-66 between I-81 and U.S. 15 (Haymarket);

U.S. 29 most of the way from Danville, Va. to Gainesville, Va.

Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway - all the way from Front Royal, Va. to Cherokee, N.C.;

I-70 from I-15 to Kansas City, Kansas (yes, it's busy in Denver and approaching Kansas City);

I-70 from Hancock, Md. to U.S. 29 (not nearly as busy as some other freeways);

Md. 313 on the Eastern Shore; and

U.S. 13 between Virginia Beach and Salisbury;

[Zeffy]

Practically any route involving the more scenic county roads in New Jersey. CR 523 in Hunterdon County is one of my favorites with the rolling hills.

[Thing 342]

VA-5 between I-295 and VA-199
VA-6 east of Richmond
US-60 between I-81 and Richmond
NC-12 south of Nags Head (on weekdays)

[noelbotevera]

I-76 between MM 99 and MM 141 (41-42 miles) - The way the road winds through the Allegheny Mountains is marvelous, and simply the best scenery you get on the Turnpike.
I-70 between Breezewood to US 29 (105 miles) - Great ride, with it winding through the Appalachians looks fantastic. It's some great scenery, and is very much low traffic. Pretty gentle ride, the worst it can get is a 5% grade WB between MM 47 and MM 43. But that descent....so amazing. I love this road every time my family drives it.
I-99 between southern terminus and exit 28 (28 miles) - We all hate it, but I love it for the scenery. See it yourself, because all of the forested hills are amazing.
US 22 between I-99 and US 219 - It's like I-99 but I recall a rock cut somewhere.
US 119 between US 422 to south of Punxsutawney (31 miles) - It follows a river through the mountains, and it is such a wonderful drive. When you find yourself in Punxsutawney, you want to drive that again.
US 119 (again) north of Punxsutawney to US 219 (northern terminus) (16 miles) - This is pretty much the same as the segment described above.
PA 885 and I-579 through Pittsburgh - The way you climb up the west side of Pittsburgh is astonishing, and you find yourself on I-579 with a great skyline of Pittsburgh.

[peterj920]

http://www.travelwisconsin.com/pdf/2012-rustic-roads.pdf

Wisconsin has a Rustic Roads program that meets your criteria, there's 111 routes and they're all lightly traveled routes.  The link above describes them.  Do other states have similar programs?

[slorydn1]

Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway - all the way from Front Royal, Va. to Cherokee, N.C.;

That by itself would have been a mike dropper. I did just that in May (along with US-441 through the Great Smoky Mtn National Park to Gatlinburg TN)


Add US-128 from the Foothills Pkwy through the Tail of the Dragon and left on NC-28 past Fontana Dam to US-19.


I also did US-321 from Johnson City TN to US-421 near Boone NC this year and its is absolutely gorgeous!

[1995hoo]

I agree with cpzilliacus about Corridor H and with Thing 342 about VA-5, the latter especially during the fall when the leaves are turning.

My favorite has to be the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. One of the most spectacular roads I've ever travelled anywhere. I'm sure people there might say the traffic can get heavy by their standards during peak seasons, but from my point of view there's very little traffic.

A route I've only driven once but wouldn't mind getting to do again: US-64 and US-19 between I-75 in Tennessee and I-40 at Asheville, going up over the mountains to Murphy, then northwest through the Nantahala Forest to Bryson City and on up to Asheville. Beautiful drive, nobody on the road. I went that way in March 1997 en route from Montgomery to Durham. I did not know about the Tail of the Dragon or the Cherohala Skyway back then and thus didn't explore them (probably a good thing....I would have gone too fast), so I'd like to check those out if I got back down there even though the Dragon, in particular, is known for traffic. Only real problem is that whole area is such a long way from anywhere. It takes forever just to get there. The other reason I'd like to check it out again is that last time I started getting very low on gas and I was getting nervous through the Nantahala and so I probably didn't enjoy the scenery as fully as I would have liked. Next time I'll fill up before leaving the more populated areas.