What are the most spectacular roads in the USA?

Located in North America, the USA is a true paradise for drivers, as it hosts more than 2,000 roads listed as the most spectacular in the world.

Featuring mountains, deserts, coasts, and snow, in the USA you’ll get your dream road. And you’ll never want to wake up. For instance, at the top of your list, you need to drive the Million Dollar Highway, the most beautiful road in America, and probably in the world. Built in the late 1880s, you'll be on the "outside" for a while with a hell of a view to your right (let the passenger enjoy the view; you'll want to watch the road). Another paved option must be the Iron Mountain Road, featuring 17 miles, 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 pigtails, and 3 tunnels in the Black Hills of South Dakota. No list would be complete without the winding Tail of the Dragon: 318 curves in 11 miles. Spanning Tennessee and North Carolina, it is one of the most scenic drives in the USA. You also can’t skip driving Mount Evans Scenic Byway, the highest paved road in North America, climbing up to 4,310m (14,130ft) in Colorado. It is said to be the highest paved road in North America.

For those who prefer unpaved experiences, the country hosts some of the most defiant yet scenic roads in the world. You can’t miss Black Bear Pass, a high mountain adventure in the Colorado Rockies. Climbing up to 3,915m (12,844ft) above sea level, it's one of the highest roads in Colorado. You can also discover the beauty of Engineer Pass, a mountain pass at an elevation of 3,901m (12,800ft) above sea level in Colorado. It’s mostly a first-gear ride because the road is rough and rocky. The legendary Shafer Trail Road in Utah's Canyonlands National Park is an iconic drive located on the east-central edge of Utah. At times, the road is so narrow that only one car can pass. And Lippincott Mine Road in California is for experienced 4WD drivers using high-clearance vehicles only. You'll need a good map, as the routes are not marked and there are no signs. It’s one of the challenging backcountry roads in Death Valley National Park.

Eagle Point Resort

Eagle Point Resort

Eagle Point Resort is a high mountain resort at an elevation of 3.154m (10,347ft) above the sea level, located in eastern Beaver County, Utah, United States. It’s one of the highest roads of Utah.

Lone Peak

Lone Peak

Lone Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.953m (9,688ft) above the sea level, located in Madison County, in southwestern Montana, in USA. 

Scenic Loop Drive

Scenic Loop Drive

Scenic Loop Drive is an amazing drive in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, in North Dakota, USA.

Blowhard Mountain

Blowhard Mountain

Blowhard Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 3.264m (10,708ft) above the sea level, located in Iron County, Utah, United States. It’s one of the highest mountain roads of Utah.

Coney Summit

Travel guide to the top of Coney Summit

Coney Summit is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 4.059m (13,316ft) above the sea level, located in Hinsdale County, in southwest Colorado, in United States. It’s one of the highest mountain roads in Colorado.

Eagle Peak

Eagle Peak

Eagle Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.987m (9,801ft) above the sea level, located in Catron County, in western New Mexico, in USA.

Salton Sea

How to get by car to Salton Sea in California?

The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake straddling Imperial and Riverside counties, in the US state of California. It’s one of the Earth’s Lowest Elevations at -227 ft (-69 m) below sea level.

Brooklyn Lake

Brooklyn Lake

Brooklyn Lake is a high mountain lake at an elevation of 3.243m (10,639ft) above the sea level, located in Carbon County, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. It’s one of the highest mountain roads of Wyoming.

Keller Peak

Keller Peak

Keller Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.405m (7,890ft) above the sea level, located in San Bernardino County, Southern California, United States.

Virginia Peak

Virginia Peak

Virginia Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.551m (8,370ft) above the sea level, located in Washoe County, in the U.S. state of Nevada.

Lewis and Clark Highway

Lewis and Clark Highway

Lewis and Clark Highway is a very scenic drive located in Skamania County, Washington, United States.

Blackbird Mountain

Blackbird Mountain

Blackbird Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.761m (9,058ft) above the sea level located in the Salmon River Mountains, in Lemhi County, Idaho, in USA. It's one of the highest roads in Idaho.

Richardson Highway

Richardson Highway: a historic trip from Valdez to Fairbanks in AK

Richardson Highway is the name of a very scenic drive into the heart of Alaska's mining districts, connecting Valdez to Fairbanks. It was the first major road built in the state.

Cougar Peak

Cougar Peak

Cougar Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.041m (6,696ft) above the sea level located in Sanders County, in Montana, USA.

Gobblers Knob

Gobblers Knob

Gobblers Knob is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.002m (6,568ft) above the sea level, located in San Bernardino County, in California, USA. The drive is very steep, with sections up to 44%.

Mazuorka Peak

Mazuorka Peak

Mazuorka Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.870m (9,416ft) above the sea level, located in Inyo County, in the U.S. state of California. It's one of the highest mountain roads of California.

"The Dragon": America's Most Dangerous Road And A Racer's Paradise

"The Dragon": America's Most Dangerous Road And A Racer's Paradise

This 18-kilometer highway abounds with steep turns, bends, and junctions, and is very popular with fans of fast driving. I decided to look at it with my own eyes.In the 1950s, the federal government paved the highway and turned it into Highway 129. This road, which connects sleepy villages deep in the Appalachian forests, is of secondary importance, and it was not used much until the 1990s, when information about 318 turns began to circulate in online forums.

Gass Peak Road

The Ultimate Guide to Traveling the Gass Peak Road in NV

Gass Peak Road is a very scenic drive located in the Las Vegas Range of Southern Nevada, in USA.

Cave Mountain

Cave Mountain

Cave Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 3.277m (10,751ft) above the sea level, located in White Pine County, in the central eastern boundary of the U.S. state of Nevada. It’s one of the highest roads of Nevada.

Slide Mountain

Slide Mountain

Slide Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.928m (9,606ft) above the sea level, located in Washoe County, Nevada, in USA. The mountain is well known for its rock slides. It’s one of the highest roads of Nevada.

Leatherman Peak

Leatherman Peak: Driving the vertical Sawmill Gulch Road in Idaho

Leatherman Peak is a high-altitude mountain summit located in Custer County, Idaho. While the peak itself reaches higher elevations, a grueling gravel road climbs its western flank to reach 2,742m (8,996ft) above sea level. This track, known as Forest Road 411 or Sawmill Gulch Road, is one of the highest mountain roads of Idaho. It is a raw, unpaved transit within the Salmon-Challis National Forest where the extreme verticality and the rugged nature of the Lost River Range define every meter of the ascent.

Las Vegas Convention Center Loop

Driving the breathtaking Las Vegas Convention Center Loop

Las Vegas Convention Center Loop is the name of an underground tunnel system located in Las Vegas, in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada.

California's Central Valley Has Some of the Worst Roads in the USA

Road Conditions in California’s Central Valley: A Regional Overview

The Central Valley of California represents one of the most stressed road environments in the United States. Federal road condition data consistently ranks the region's urban and rural arterials among the most deteriorated in the nation. This systematic degradation of the pavement is not merely a matter of driver discomfort; it is a critical safety variable that introduces unpredictable hazards, increases vehicle mechanical failure rates, and compromises the integrity of the state's primary agricultural logistics corridors.

Tobias Peak

Tobias Peak

Tobias Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.505m (8,218ft) above the sea level, located in Tulare County, in the U.S. state of California.

Ord Mountain

Ord Mountain

Ord Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 1.380m (4,527ft) above the sea level, located in San Bernardino County, in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California.

Cerro Saragate

Cerro Saragate

Cerro Saragate is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 3.151m (10,337ft) above the sea level, located in Rio Arriba County, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It’s one of the highest mountain roads of New Mexico.

Wilson Peak

Wilson Peak

Wilson Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 3.719m (12,201ft) above the sea level, located in San Miguel County, Colorado, in United States. It’s one of the highest roads of Colorado.

Freds Mountain

Freds Mountain

Freds Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 3.004m (9,855ft) above the sea level, located in Teton County, Wyoming, United States. 

Ward Mountain

Ward Mountain

Ward Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 3.336m (10,944ft) above the sea level, located in south-central White Pine County of eastern Nevada, in USA. It’s one of the highest mountain roads of Nevada.

1925 Italian Bar Bridge

The spectacular 1925 Italian Bar Bridge in California

1925 Italian Bar Bridge is a very scenic bridge located on the boundary of Fresno County and Madera County, at the geographic center of the U.S. state of California. It’s one of the most spectacular bridges in the world.

Stonehouse Road

Stonehouse Road

Stonehouse Road is a short gravel road located in the the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, in Nevada, USA. It’s a 4wd track.

Grassy Mountain

Grassy Mountain

Grassy Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.438m (7,998ft) above the sea level, located in Deer Lodge County, in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana. Elk, mule deer, badgers, coyotes, and black bears can be seen along the trail.

Garfield Peak

Garfield Peak

Garfield Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 3.771m (12,372ft) above the sea level, located in Chaffee County, in the U.S. state of Colorado. It’s one of the highest mountain roads of Colorado.

Maggie Gulch mine

A 4wd trail to Maggie Gulch mine

Maggie Gulch mine is an old mining site at an elevation of 3.755m (12,319ft) above the sea level, located in San Juan County, southwest Colorado, USA. It's one of the highest mountain roads of Colorado.

Glorieta Pass

Glorieta Pass

Glorieta Pass is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 2.286m (7,500ft) above the sea level, located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico.

Kiowa Mountain

Kiowa Mountain

Kiowa Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.967m (9,734ft) above the sea level, located in Rio Arriba County, in the U.S. state of New Mexico.

Silver Plume Mountain

Can I drive the unpaved road to Silver Plume Mountain in Colorado?

Silver Plume Mountain is a high mountain peak located in Clear Creek County, in the US state of Colorado. East of the summit, a minor unpaved road climbs up to at an elevation of 3.756m (12,322ft) above sea level. It’s one of the highest roads of Colorado.

Chopaka Mountain

Chopaka Mountain

Chopaka Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 1.903m (6,243ft) above the sea level, located in Okanogan County, in the U.S. state of Washington along the Canada–US border. It’s one of the highest mountain roads of Washington.

Wofford Lookout

Wofford Lookout

Wofford Lookout is a high mountain lookout tower at an elevation of 2.798m (9,179ft) above the sea level, located in Otero County, in the U.S. state of New Mexico.

Wildhorse Peak

Wildhorse Peak

Wildhorse Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.913m (9,557ft) above the sea level, located in Custer County, Idaho, in USA. It’s one of the highest mountain roads in Idaho. Located in the White Knob Mountains of central Idaho, the road to the summit is gravel, rocky, tippy and bumpy at times.

Atlantic Peak

Atlantic Peak

Atlantic Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 3.778m (12,395ft) above the sea level, located in Summit County, in the U.S. state of Colorado. It’s one of the highest mountain roads of Colorado.

320th Avenue Bridge

320th Avenue Bridge

Located in Iowa, in USA, the 320th Avenue Bridge is one of the most spectacular bridges in the world.

Lobo Overlook

A sensational road to Lobo Overlook

Lobo Overlook sits at an elevation of 3.585m (11,761ft) above the sea level in Mineral County, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The summit offers breathtaking panorama views of the San Juan Mountains and west toward Pagosa Springs.

Monument Ridge

Monument Ridge

Monument Ridge is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 2.919m (9,576ft) above the sea level, located in Madison County, in southwestern Montana, in USA. 

Hanson Peak

Hanson Peak

Hanson Peak is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 3.890m (12,762ft) above the sea level, located in San Juan County, in the U.S. state of Colorado. It’s one of the highest mountain roads of Colorado.

Manastash Ridge

A drive to the top of Manastash Ridge

Manastash Ridge is a mountain pass at an elevation of 825m (2,706ft) above the sea level, located in Kittitas County, in central Washington state in the United States.

Lolo Motorway in ID

Driving the historic Lolo Motorway in ID

The historic Lolo Motorway is the name of a very scenic drive travelling through central Idaho, in the United States.

Saddleback Mountain

Saddleback Mountain

Saddleback Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.843m (9,327ft) above the sea level, located in Clear Creek County, in the U.S. state of Colorado.