Scenic Drives & Byways by State

A scenic byway is a road recognized for its scenic, historic, or natural value — a great route for a leisurely drive or road trip. Not every byway is the same, though: designations range from All-American Roads and National Scenic Byways honored at the federal level to the State Scenic Byways, parkways and rustic roads named by individual states and agencies. Explore 898 of them across the United States: choose a state to see its roads, then map a trip in the Road Sorties route planner with scenic-road routing turned on.

Kinds of scenic byways

All-American Road: All-American Roads are the top tier of America's National Scenic Byways. To earn the title a road has to be a destination in its own right — offering features so exceptional, across several intrinsic qualities (scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological or recreational), that they can't be found anywhere else.
National Scenic Byway: National Scenic Byways are roads recognized at the federal level for at least one outstanding quality — scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archaeological or recreational — that gives travelers a reason to seek them out rather than just pass through.
National Forest Scenic Byway: National Forest Scenic Byways are routes designated by the U.S. Forest Service that thread through the mountains, canyons and old growth of America's national forests and grasslands.
National Parkway: National Parkways are scenic roads managed by the National Park Service and protected as parkland along their length. They're built for an unhurried recreational drive, not for getting anywhere fast.
State Scenic Byway: State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Rustic Road: Rustic Roads belong to Wisconsin's program for preserving lightly traveled country roads, chosen for their natural beauty and unspoiled, rural character.