Scenic Interstate 280
Scenic Interstate 280 is a State Scenic Byway in California. Within California it covers roughly 45 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Scenic Interstate 280 with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Interstate 280 through the San Francisco Peninsula, dubbed the "World's Most Beautiful Freeway" since the 1960s, runs 57 miles between San Jose and San Francisco. The nickname, first used in a 1967 Sunset Magazine article and still posted on a dedication sign in Daly City, refers specifically to the Junipero Serra Freeway segment between Cupertino and Daly City, where the road was deliberately designed as scenery rather than just infrastructure: architects Lawrence Halprin and Mario Ciampi worked with engineers to align the freeway around the terrain instead of through it, using sculptural concrete overpasses and physically separated roadways that curve independently with the hills. The payoff is real: drivers get views of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west and, at several points, San Francisco Bay to the east, isolated from the Peninsula's dense cities by ridgelines on both sides. A standout 6-mile stretch between Hillsborough and Belmont overlooks Crystal Springs Reservoir, filled with water piped more than 160 miles from Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. Added to the Interstate system in 1955, it remains one of the few U.S. freeways built with landscape architecture as a stated design goal rather than an afterthought.
- 57 miles, San Jose to San Francisco
- "World's Most Beautiful Freeway" nickname
- Junipero Serra Freeway (Cupertino-Daly City)
- Crystal Springs Reservoir view (Hillsborough-Belmont)
- designed by Lawrence Halprin & Mario Ciampi
- Santa Cruz Mountains & SF Bay views
Plan a drive on Scenic Interstate 280 →
What is a 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.
Where to Stay along Scenic Interstate 280
No campgrounds are listed close to Scenic Interstate 280 yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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