Enjoy spectacular views from the San Bernardino Mountain Range, abandoned gold mining towns, giant sequoias, 8,443-foot Onyx Summit, and perhaps some wildlife.
The Rim of World Picturesque Byway aptly describes the drive along Southern California’s highest mountain range, the San Bernardinos, with their spectacular sight of the surrounding mountains as well as the Los Angeles Basin. Along the way, you’ll pass several resort communities and wilderness areas, and you may even catch a little “gold fever” as you search the remains of an abandoned 1860s mining town.
Begin on California Route 18 just north of San Bernardino at the entry to San Bernardino National Forest. You’ll cross the San Andreas Fault at the bottom of the mountain range. Though the fault rumbles everyday, it’s unlikely you’ll be aware of the slight tremors. Read more . . .
The California Route One south drive from Monterey to Morro Bay is a 123-mile, 6-hour trip along the Pacific coastline. Before heading south out of Monterey on Route 1, visit the Custom House, Casa Soberanes, Monterey State Historic Park, Royal Presidio Chapel, Larkin House, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Cannery Row, home of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Several miles south of Monterey, make a stop in Carmel-by-the-Sea to visit the Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo, founded in 1770; the Tor House, home of poet Robinson Jeffers; and Carmel River State Beach. 
Mother Nature spent some extra moments in Northern Arizona when she created the wondrous sights between Winslow and Chambers. They can be seen along I-40, with a twist of nostalgia tossed in for good measure as Historic Route 66 weaves its way along this colorful 75-mile stretch of high desert nation. Exit 311 from I-40 delivers you to the colorful palette of the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. You’ll be amazed at the endless stream of nature’s colors and gigantic chunks of prehistoric wood now rock-hard with the passing of the ages. Visitors can only take pictures, as the National Park Service prohibits pocketing pieces of the petrified rock. The roads through the Petrified Forest National Park are pristine blacktop with broad sweeping curves from one overlook site to another. 
Think of the American Southwest and you’re likely to imagine the cactus-strewn beauty of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. Seeing it on a picture postcard is one thing; going through it with a leisurely desert drive is quite another. Thirty minutes east of Phoenix is Route 79, a sun-bleached length of two-lane blacktop that links Florence Junction to Tucson. The 74-mile long route is lightly traveled, flanked by heat-ravaged countryside dotted to the horizon with giant saguaro cactus. 
Driving the stretch of Alaska north to south is definitely not a proposition for the faint-hearted. We’ll take it in three detailed stages. Start off simple in Anchorage, and take Route 3 north. You’ll experience the grandeur of the nation with a selection of fine scenery. Prepare to spend some time at Denali National Park, home of Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America. A pit stop in Fairbanks will end this run for most first timers. If you want to push the limits a little more, pick up Route 2 to the Dalton Highway north out of Fairbanks for the next destination: the Arctic Circle. Once you get out of town, the road turns to gravel, but when you take a vehicle to Alaska, you’ve already made the decision to forsake