Enjoy the colorful palette of the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, sleep in a teepee, and relive The Eagles song “Take it Easy.”
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. Read more . . .
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 
Trying to see Alaska by motor vehicle definitely has its limitations. When looking at a map of the state, only a relatively small portion is accessible by road. Nevertheless, the panorama of Alaska can still be experienced from the highways, and Route 1 is considered as one of the best. Driving into Alaska, Tok is the first major crossroads and where you pick up Route1, better known as the Tok Cut-Off. As a freeway, Route 1 is as well maintained as can be for one that experiences such extremes of temperature. The pavement is just about glassy but the underlying ground bucks the road into a mild roller coaster effect. If you’ve driven up the Alaska Highway to get here, it’ll be the smoothest road you’ve seen in days. As Route1 rolls through the magnificent forests of Alaska, the first thing you begin to notice is how big everything is. 
While Northern Wisconsin is full of wonderful scenery, Route 70 is the best choice, as it takes you across the Nicolet National Forest for unbroken majestic vistas of the Northwoods. Take U.S. 2 west several miles out of Iron Mountain, Michigan, and pick up Route Seventy toward Eagle River. The rolling hills of this route provide vista after vista of this forest primeval.