Circle a volcano rim, and gaze in wonder at craters, cinder cones, cooled lava flows, rain forest, desert, gorgeous views, volcanic glass, and lava tubes.
At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, you can view first hand the real force that is reshaping the Big Island of Hawaii even nowadays. Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes, with steam rising from its massive caldera, and a landscape pocked with craters, cooled lava flows and cinder cones. This eleven-mile, 2-hour drive circles the rim and includes a desert and a beautiful rain forest.
The trek starts with a quick orientation at the Kilauea Visitor Center before crossing the road to visit the Volcano House, a historic hotel balanced right on the edge. Read more . . .
The Unaweep-Tabeguache Scenic Byway is a 5-hour or longer drive from Whitewater to Placerville by means of Route 141 and 145. Side trips can add many miles to what is one of the most breathtaking travels anywhere in the Colorado Mountains. This 133-mile drive intersects the Uncompahgre Plateau through the Unaweep Canyon. Start the trip on Route 141 in the town of Whitewater. Enter the Unaweep Canyon and make a very short stop at the Grand Valley Overlook. The view here is spectacular. Next, take a left and follow Divide Road which climbs 2 miles to a cattle guard, where you can view the Great Unconformity, a unique line between Precambrian granite and Triassic sandstone that represents a 2.2 billion-year gap in geological history. 
Colorado’s San Juan Skyway is a one- to two-day trip that circles from Ridgeway through Ouray, Silverton, Durango, Cortez, Dolores, Telluride, and Placerville. The “round” trip begins at Ridgeway State Park, four miles north of Ridgeway. Driving south on U.S. 550 along the Uncompahgre River brings you past a number of hot springs. The Ouray Hot Springs, a municipal pool, is at the north part of Ouray. Continuing on U.S. 550 reveals superb waterfalls which run off the cliffs into Uncompahgre Gorge. At the heap of the gorge lies a breathtaking view of the Red Mountains. At the top of Red Mountain Pass, you begin a 10-mile descent toward the town of Silverton. The pass bottoms out in the Animas River Valley, where a left turn onto Route 110 leads into the old mining town of Silverton. 
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.
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.