Toyota Summer 2021 Toyota America's Scenic Byways

Discovering America's Scenic Byways

From winding canyon roads and vast desert straightaways to historic routes and serene oceanside drives, the U.S. is home to some of the most awe-inspiring roads in the world, including 184 official Scenic Byways. Here, we’ve compiled 25 of the best byways—each loaded with a healthy dose of joy-inducing adventure, scenery, and history.

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Exploring Desert Ghosts

Gold Butte Backcountry Byway

Nevada — 62 Miles — BLM Backcountry byway

What would you expect to find in the desert backcountry of southern Nevada? Probably something like abandoned mines, petroglyphs, chiseled red sandstone formations, tons of open country (read: solitude), and some rough going (high clearance is needed for the last 19 byway miles and for all side excursions). It’s all on the docket on this byway that begins 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas and forms a lollipop loop through 300,000-acre Gold Butte National Monument. At the heart of it all is the ghostly townsite of Gold Butte, a flash-in-the-pan mining settlement where you can poke among mine shafts, town ruins, and gravesites. Along the way, watch for bighorn sheep, and don’t miss the surreal rock formations of ironically named Little Finland.

A Vehicle for Every Adventure

Whether you want to cruise the M-22 with your family or head off-road in the Beartooths, there’s a Toyota designed to get you there

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Gold Butte Backcountry Byway

Exploring America’s Inland Seas on the M-22 Byways

Ride With Us

Join our adventurers as they set out to cruise some of the country’s most stunning byways in three of Toyota’s most capable vehicles

The Beartooth Scenic Byway Is an Adventurer’s Dream

Finding Happiness on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Desert Time Capsule

California Historic Route 66 Needles to Barstow Scenic Byway

California — 178 Miles — National Scenic Byway

Almost achingly authentic—it might as well be 1926 again—this Mojave Desert stretch of Old Route 66 is the least adulterated remnant of the iconic road. The desert scenery, punctuated with rugged mountain ranges, is a study in odd landforms and lifeforms, like lava flows, cinder cones (Amboy and Pisgah Craters), sand dunes, and Joshua trees. Forlorn ruins like the skeletal Roy’s Motel perfectly represent the faded dreams of past desert wanderers. You’ll also have endless places to flex some SUV muscle on dirt tracks through 1.6-million-acre Mojave Trails National Monument, which the road bisects.

Heart of the Wildest West Coast

Big Sur Coast Highway

California — 72 miles — All-American Road

Cast your eyes in any direction as Highway 1 sinuously traces the sheer cliffs, coves, and beaches of the California coast from Carmel to San Simeon—soul-stirring sights everywhere. Crashing surf, a gray whale offshore, a fleet of elephant seals lolling on a beach. Overhead, a chance of a condor sighting. Inland, the Santa Lucia Mountains, laced with redwood canyons to explore in Pfeiffer Big Sur and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Parks. The old woodsy village of Big Sur is here, with its general store and classic digs, and it all feels as wild and rugged as the coast itself.

America’s Alps—and Beyond

North Cascades Highway

Washington — 140 miles — State Scenic Byway

Washington Highway 20 winds into the heart of America’s most stunning alpine scenery in North Cascades National Park, where there’s everything mountain-related to do, from backpacking to summit bagging to big-wall climbing. But the hallmark of a great scenic drive is variety. East to west, you begin in arid cowboy country, the Methow Valley, home to the Old West town (and mountain-bike hub) of Winthrop, and riverine fun in the Twisp River Recreation Area. Then you enter the alpine glory of the North Cascades. Finally, there’s no letdown as you drop down the west side, where the Skagit Valley opens into vast tulip fields and the coastal bluffs and forests of Deception Pass State Park.

Cliff-Hugging Wonder

Historic Columbia River Highway

Oregon — 70 miles — All-American Road

It’s the rare byway where the road itself is a main attraction, but consider the audacious engineering mettle it took in 1913 to build a cliff-hugging highway above the dramatic Columbia River Gorge from Troutdale to The Dalles. Beneath you as you drive, the grand Columbia rolls coastward between sheer walls of basalt, while trophy waterfalls provide leg-stretching intervals. Don’t miss the breathtaking view from the Portland Women’s Forum State Scenic Viewpoint, nor a cooling stop at 620-foot Multhomah Falls. The Pacific Crest Trail cuts through here, and the Twin Tunnels Trail provides a car-free parallel route for bikers and hikers. At the heart of it all is the town of Hood River, adrenaline-filled mecca for all wind and water sports, from windsurfing to kiting and SUPing to whitewater paddling.

Secret Gateway to Yellowstone

Beartooth Highway

Montana — 69 miles — All-American Road

The highest highway in the Northern Rockies is the coolest gateway to Yellowstone National Park. As it takes you up and over Beartooth Pass and down some 7,000 feet through pine forests and alpine meadows into the wild northeast corner of the park, it puts you beneath 12,000-foot summits and leads to side canyons that harbor secluded hike-in fly-fishing lakes and mountain-bike rides. Intrepid skiers make use of those canyons for late-season (that is, summer) turns. In the park, you drive through the wildlife haven of Lamar Valley—wolf country—and you can hike Specimen Ridge Trail through a petrified forest to a glorious view of Mount Washburn and miles of meadows. Start (or finish) with a few days in the quintessentially Montana town of Red Lodge—ten blocks of brick facades and mountain friendliness, home to the historic Pollard Hotel.

Oregon’s Unsung Corner

Steens Mountain Backcountry Byway

Oregon — 60 miles — BLM Backcountry Byway

In-the-know road-trippers know how wondrous is the unsung southeastern corner of Oregon, where the fault-block Steens Mountain (9,733 feet) rises above the barren Alvord Desert. As the highest road in Oregon climbs Steens’s lush slopes, you may spot bighorn sheep, wild horses, and antelope. Multiple trailheads and campgrounds invite exploration afoot or by mountain bike, while fly-fishers go for redband trout in the Wild and Scenic Donner und Blitzen River. Parts of the road are rough, and high clearance is recommended for a stretch near South Steens Campground; after all, this is wild, remote country. Still, the small gateway town of Frenchglen has trip necessities and the historic (1916) Frenchglen Hotel.

Desert Time Capsule

California Historic Route 66 Needles to Barstow Scenic Byway

California — 178 Miles — National Scenic Byway

Spires of Beauty

City of Rocks Backcountry Byway

Idaho — 49 miles — BLM Backcountry Byway

If you climb rocks, you’ve heard of and probably dreamed about City of Rocks, whose towering spires are a powerful draw: 600-plus climbs up to 600 feet on pocketed granite. But hikers, mountain bikers, and campers are equally drawn to this half-circle route that laces together the Albion Mountains, Pemerelle Ski Area, Castle Rocks State Park, and City of Rocks National Reserve before ending in amazing Oakley. This tiny burg teems with so many old stone and wood-framed buildings that the whole town is on the National Register of Historic Places. At City of Rocks, seek out Register Rock, etched with names and inscriptions from California Trail emigrants who passed through in the 19th century.

Red-Rock Ribbon

Scenic Byway 12

Utah — 124 miles — All-American Road

If you could choose just one road to explore Utah’s red-rock country, make it Scenic Byway 12. It connects the hoodoo-filled wonder that is Bryce Canyon National Park with the monumental geology of Capitol Reef National Park, and in between it runs through the even wilder, 1.9-million-acre Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. That means diversions galore, like partially paved Cottonwood Canyon, which runs through both Grand Staircase (don’t miss Grosvenor Arch) and Kodachrome Basin, with its cylindrical stone “sand pipes.” On the north side of 12, divert to Hell’s Backbone Scenic Byway—44 miles of red-rock wanders on gravel. Cool outdoorsy towns pop up just when you need a coffee or a burger: namely, Escalante, Boulder (famous for organic chow at Hells’ Backbone Grill), and Torrey. Bonus suggestion: Red Canyon has Bryce’s beauty without its people.

Two-Mile-High Byway

San Juan Skyway

Colorado — 233 miles — All-American Road

The mountain scenery is relentlessly stunning, and there’s everything to do along the way (bike, hike, fish, camp, explore native ruins and mining history). The aptly named San Juan Skyway ascends multiple passes higher than 10,000 feet as it loops through the San Juan Range, while fourteeners loom overhead. The route links iconic mountain-sports towns like Telluride, Durango, and Dolores, the latter perched between the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park and the vast Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. The stretch between Silverton and Ouray is known as the Million Dollar Highway, honoring the gold ore extracted thereabouts…as well as the cost of building such a canyon-clinging ribbon of road. Ouray is best known now for ice and rock climbing, while its old mining roads beg to be four-wheel-drive-tested.

460 Hairpins

Coronado Trail Scenic Byway

Arizona — 123 miles — National Scenic Byway

You’d be hard-pressed to find a less traveled (or more curvy) federal highway than U.S. 191’s run down the wild spine of eastern Arizona. In the course of 123 miles you’ll negotiate 460 hairpins as you plunge into cactus-dotted canyons and ascend cool passes in the White Mountains. For one 17-mile stretch, you skirt the limestone cliffs of the Mogollon Rim, the southern face of the Colorado Plateau. Spanish explorer Coronado followed this route in 1540 in search of the Seven Cities of Cibola, which he didn’t find, and even today the route is virtually uninhabited (plenty of campgrounds, though). Midway along is historic Hannagan Meadow Lodge, in the heart of Blue Range Primitive Area, laced by three rivers and abounding with aspens, oaks, and maples. Fish, bike, hike…then resume hairpinning your way through Arizona’s remotest terrain.

Gateway to the Old Southwest

Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway

New Mexico — 154 miles — National Scenic Byway

Quirky boom-and-bust mining towns, austere desert scenery, and the wooded mountains of the Gila National Forest are all part of this byway that loops through the varied terrain of southern New Mexico. The route is so dynamic that it has its own visitor center, located in the town of Truth or Consequences—famous for hot springs, and, well, its quirky name. On the byway’s northern leg, hike in the Aldo Leopold Wilderness and intersect with the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. On the south leg, hit the old silver-mining town of Chloride, which bit the dust when the U.S. opted for gold rather than silver as its currency standard. More vibrant is the artsy town of Hillsboro, where the General Store is a must-stop café—order green chile with whatever you buy. Nearby Emory Pass is for peak baggers, and if you’re itching to put your four-wheel drive to work, try out tracks through the Caballo Mountains, just south of Caballo Lake State Park.

Bison Horizons

Native American Scenic Byway

North Dakota, South Dakota — 350 miles — National Scenic Byway

There may be no better route in the U.S. for experiencing Native American culture than this road that threads its way through four reservations between the state capitals of Bismarck (North Dakota) and Pierre (South Dakota), roughly following the Missouri River. The undeveloped landscape is mostly mixed-grass prairie and limestone badlands, which means wonderfully broad horizons dotted with herds of elk and bison. The towns and tribal reservations along the way interpret the legacy of that land and its people. In South Dakota, there’s the Akta Lakota Museum in Chamberlain, the H.V. Johnson Lakota Cultural Center in Eagle Butte, and monuments honoring Sitting Bull and Sacagawea near Mobridge. In Fort Yates, North Dakota, are Sitting Bull’s birth site and Standing Rock Monument.

Last Stand of the Tallgrass Prairie

Flint Hills Scenic Byway

Kansas — 48 miles — National Scenic Byway

When American pioneers’ Conestoga wagons rolled westward, they encountered horizon-to-horizon seas of tallgrass prairie that covered more than 170 million acres. Although only 4 percent of the original prairie remains, the countryside in and around the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve retains the sense of endless beauty that greeted the settlers. The preserve doesn’t have camping, but hike any of its 40 miles of trails for a solitary experience of birdsong, wildflowers, and bison. The Flint Hills Scenic Byway connects the preserve with friendly little prairie towns to the north and south. Near Matfield Green, check out a historic ranch called Pioneer Bluffs and hike along Crocker Creek. In Council Grove, hit the 1857 Hays House for fried chicken and fresh-fruit pies.

Trace the Greatest Lake

North Shore Scenic Drive

Minnesota — 154 miles — All-American Road

Flat Is Beautiful

Lincoln Highway Scenic and Historic Byway

Nebraska — 400 miles — National Scenic Byway

A heartland journey on Nebraska’s Lincoln Highway (U.S. 30)—part of America’s first (1913) transcontinental auto route—takes you clear across the state on a route pioneered by travelers on the Oregon, Mormon, and California Trails, with Pony Express echoes as well. From the east, it follows the Platte River Valley from Omaha and dips into Kearney, home to the astounding sandhill crane migration in spring. Friendly towns along the way break up the flat farmland and honor an obligation to feed and entertain travelers: to wit, the brisket at Huey’s Smokehouse BBQ in Fremont, the Burma Shave signs and photo-op gas station in Sutherland, and the buffalo burger at Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse in Paxton.

Allow plenty of time for this one. Tracing the shoreline of Lake Superior from Duluth to Grand Portage is a never-ending invitation to hop out and explore, as beautiful as the drive may be. Eight state parks and the woodsy beauty of Superior National Forest line the byway, and folksy shoreline towns serve up local fish meals. At Gooseberry Falls State Park you’ll want to hike the three falls. At Iona Beach, walk a crescent of bright pink beach. At Silver Bay, head into Tettegouche State Park to check out the state’s tallest waterfall and six lakes. About a third of the way up is the 1910 Split Rock Lighthouse, one of the country’s most beautiful and historic—and it boasts some cool cart-in campsites. And just off the byway are dozens of access points to the 310-mile Superior Hiking Trail, one of the country’s great thru-hikes.

Lakeshore with a Cherry On Top

M22

Michigan — 116 miles — State Scenic Byway

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is the M22’s flagship lure, but if you come for its beaches, dunes, sea kayaking, Manitou Island campsites, and 450-foot bluffs above Lake Michigan, you’ll linger for the byway’s rivers, orchards, farms, farm stands, and forests. As beautiful as the great lake is, any diversion inland is well rewarded—e.g., from Manistee to the Manistee River Trail and its 245-foot Little Mac suspended footbridge. Or the town of Honor, where the Cherry Bowl drive-in movie theater is one of the last and finest of its ilk. North of Sleeping Bear, the M22 loops around the Leelanau Peninsula (the ring finger of Michigan’s mitten), with orchards (cherries! apricots!), fall color, and—seriously—fishing for Pacific salmon in the Platte River.

Midwest High and Deep

Talimena Scenic Drive

Oklahoma, Arkansas — 54 miles — National Scenic Byway

This deeply wooded, winding mountain drive will surprise anyone who pictures Midwest scenery as endless flat farmland. Quite the contrary, as Arkansas 88 and Oklahoma 1 wind through, up, and over the Winding Stair Mountains of Ouachita National Forest from Mena, Arkansas, to Talihina, Oklahoma. On the Arkansas side, you’ll ascend 2,681-foot Rich Mountain in Queen Wilhelmina State Park, where you can camp under hickory, elm, and red maple trees, or stay in the park’s historic lodge. On the Oklahoma side is 26,445-acre Winding Stair Mountain National Recreation Area, laced with trails through the hardwoods and shortleaf pines and set with scads of campgrounds. In between are endless vistas (amazing in fall) and plenty of turnouts from which to enjoy them.

Beauty By Design

Natchez Trace Parkway

Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama — 444 miles — National Park/All-American Road

When the road itself is a national park, you know you’re traveling a special scenic byway. The Natchez Trace isn’t a highway that happens to be scenic; it’s a route intentionally designed by the National Park Service to give travelers an unspoiled journey through some of the most beautiful and historic country in the American South. The Trace slices through eastern deciduous forests, cave-rich limestone landscapes, and, farther south, bayous and cypress swamps alongside slow-moving rivers. It’s a long-used throughway, so naturally it’s dotted with well-interpreted historical sites, such as Mississippi’s Pharr Burial Mounds, and Captain John Gordon’s home and ferry site on the Duck River in Tennessee. Dozens of signed hiking trails intersect the Trace, and bicycling portions of the smoothly paved road is naturally popular.

Freshwater Coast

Great Lakes Seaway Trail

Pennsylvania, New York — 518 miles — National Scenic Byway

Starting in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, the Seaway Trail proceeds to follow hundreds of miles of New York’s freshwater coastline beside the Saint Lawrence Seaway, Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the Saint Lawrence River. It runs by headline sites like Niagara Falls and the Gilded Age Boldt Castle in New York’s Thousand Islands, but equally compelling are the little unsung harbor towns, farmlands, and the 29 lighthouses along the way. State parks pop up just when you need them—30 of them along the trail—assuming you’re ready to camp, swim, or hike. Farm stands are everywhere—berries, cherries, peaches, apples, corn, tomatoes. One of them, on Singer Farm, has been operating since 1915.

Where America Happened

Journey Through Hallowed Ground Byway

Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia — 180 miles — National Scenic Byway

Any route that connects Gettysburg to Jefferson’s Monticello and Madison’s Montpelier is so deeply steeped in history that beauty is a bonus. The two go nicely together here, though, as the corridor leads to battlefields—Manassas, Wilderness, Antietam, and Harpers Ferry, among many—as well as woodsy parks like Gambrill State Park in Maryland and Bull Run Mountains Nature Preserve in Virginia. One day you might be tubing on the Potomac or rafting the Shenandoah; another day doffing your cap in respect at Gettysburg, then exploring any of a dozen historic towns. Warrenton, Virginia, alone has 300 historical sites. Try the pumpkin fritters at Farnsworth House in Gettysburg as you count the more than 100 bullet holes that riddle the Civil War–period building.

Woods, Bays, Waterways

Big Bend Scenic Byway

Florida — 220 miles — National Scenic Byway

This byway’s two distinct branches—the Coastal Trail and the Forest Trail—wind through unexpected, wild, backwoods versions of Florida. The Coastal Trail runs along the Gulf Coast’s beaches, dunes, tidal flats, oyster bars, and salt marshes, fringed by pineland, scrub oak, and hardwood forests. Much of the coast lies within protected areas such as St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and St. George Island State Park, where you can bird, bike, hike (including a segment of the Florida National Trail), camp, fish, paddle, or just wander. The Forest Trail loops through the pines and hardwoods of Apalachicola National Forest. You can paddle serene river floodplains, pick up some Tupelo honey at a roadside stand, and cool off in Wakulla Springs, one of the largest and deepest freshwater springs in the world.

Wild Jersey

Pine Barrens Byway

New Jersey — 130 miles — National Scenic Byway

The centerpiece of this byway is Pinelands National Reserve, 1.1 million acres of South Jersey forests, wetlands, and farmland—one of the largest swaths of open space on the mid-Atlantic seaboard. The route links the reserve’s various state forests and wildlife refuges, which contain an amazing variety of habitats, including Atlantic white cedar swamp, saltwater marsh, pygmy pine forest, and oak-hickory forest, not to mention some eerie pine-barrens ghost towns. Hike, bike, and camp in the deep woods beside the Mullica River in Wharton State Forest, or paddle tea-colored streams like Cedar Creek in Double Trouble State Park. Along the byway are little towns that time forgot, like Historic Smithville and Tuckerton Seaport, and cranberry and blueberry farms that share their bounty from roadside stands.

True Down East

Bold Coast Scenic Byway

Maine — 125 miles — National Scenic Byway

Maine’s Bold Coast from Milbridge to Eastport is authentic Down East country where folks still make an honest living from the sea and blueberries still grow in wild abundance. Along the byway is Cherryfield, Blueberry Capital of the World, and classic waterfront villages like Gouldsboro, Winter Harbor, and Jonesport, where you can watch locals bring in their catch—lobsters, clams, mussels, scallops, haddock—and savor it later in unpretentious shacks and stands. Some 27 lighthouses make for great photo ops, particularly the candy-striped West Quoddy Head Light, which catches America’s first rays of sun every morning. Preserves like Cutler Coast Public Reserved Land connect cobble beaches and headlands with blueberry barrens, pine forests, and peatlands.

America’s Favorite Drive

Blue Ridge Parkway

North Carolina, Virginia — 116 miles — National Park, All-American Road

What the Blue Ridge Parkway doesn’t have: billboards, commercial trucks, or development. What it does have: hundreds of miles of mountain and forest views as it winds smoothly and slowly (max speed is 45) between Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah National Parks. And countless opportunities to hike (369 miles of mountain trails), get spritzed by waterfalls, and camp in any of eight campgrounds. Because the road was built for scenic touring, its dozens of overlooks and picnic areas are strategically placed for maximum inspiration. Also along the way are Mount Mitchell, highest in the East (6,684 feet), Whitewater Falls (411 feet), highest in the East, and Linville Gorge, deepest in the East.

California Historic Route 66

City of Rocks Backcountry Byway

Big Sur Coast Highway

Steens Mountain Backcountry Byway

Historic Columbia River Highway

North Cascades Highway

Beartooth Highway

Scenic Byway 12

Coronado Trail Scenic Byway

San Juan Skyway

Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway

North Shore Scenic Drive

Flint Hills Scenic Byway

M22

Lincoln Highway Scenic and Historic Byway

Native American Scenic Byway

Talimena Scenic Drive

Natchez Trace Parkway

Bold Coast Scenic Byway

Great Lakes Seaway Trail

Journey Through Hallowed Ground Byway

Pine Barrens Byway

Blue Ridge Parkway

Big Bend Scenic Byway

More Range, More Adventure

RAV4 Hybrid XSE

With an EPA-estimated 41 MPG city and a mileage-boosting ECO Mode, the RAV4 Hybrid XSE was built for scenic road trips.

Explore and navigate slippery conditions with confidence thanks to RAV4 Hybrid’s Electronic On-Demand All-Wheel Drive and traction-boosting Trail Mode.

Traction for All Terrain

Tacoma TRD Pro

With smartly designed integrated storage, heavy-duty adjustable tie-down cleats on the deck rail system, and rack and accessory compatibility, the Tacoma TRD Pro is ready to be equipped for any adventure.

Bring All the Toys

Put that remote trailhead or backcountry campsite within reach—Tacoma TRD Pro has 9.4 inches of ground clearance, plus FOX coil-overs and rear remote-reservoir shocks.

Off-Road Like a Pro

Got a big adventure posse? Highlander XSE has you covered with plush seating for seven and plenty of gear storage to boot.

Room for the Crew

With a sport-tuned suspension, Highlander XSE offers confident, fun handling on pavement. And when the tarmac turns to gravel, its available Dynamic Torque Vectoring AWD improves responsiveness and stability.

Ready for All Roads

Highlander XSE

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Courtesy of Travel South Dakota