Favorite road to drive.

[Pete J.]

Here in California, we are blessed with a lot of great roads to take a sports car out on and enjoy.  My two favorites are the famous PCH and the road from escondido to Julian.  The PCH(Pacific Coast Highway aka highway 1) it especially stunning from Ventura up to San Francisco.  Beautiful tour of the pacific coast on a great twisty road.  This is also a place that many movies have included aerial shots.  The road up to Julian is just a nice twisty road up through the trees.  Great fun to drive.  

  What is your favorite road? 

[Mike C.]

Any beach anywhere. ?

[Ace-Garageguy]

This side of the country close...Tail of the Dragon, US 129 at Deal's Gap (though these days, it can get pretty crowded...which of course ruins the whole experience).

https://tailofthedragon.com/

This side of the country farther away... Outer Banks National Scenic Byway, NC 12.

https://www.visitnc.com/listing/Nfii/outer-banks-national-scenic-byway

EDIT: For the nav-app-dependent, the scary looking things below are called "maps".

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy

[iamsuperdan]

Hwy 3A from Creston, BC to Kootenay Bay, BC. Then take the ferry to Balfour, then continue on Hwy 3A to Nelson, BC. Beautiful scenery, smooth roads, not a lot of traffic, not a lot of residences.

 

Hwy 4, the Pacific Rim Highway on Vancouver Island, BC. Takes you from  Port Alberni to Ucluelet. again, gorgeous scenery, smooth road, and not a lot of traffic...depending on the time of day you roll through. ANd very sparse population along this route.

 

 

[Mike C.]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

 

 Outer Banks National Scenic Byway, NC 12.

https://www.visitnc.com/listing/Nfii/outer-banks-national-scenic-byway

 

 

Made this drive many a time back in my surfing days. We used to camp on the sound side, then the beach then finally we would rent out a house for the week with like 12 people. We would all bring our girlfriends and they would just lay on the beach all day. When you get a west wind off the sound, the place would turn into a mosquito extravaganza. ?

[SSNJim]

The road to Julian was a very nice drive. There used to be a bakery in Julian that you could smell from miles away. We stopped there when we were in the neighborhood, and the baked goods were delicious. Is that bakery still there?

Edited March 3, 2022 by SSNJim

[1972coronet]

Arroyo Seco Parkway (formerly, Pasadena Freeway; originally part of Route 66 -- oldest parkway in California if not the nation). 

Too bad that time and "upgrades" have eroded its architecture. Those Figueroa Street Tunnels are works of art in themselves! 

[Bronzekeg]

anywhere off the beaten path, and if you get lost even better.

[NYLIBUD]

Well unfortunately I live on LI NY,so there really aren’t too many cool roads to drive on.Just too many cars,and traffic,not to mention all the traffic lights.There are two roads that start in NYC,route 25A,which goes on the north shore,and goes east almost to the end of LI.It’s nice and winding Then another road that goes on the south shore all the way to the very end of LI to Montauk,also very winding.

[Rob Hall]

I know many in Arizona and Colorado from the years I lived out West, and a bunch in California also.  Here in my home state of Ohio, I have many favorites that I've driven over the last 30+ years...lots of windy, hilly backroads and state routes....close to home, Route 303 from Hinckley to Hudson through Peninsula is very scenic w/ rolling hills and curves...I enjoy driving US 6 along the Lake Erie coast west of Cleveland... further south and east are some of my favorites where I spent my 20s---routes 250, 800, 22, 39 down in Carroll, Tuscarawas, Holmes, Harrison, Guernsey counties (east and west of I-77, north and south of I-70).  Lots of nice squiggly line roads in E/SE Ohio... 

[Russell C]

Durango Colorado to Ouray Colorado. I've driven that route literally every single summer for the last 18 years to arrive at my favorite vacation spot, know it like the back of my hand. Particular emphasis on the Silverton to Ouray stretch, I tend not to adhere closely to the speed limit in my VW GTI. Don't tell the local cops that.

[Pete J.]

11 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

This side of the country close...Tail of the Dragon, US 129 at Deal's Gap (though these days, it can get pretty crowded...which of course ruins the whole experience).

https://tailofthedragon.com/

This side of the country farther away... Outer Banks National Scenic Byway, NC 12.

https://www.visitnc.com/listing/Nfii/outer-banks-national-scenic-byway

EDIT: For the nav-app-dependent, the scary looking things below are called "maps".

 

I've heard of the Tail of the Dragon!  Is that the road that they have a helicopter on standby at all times to rescue bikers with more speed than skill? 

 

[Pete J.]

8 hours ago, SSNJim said:

The road to Julian was a very nice drive. There used to be a bakery in Julian that you could smell from miles away. We stopped there when we were in the neighborhood, and the baked goods were delicious. Is that bakery still there?

The Julian Pie Company!  Yup.  Wife and I drive up there for a cup of coffee and a slice of their caramel dutch apple.  Worth the drive.  Or you may be thinking of Mom's Pie company if you want a great chicken pot pie.  They also now have the Julian Cider mill.  Fresh made hard cider.  Not to drink there, but to take a case home. 

[SSNJim]

Could have been. This was in 1986 or 1987, so my memory is fuzzy about details. We would go up there with a motorcycle club (Goldwings), so I never went there by myself or even really paid attention to the name. The whole area was a great place to ride, and the bakery was the high point. I still think about the bakery every so often. I'm glad to hear it's still there.

[Pete J.]

4 hours ago, SSNJim said:

Could have been. This was in 1986 or 1987, so my memory is fuzzy about details. We would go up there with a motorcycle club (Goldwings), so I never went there by myself or even really paid attention to the name. The whole area was a great place to ride, and the bakery was the high point. I still think about the bakery every so often. I'm glad to hear it's still there.

Thought you might like to see a current view of downtown. https://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/historic-julian

[1972coronet]

I've been to Julian once, some 18 years ago. Me mum and I travelled there via CA 76 & CA 79 (both easily accessible from I-15 for out of town visitors) on a lovely Spring day. 

I recall seeing what appeared to be a Bobcat kitten crossing the road-- it was actually a Bobcat queen; she'd stopped in the middle of the road to the Palomar Observatory and was 'trilling' and 'chuffing'. Soon after, four kittens scurried across the road and up the adjacent hill, mum in tow. I'd forgotten how small Bobcats are... that's why I thought that the queen was a kitten.

Beautiful scenery, wonderful drive.