Best East Coast Road Trips
From leaf-peeping along the Blue Ridge Parkway to driving down Florida's coast on US 1, these are our favorite East Coast road trips. Choose your own adventure: explore the coastline or set off through mountain byways.

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Blue Ridge Parkway
Drivers have little choice but to take their time enjoying the serpentine Blue Ridge Parkway connecting Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina.
Blue Ridge Parkway
Skyline Drive
Skyline Drive takes you on an amazing ride, slithering through Shenandoah National Park along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The drive offers perfect views of Piedmont Valley to the east and the Shenandoah River Valley to the west.
Skyline Drive
Kancamagus Scenic Byway
New Hampshire's Kancamagus Scenic Byway, a 34.5-mile section of Route 112 running through the White Mountain National Forest, is renowned for its autumn leaves, making it one of the top road trips during the fall leaf-viewing season.
Kancamagus Scenic Byway
Historic National Road
Maryland's stretch of the 170-mile Historic National Road — originally built to foster settlement into the West by aiding the movement of people and goods — takes road-trippers on a journey through 300 years of history.
Historic National Road
US 1
US 1 runs between the beach and Interstate 95 along Florida's east coast, allowing easy access to A1A (the road closest to the coast) while letting you hightail it past cities that don't pique your interest.
US 1
Acadia National Byway
Designated an All-American Highway by the US Department of Transportation, the Acadia Byway winds along Maine’s coastline for 40 miles past granite peaks, craggy outcroppings, coastal fishing villages and lush old-growth forests.
Acadia National Byway
Gulf Coast Road Trip
From Florida to Mississippi, the Gulf Coast is not only a beautiful spot for a beach vacation, but an important ecosystem that’s home to thousands of sea turtles, seabirds and other wild creatures.