Open Road Guide

Routes

Long-form road trip guides through the American West — every stop, every story, every mile that makes the drive worth taking.

Every byway on the map is a link — tap a line to open its guide.

Utah · Scenic Byway

Alpine Loop Scenic Byway

Twenty hairpin miles over the shoulder of Mount Timpanogos — UT-92 from American Fork Canyon into Provo Canyon, past Timpanogos Cave, Cascade Springs, and Sundance. Paved and narrow, closed in winter, unbeatable in fall.

Distance
20 mi
Drive
1.5 hrs
Best
Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Moderate
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Utah · Scenic Byway

Highway 12 Scenic Byway

A 124-mile All-American Road through southern Utah's red-rock canyons, alpine forests, and slickrock wilderness — widely regarded as one of the most scenic drives in America.

Distance
124 mi
Drive
3.5 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Utah · Scenic Byway

Highway 20

Twenty unsigned miles between I-15 and US-89 over Bear Valley — the Old Spanish Trail crossing that carried Panguitch's founders and the Quilt Walk of 1864.

Distance
20.5 mi
Drive
0.5 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Utah · Scenic Byway

Highway 24 Scenic Byway

A 47-mile drive through the Waterpocket Fold — the geological wave that defines Capitol Reef — from Torrey at Highway 12's eastern terminus to the desert crossroads of Hanksville.

Distance
47 mi
Drive
1.5 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Utah · Scenic Byway

Highway 9 Scenic Byway

A 57-mile drive from the I-15 gateway through Springdale and Zion National Park to Mount Carmel Junction — climbing the cliff-face switchbacks and the 1930 Zion–Mount Carmel Tunnel along the way.

Distance
57 mi
Drive
2 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Arizona · Scenic Byway

Historic Route 66

Arizona's stretch of the Mother Road — the longest preserved run of Route 66 in the country, from the ponderosa high country down through Seligman and Kingman to the Oatman switchbacks and the Colorado River.

Distance
380 mi
Drive
8 hrs
Best
Spring · Fall
Difficulty
Moderate
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Arizona · Scenic Byway

I-15: The Virgin River Gorge

Three states in twenty-nine Arizona miles — I-15 threads the Virgin River Gorge, the most expensive rural interstate ever built, following the desert water that drew every road here from the Old Spanish Trail to the Las Vegas Springs.

Distance
120 mi
Drive
2 hrs
Best
Fall · Winter · Spring
Difficulty
Easy
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Nevada · Scenic Byway

Interstate 80 — The Humboldt Road

The Humboldt corridor — about 175 miles of Interstate 80 from Wells to Winnemucca, the region's all-weather spine, with the Ruby Mountains, the emigrant trail, the invisible gold, and Jarbidge hanging off it.

Distance
176 mi
Drive
4 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Utah · Scenic Byway

Logan Canyon Scenic Byway

US-89 climbs forty-one miles from Logan up its limestone canyon to a pass near 7,800 feet, then drops to the turquoise water of Bear Lake — a National Scenic Byway, glorious in fall and open year-round.

Distance
41 mi
Drive
1.5 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Utah · Scenic Byway

Mirror Lake Scenic Byway

UT-150 climbs from Kamas into the Uintas over Bald Mountain Pass — at 10,715 feet, Utah's highest paved road — to the glassy alpine water of Mirror Lake. A short, spectacular season, roughly late June through early October.

Distance
32 mi
Drive
1.5 hrs
Best
Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Moderate
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Utah · Scenic Byway

Nebo Loop Scenic Byway

Thirty-eight winding miles over the back of Mount Nebo, the highest peak in the Wasatch — a CCC-built byway from Payson to Nephi, past alpine lakes, a 9,300-foot overlook, and a pocket of red-rock hoodoos. Closed in winter, unforgettable in fall.

Distance
38 mi
Drive
2 hrs
Best
Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Moderate
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Utah · Scenic Byway

Nine Mile Canyon Backway

The old freight road up the world's longest art gallery — a slow drive past a thousand years of Fremont and Ute rock art, from Wellington toward the Uinta Basin.

Distance
78 mi
Drive
3.5 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Moderate
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Nevada · Scenic Byway

NV-28 — The Tahoe East Shore

The short, blue drive down Lake Tahoe's Nevada side — thirteen miles of granite coves and clear water on the shore the Comstock cut for timber and tapped for water, then sold back as scenery.

Distance
18 mi
Drive
1 hrs
Best
Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Utah · Scenic Byway

Scenic Byway 143

Utah's Patchwork Parkway — 51 miles from Parowan to Panguitch, climbing 4,400 feet out of the desert to a 10,000-foot rim past Brian Head, Cedar Breaks, and Panguitch Lake.

Distance
51 mi
Drive
2 hrs
Best
Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Moderate
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Nevada · Scenic Byway

The Comstock Loop

The compact circuit the silver built — Reno up the Geiger Grade to Virginia City, down to Carson City and the lake the Comstock logged, then home through Nevada's oldest town.

Distance
137 mi
Drive
4 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Nevada · Scenic Byway

U.S. 50 — The Loneliest Road in America

The 1986 insult that became an invitation — 320 miles of US-50 across central Nevada, from Fallon to the Utah line, linking petroglyphs, ghost towns, a singing dune, and the state's only national park.

Distance
322 mi
Drive
6 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Utah · Scenic Byway

US-89 Heritage Highway

Forty-some miles down the floor of Sanpete Valley, US-89 threads the best-preserved string of pioneer Mormon towns in Utah — the "Little Denmark" heart of the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, from Fairview's Ice Age mammoth past Manti's 1888 temple to Gunnison's century-old Casino Star Theatre.

Distance
43 mi
Drive
1.5 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Arizona · Scenic Byway

US-89: Climbing the Grand Staircase

The climb from Lake Powell to Bryce Canyon — up the Grand Staircase, where each step north is younger rock and higher ground, from the slickrock desert to the Pink Cliffs and their hoodoos.

Distance
163 mi
Drive
3.5 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Moderate
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Arizona · Scenic Byway

US-93: The Hoover Dam Crossing

The desert run from Kingman to Las Vegas — over the one place where Arizona and Nevada physically meet: Hoover Dam, wedged into Black Canyon, and the reservoir and neon it made possible.

Distance
109 mi
Drive
2.5 hrs
Best
Fall · Winter · Spring
Difficulty
Easy
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Nevada · Scenic Byway

US-95 — The Free-Range Art Highway

Ninety-nine miles of US-95 from Tonopah to the Death Valley line — four mining towns, the International Car Forest and the Goldwell sculptures, and some of the darkest skies in Nevada.

Distance
99 mi
Drive
2 hrs
Best
Spring · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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Utah · Scenic Byway

UT-128 Colorado River Road

A 44-mile scenic drive along the Colorado River through towering red-rock canyons — locals' choice for the most beautiful road in Utah.

Distance
44 mi
Drive
1.5 hrs
Best
Spring · Summer · Fall
Difficulty
Easy
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