Customer Reviews

The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book has numerous beautiful color photographs as well as colored area maps where the scenic drives are located. Each stopping point has a number and a description of what you will find. I like the fact that you get the length of the trip, best time to go, and nearby attractions. If one wants to go to a specific state, you now know where the best views are.

I like to do photography and this book will be helpful when planning my trips. The book also is a reminder of the beautiful drives within a day's drive of my home.

The only thing I don't like about the book is the size. It is a coffee table book and won't fit on my bookshelf without sticking way out. Well worth the money.

This is a fun book for vacationing families, college student roadtrippers, RV campers, and motorcycle travelers.

As an Illinois resident, I was pleased to see 18 stops the authors considered scenic. Having traveled through many of them, I can attest their taste is good. Seeing the majestic Shawnee National Forest is like seeing what Adam and Eve might have enjoyed had Eden been located in southern Illinois.

With all of the 120 drives, there are roughly 10-20 stops, each with a descriptive paragraph. Decorating each drive are photos of special sites or animals. Maps with insets demonstrate the context of the drive inside each state.

Not every great site has a stop. Illinois' gorgeous Starved Rock Park is missing, but only because so much of America is beautiful. To include every place of beauty would cause this 400 page book to be 40,000 pages.

While it makes a nice coffee table book, there is plenty to read. It can help inspire deeper research for your next family adventure.

I fully recommend "The Most Scenic Drives in America (Most Scenic Drives in America): 120 Spectacular Road Trips" by Readers Digest. It is as enjoyable to read as it is to look at.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

It's that time of the year when I begin planning the annual vacation. Though my preference would be to hop a plane to the UK, of which I never become tired, my wife thinks I'm in a rut in that regard, so we're likely as not to spend 7-10 days traveling U.S. roads by flivver. THE MOST SCENIC DRIVES IN AMERICA is a reminder that there's a lot to see without the need for a passport and, for one as afflicted with insatiable wanderlust as myself, the book represents temptations akin to those in a Godiva shop for a chocoholic.

Unlike your standard coffee table book, THE MOST SCENIC DRIVES IN AMERICA is enormously useful. Its 120 scenic drives are divided among four regions: The Western States (24 drives), The Rocky Mountain States (29 drives), The Central States (26 drives), and The Eastern States (41 drives). The volume begins with one-page maps of each region with each drive numbered and drawn-in with a red squiggle in case you want to see their relative positions and combine more than one in a single road adventure.

Each numbered drive is sequentially described, 2-6 pages each, and supplemented with gorgeous color photographs - 400 total. Each description includes a route map on which the cities and towns and road numbers are shown and the main attractions along the way pinpointed. Each attraction is summarized. Finally, each drive has its own "Trip Tips": length in miles, when to go, "words to the wise", nearby attractions, and where to go for further information. As an example:

The Eastern States, Drive #96, Pennsylvania Dutch Country, 2 pages, 2 photos. Listed attractions: Intercourse (a town, tiger, with a quilt museum), Ephrata Cloister (another town, built by the Seventh-Day Baptists), Landis Valley Museum (focusing on the PA Dutch with 80,000 items), Lancaster (a city with an historic Central Market), Marietta (another town, with a preserved silk mill), Hans Herr House (a home dating from 1719), and Strasberg (another town, with the Railroad Museum of PA). Length - 80 miles. Popular year-round. Bring a cooler to store food purchased at roadside stands, which are mostly closed on Sunday. Chocolate World at Hershey is nearby. Address and phone number for the PA Dutch Visitors Bureau.

So, I might ask the little woman: "Honey, how about a spin along Cape Cod's Sandy Shores (#91), or through the Wisconsin North Woods (#58), or along Devil's Tower Loop (#35), or on the Loneliest Road in America (#16)?"

But, just between you and me, several days in London and a leisurely exploration of the Devon and Cornwall coasts is my E-ride.

Me and my wife were able to follow about a dozen out of the 120 sugested road trips, in very diferent locations of USA (Florida, New England and California/Nevada/Arizona). This book prove to be a great guide for us because it shows really wonderful places, the way to get there and good tips. It was our one month best friend; even now I love to review its pictures, showing the beautiful places we did see and the ones we couldn't. The quality of the photographs is simply outstanding. We considered ourselves very lucky to find this book in the beginning of our trip. The best of all the three we had.

As a young newly wed college student, sometimes flying is not an affordable option. With the help of The Most Senic Drives in America, driving trips are more enjoyable. My husband and I occasionally will plan a vacation and drive to our destination. This book gives helpful tips on the most senic routes, great places to visit and a lists the best times of year to visit each location. The book is divided into regions for easy referencing. The beautiful pictures are appealing and spark a sence of bliss in the reader. The comprehensive route maps are esy to follow and mark the nearby attractions. If you are planning a trip, forget about the airlines, read this book, and drive your senses to The Most Senic Drives in America.

This was one of our best planning tools on our year long trip around the USA. Once we were on the road, we actually used it less. If you are planning shorter trips -- this is a great tool. If you are thinking of a looonnnggg road trip - this helps gets your ideas flowing - then also see "Live Your Road Trip Dream" to help with all the planning details. Get moving from the dreaming to the doing in no time at all!

A most for those who are traveling throughout the USA. This book provides excellent maps, descriptions of routes, surrounding areas, and beautiful photos. For each suggested scenic trip it lists the miles, time of year to go, some suggestions, nearby attractions, visitor centers and additional addresses and phone numbers of resources in the area.

This is such a great book, I have to take the time to write!

Despite its size, my husband and I have been bringing our 1997 edition of this book with us on road trips since we bought it. It has guided us along about twenty pleasant drives in the West, steering us to the terrific things along the road that we would have just driven by if we hadn't known, and it has saved us from wasting time on the not-so-great sites, or things that we didn't care to see. As we travel between each special place, I read the descriptions out loud so we are ready for the great adventure that is sure to come. I am now buying a copy for my parents and I am really surprised at the great price!

A sage once told me "A journey should be meticulously planned, yet organically executed". Truer advice I've never been given; serendipity SHOULD rule your travels. HOWEVER, you gotta start somewhere, and this wonderful book is the portal to possibilities. It'll bring out the wanderlust in anyone. I'm giving it to my parents for Christmas. My only quibble is that the thumbnail sketches are too, well, sketchy. I suppose further depth would have produced a book of unworkable size. P.S.: The Smithsonian puts out some awesome travel guides. Check 'em out.

I stumbled upon the 1997 edition of this book at a garage sale for $2. It makes me want to just quit my job and spend the rest of my life trying to check them off, one by one. The photos are so beautiful. The one thing I do wish they had though, was a trip completely mapped out for you based on how long it takes to drive and see everything. In other words, I wish it would say "First day, drive to this place, see this, this, and this. Stay overnight in this town. Second day, drive to this place..." etc. Because even though it tells you how far the drive is, it doesn't really say how long it would take you to visit the various places (obviously everyone is different, but a guideline would be really helpful)