Guide to Scenic Highways & Byways

Guide to Scenic Highways & Byways

When you were a kid did your parents ever pile the family into the family Buick or Chevrolet and set out for a “Sunday Drive”? We did and I loved doing it. We always went to some location that was new and interesting. Often, on these drives Mom would  pull out a picnic basket of fried chicken or sandwiches with potato salad. Well if you haven’t done that kind of “Sunday Drive” in the last quarter century here’s a new idea.

One of the neatest things we have found to capture our interest while on the road is our nations collection or system of Scenic Highways & Byways.  It was one of those ideas that we weren’t very aware about until a friend gave us a book published by National Geographic. Then it was an “Ah-ha” moment for us. Now, we refer to that little book a lot, usually as we enter a state or even a new area of a state we’ve been in before. We’ll pull out the book check the maps to see if there’s a scenic road nearby.  When we retired and took to the road we found “sight seeing” isn’t just for Sunday’s anymore!

 

 

We wanted to let you know about this really cool system. One of the most recent and best experiences we’ve had was on a drive in South Carolina. It is the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway between Gaffney following highway 11 to Lake Hartwell. This drive is open all year, some are not due to weather concerns. All the drives have data at the beginning of each section giving number of miles, how many hours, most popular time of the year to drive the route. For instance, this drive listed; 112 miles, 3 hours, All year, Peach bloom peaks in May, fall foliage in mid-October. First off, we know the hours to drive is wrong for us. We tend to dilly-dally, look and read historical markers etc. So for this drive we figured all day was a good “guesstimate”. Since we had our RV parked on the southern end of this drive we drove it “backwards” from the directions given in the book. Therefore, on this drive our highlight was ending at The Cowpens National Battlefield, where in 1781 American colonists scored a triumph in their fight for independence.

 

Another memorable drive for us was one in west Texas called the “Davis Mountains Loop”. It’s data states 74 miles, 2 hours (ha!) open all year. This one we did drive in the correct order as written in the text. Our RV was parked in Fort Davis so it was easy from start to finish. This drive weaves through the ragged Davis Mountains, called the Texas Alps, and around 8,382 foot Mount Livermore, the state’s second highest peak.  The vistas of hills and valleys intruded by volcanic outcroppings and weathered rounded slopes seemed to draw out many “oh’s and awe’s” around every curve. We toured the little museum at the old Fort Davis another day, instead we spent the bulk of our tour time at the McDonald Observatory. Allow yourself an evening while it is dark to take in one of the “star parties” at the observatory. You won’t be sorry you spent the time.

 

There are several editions of books dealing with the subject of the Scenic Highway & Byway system, this just happens to be the one given to us. Others may have aspects suited to your travel habits. Check all of them out, also check www.byways.org  for more information about this wonderful way to see the country in which we live.