The Best Roads on the East Coast for People Who Love Road Trips

The East Coast is known for the stunning views that its coastal roads reveal to people who enjoy road trips. Roads like that include Maine’s Bold Coast Scenic Byway and it reveals the coast’s many beaches, culture, history, wildlife, and recreational opportunities. On top of that, the interior roads can be just as majestic.

People Can Have Wonderful Road Trips All Along the East Coast

From North Carolina’s iconic Blue Ridge Parkway to South Jersey’s forests and wetlands, here are some of the beautiful East coast routes.

The Bold Coast Scenic Byway Offers Great Opportunities for Road Trips

Maine’s Bold Coast is an authentic Down East country where people still make an honest living from the sea and blueberries can be seen growing in abundance in the wilds. Along the byway, there are classic waterfront villages like Gouldsboro, Jonesport, and Winter Harbor where people can see locals bring in their catch, including clams, lobsters, scallops, mussels, and haddock. There are some 27 lighthouses that make for great photo ops, including the candy-striped West Quoddy Head Light. Places like Cutler Coast Public Reserved Land also offer a great view to people who love road trips and have cobble beaches and headlands with pine forests, blueberry barrens, and peatlands.

The Freshwater Coast Is Just as Enticing for Road Trips

The Great Lakes Seaway Trail of Pennsylvania and New York spans some 518 miles, starting in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania. It proceeds to follow hundreds of miles of New York’s freshwater coast beside Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, the Niagara River, and the Saint Lawrence River. It goes by headline sites like Niagara Falls and New York’s Thousand Islands. Just as compelling are the little harbor towns, farmlands, and the many lighthouses along the way. There are also 30 state parks along the trail for people who want to camp, swim, or hike. There are farm stands everywhere, where berries, peaches, apples, cherries, corn, and tomatoes can be bought.

The Hallowed Ground Byway of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia

The routes connecting Gettysburg to Madison’s Montpelier and Jefferson’s Monticello are deeply rooted in history and that alone makes them worth one’s while. There’s also beauty as a bonus, and the two factors go together. There are woodsy parks like Gambrill State Park and Bull Run Mountains Nature Preserve, to be seen. Warrenton, Virginia, alone offers some 300 historical sites to visitors and the pumpkin fritters at Farnsworth House in Gettysburg are great.