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Planning a road trip? California has some of the best travel routes for your next getaway, according to HGTV.
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The cable TV network recently named 25 popular road trips across the United States that are “worth adding to your bucket list.”
“The magic of a road trip is the unexpected sights along the way, from roadside attractions to the ever-changing great outdoors just outside the car window,” HGTV contributors Jennie Baird and Deanne Revel wrote in an article updated June 10.
The pair focuses on “fan-favorite routes are packed with must-dos.”
“More importantly, these popular drives (and detours) feature sights you’d miss if you took the most direct route,” they said.
See which California roads are worth driving:
Northern California highway is ‘perfect drive’ for outdoors fans
“If you love the great outdoors,” HGTV said, Highway 395 is “the perfect drive.”
In California, the 232-mile route starts in Hesperia in San Bernardino County and ends at the Oregon state border near Goose Lake in Modoc County, running through multiple national parks.
Along the way, drivers can stop by Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks.
Highway 395 also passes through Inyo National Forest and Manzanar National Historic Site, according to the National Forest Foundation.
Which Central Coast road trips belong on your bucket list?
One of HGTV’s favorite scenic routes along the West Coast is Highway 1.
Highway 1 stretches 656 miles from Leggett in Mendocino County to Dana Point in Orange County.
“Key attractions as you wind your way along the coast include Malibu, San Simeon, San Luis Obispo, Big Sur, Monterey, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Mendocino Headlands,” HGTV said. “Hardcore road trippers will extend the coastal drive beyond the (Pacific Coast Highway) from San Diego all the way to the Redwood Forest on Route 101 past Mendocino.”
Visit California highlighted some destinations travelers should stop along the way, such as Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Hotel Californian in Santa Barbara and a Huntington Beach music venue, Sealegs at the Beach.
HGTV named another Central Coast route as worthy of your road-trip bucket list: 17-Mile Drive, which loops between Pacific Grove and Pebble Peach on the Monterey Peninsula.
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“17-Mile Drive hugs the Pacific coastline as it snakes through some of the most scenic landscapes,” passing cypress forests and “some of the priciest homes on the planet,” HGTV said.
The 17-Mile Drive costs $12.50 per vehicle and is reimbursed if you spend $35 or more at all Pebble beach Resorts restaurants, excluding Pebble Beach Market. The drive is free if you are staying overnight at The Lodge at Pebble Beach, The Inn at Spanish Bay and Casa Palmero.
According to Trip Savvy, must-visit stops along the popular route include The Inn at Spanish Bay, Point Joe, the Lone Cypress and Lodge at Pebble Beach.
Why should I take a trip on Route 66?
Route 66, which runs from Chicago to Los Angeles, ranked among HGTV’s top picks for road trips.
“Though travel on the Mother Road peaked in the 1940s and 1950s before the Interstate Highway system was established, you can still follow the tire treads of so many who came before,” HGTV said, calling the route the “quintessential cross-country road trip.”
“The route holds an elevated place in American consciousness and tells diverse stories of a mobile nation on the road,” the National Park Service said.
The highway travels more than 2,500 miles through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.
With more than 250 sites along Route 66 listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service created a Route 66 travel guide featuring 100 spots to visit — including 12 in California.
Travelers can stop by Mojave River Valley Museum in Barstow to explore the historical and cultural heritage of the Mojave Desert, stay at the teepee-shaped cabins at San Bernardino’s famed Wigwam Motel or drive on the Arroyo Seco Parkway, described as the “starting point for Los Angeles car culture.”
Which road trips in the West belong on your bucket list?
Along with four California road trips, HGTV highlighted five other popular road trips in the West:
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- Jack Wyoming to Glacier, Montana
- Olympic Peninsula, Washington
- Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, New Mexico
- Oregon’s Pacific Coast Highway
- San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway, Colorado