As the summer of 2025 fades into fall, and the trees turn from green to a lovely red, orange and yellow, you might be feeling the call of the road. After all, when is there a better time for a scenic road trip? Fall offers an American beauty not overcooked by summer heat or made uncomfortably icy and slick by wintertime.
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That said, various states offer so many potential road trips and routes, at varying lengths and gas costs, it may be hard to decide just where to point your car. To help you on your journey, GOBankingRates recently analyzed some of the most popular scenic routes in America, compiling both their lengths and the cost to drive them.
Curious about the cost of a multi-state journey down the famed Route 66? Or would you prefer a single-state trip through northern California, or the Florida Keys, or a gorgeous ride through Alaska? GOBankingRates has 30 options for nearly any scenic road trip preference you might have.
Also see scenic drives that are perfect for retirees and the toll costs to know.
Key Findings:
- The longest, most expensive route is in a single state: Alaska’s 3,500-mile Marine Highway interconnects over 30 very remote communities along the state’s coastline, providing a very necessary throughway for travel and commerce in a state where such travel can be dangerous and difficult.
- The shortest and cheapest route still packs in a lot of scenery: The City of Las Vegas Boulevard provides an ample look at the sights and sounds (along with prime people-watching) in Sin City.
- Only one scenic road traverses more states than the famous Route 66: The Great River Road journey will take you through a whopping 10 states.
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Alaska Marine Highway
- State: Alaska
- Average cost of gas for trip: $547.66
- Length of trip: 3,500 miles
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Historic Route 66
- States: Arizona, California, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico and Oklahoma
- Average cost of gas for trip: $247.89
- Length of trip: 2,041 miles
Great River Road
- States: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnestoa, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin
- Average cost of gas for trip: $232.60
- Length of trip: 2,069 miles
Cascade Loop National Scenic Byway
- State: Washington
- Average cost of gas for trip: $63.45
- Length of trip: 440 miles
Blue Ridge Parkway
- States: North Carolina and Virginia
- Average cost of gas for trip: $49.86
- Length of trip: 469 miles
Natchez Trace Parkway
- States: Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee
- Average cost of gas for trip: $48.72
- Length of trip: 444 miles
Chesapeake Country
- State: Maryland
- Average cost of gas for trip: $44.26
- Length of trip: 419 miles
Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway
- State: Nebraska
- Average cost of gas for trip: $33.41
- Length of trip: 272 miles
Creole Nature Trail
- State: Louisiana
- Average cost of gas for trip: $19.95
- Length of trip: 180 miles
Seward Highway
- State: Alaska
- Average cost of gas for trip: $19.87
- Length of trip: 127 miles
North Shore Scenic Drive
- State: Minnesota
- Average cost of gas for trip: $18.29
- Length of trip: 154 miles
Scenic Byway 12
- State: Utah
- Average cost of gas for trip: $14.13
- Length of trip: 123 miles
Big Sur Coast Highway
- State: California
- Average cost of gas for trip: $12.44
- Length of trip: 90 miles
Savannah River Scenic Byway
- State: South Carolina
- Average cost of gas for trip: $12.38
- Length of trip: 110 miles
Florida Keys Scenic Highway
- State: Florida
- Average cost of gas for trip: $11.61
- Length of trip: 106 miles
San Luis Obispo North Coast
- State: California
- Average cost of gas for trip: $11.05
- Length of trip: 80 miles
Historic Columbia River Highway
- State: Oregon
- Average cost of gas for trip: $9.98
- Length of trip: 70
Beartooth Highway
- States: Montana and Wyoming
- Average cost of gas for trip: $9.49
- Length of trip: 68 miles
The High Road to Taos
- State: New Mexico
- Average cost of gas for trip: $9.24
- Length of trip: 77 miles
Ka’u — The Slopes of Mauna Loa Scenic Byway
- State: Hawaii
- Average cost of gas for trip: $8.37
- Length of trip: 54 miles
Old King’s Highway
- State: Massachusetts
- Average cost of gas for trip: $7.03
- Length of trip: 62 miles
Selma to Montgomery March Byway
- State: Alabama
- Average cost of gas for trip: $5.99
- Length of trip: 54 miles
Utah’s Patchwork Parkway
- State: Utah
- Average cost of gas for trip: $5.86
- Length of trip: 51 miles
Trail Ridge Road
- State: Colorado
- Average cost of gas for trip: $5.65
- Length of trip: 48 miles
Acadia
- State: Maine
- Average cost of gas for trip: $4.81
- Length of trip: 40 miles
Kancamagus Scenic Byway
- State: New Hampshire
- Average cost of gas for trip: $4.11
- Length of trip: 34.5 miles
Route 1 Scenic Highway
- State: Rhode Island
- Average cost of gas for trip: $2.31
- Length of trip: 19.35 miles
Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
- State: Michigan
- Average cost of gas for trip: $0.93
- Length of trip: 7.4 miles
Red Rock Scenic Byway
- State: Arizona
- Average cost of gas for trip: $0.93
- Length of trip: 7.5 miles
City of Las Vegas Boulevard
- State: Nevada
- Average cost of gas for trip: $0.45
- Length of trip: 3.4 miles
Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed some of the most popular routes in the United States to find the average cost in gas to drive along them. GOBankingRates sourced the most popular driving routes from Travel+Leisure’s “America’s Most Scenic Roads,” “Historic Columbia River Highway Scenic Byway,” “North Shore Drive with Fall Colors” and “Red Rock Scenic Byway Named Most Distracting.” The mileage for each route was sourced from National Scenic Byway Foundation’s list of America’s Byway Collection. The average price of regular gas was sourced from AAA’s Avg Gas Cost by State. The average miles per gallon was sourced from iSeeCars study of average MPG by state in 2024. Using the average mpg, the average cost of gas in each state and each route’s total milage, the average cost of gas to drive each road was calculated. The routes were sorted to show the most expensive routes first. All data was collected on and is up to date as of Sept. 10, 2025.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Much It Costs To Drive 30 Scenic Roads Across America
