8 less obvious road trips in the US

The drive: You’ll want to savour this 181km route between Key Largo and Key West that boasts the Atlantic on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other, and not just because of the goodies at Blond Giraffe Key Lime Pie Factory.

“It’s very tropical; you’re basically going through the Caribbean on a bridge,” said Kelly Hopkins, who owns the Concierge Girl service in Key West.

The drive includes 42 bridges, including one that stretches 11km and cuts through several island towns. Explore the country’s first undersea park, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, by glass-bottom boat or snorkel. Tour the Turtle Hospital in Marathon to see how the nonprofit rescues and rehabilitates sea turtles; refuel at Irie Island Eats, a food truck that Hopkins said serves “some of the best food you’ll eat in the Keys”. Bahia Honda State Park has options for camping or just sunbathing. At the end of the road, Key West is famous for its bar scene and sunsets – but Hopkins urges visitors to explore the water and history as well.

Don’t miss: Stop at Rain Barrel Village in Islamorada for artsy souvenirs and a photo with Betsy the massive lobster.

The drive: On this 804km road trip, the car game of choice is I Spy, the geologic edition. Try to spot all five varieties of volcanoes between Lassen Volcanic National Park and Crater Lake National Park, the beginning and end points. The 10 volcanoes along the route are not active, so go slowly and stop often for such activities as hiking part of the Pacific Crest Trail, poking around bat-filled caves at Lava Beds National Monument and taking a frosty dip in the 40m-high Burney Falls. Many of the roads are managed by the US Forest Service, so nature is the main roadside attraction.

“This is not like New England, with a gas station every 11 miles,” said Sharon Strouse, executive director of the National Scenic Byway Foundation. “There is wilderness in between.”

To reconnect with civilisation, drop by McCloud, Klamath Falls or Dunsmuir, where the drinking water originates from a snowcapped composite volcano, better known as Mount Shasta.

Don’t miss: The largest concentration of wintering bald eagles in the Lower 48. The Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge was the country’s first waterfowl refuge, established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908.

The drive: Roughly 4800km of roads follow the Mississippi River between Minnesota and Louisiana, according to the Mississippi River Parkway Commission, touching 10 states in the process. In many places, the river might be sandwiched between a section of the Great River Rd. Start at the beginning at the river’s headwaters in Itasca State Park in Minnesota. The best views of the river will be in the northern states, said Alan Hamari, content director for the commission, which promotes the patchwork of state and county highways that make up the road.

“It’s not the fastest way to get places, but it is among the most scenic and interesting in terms of history and cultural attractions and small towns,” he said.

Hamari recommended 10 to 14 days to traverse the entire route, with stops in each state. Beer lovers should enjoy the National Brewery Museum in Potosi, Wisconsin. History fans will appreciate Civil War sites in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and what the city of Galena, Illinois, website says is “a town that time forgot”. For music lovers, there’s the Delta Blues Museum and BB King Museum, both in Mississippi. Compare barbecue in St Louis and Memphis, or gumbo in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Don’t miss: Fan-favourite pies at the family-owned Stockholm Pie & General Store in Stockholm, Wisconsin.

The drive: The 236km drive along the Downeast coastline is quintessential Maine, with lighthouses, rocky cliffs, lobster fishermen and summering whales. Strouse describes the Bold Coast as a “more rugged area of Maine” not overrun with tourists. The drive kicks off in Milbridge, where blueberries grow wild, and travels as far east as one can go without falling off the edge of the contiguous US.

During certain times of the year, Quoddy Head State Park and the town of Lubec, both of which sit on the country’s easternmost peninsula, are the first sites to greet the sunrise. For a break from driving, catch the 30-minute pedestrian ferry to Eastport, home to Raye’s Mustard Mill, a museum that sells a fitting finish-line souvenir: blueberry mustard.

Don’t miss: Wild Blueberry Heritage Centre, which is housed in a giant blueberry and covers 10,000 years of the little fruit’s fascinating history.

The drive: The two-lane, 714km National Park Service parkway roughly follows the Old Natchez Trace, a route from Natchez to Nashville where you can hear the faint echoes of early travellers, including Native Americans, European settlers, Kaintucks (flatboat operators), enslaved people and soldiers from the War of 1812. The drive is stop-and-go because of such brake-worthy attractions as the grave monument of Meriwether Lewis, who mysteriously died on the Trace; and Cypress Swamp, a watery grove of cypress and tupelo trees. Near Milepost 338, visit the Wichahpi Commemorative Stone Wall, a loving tribute from an Alabama man to his great-great-grandmother, a Yuchi tribe member forced to leave her home to walk the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma.

Don’t miss: A musical detour to Elvis’s birthplace and childhood home in Tupelo, Mississippi, and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama, where such legends as the Rolling Stones, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded. For an accompanying soundtrack, crank up the volume on A Boy from Tupelo and Sweet Home Alabama.

The drive: On the 772km loop, join the club of adventurers who have crossed the Continental Divide not once but twice – at the scenic Togwotee Pass and the point between Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. After traversing the natural landmark, you still have hundreds of kilometres to explore. On the Wind River Indian Reservation, cue up the TravelStorys audio tour and spend a night in a furnished tepee owned and operated by a Northern Arapaho family.

In Lander, Sinks Canyon State Park is steeped in mystery – where does the disappearing river go? – and speckled in stars that form a ceiling above glass-topped yurts. After a long drive, soak in hot springs in Thermopolis, or experience some real horsepower at the Friday night rodeo in Dubois, an Old West town. Watch out for wildlife – grizzly and black bears, antelope, moose, bighorn sheep – which don’t always look both ways before crossing.

Don’t miss: Meeteetse Chocolatier and its owner, a truffle-making cowboy who got into the artisanal sweet biz when he needed money to buy a new saddle.

The drive: You’ll rack up more than 1609km on this loop, worth it for the five national parks. Starting from Salt Lake City, Jason Murray, president of Utah’s Southwest Adventure Tours, recommends hitting the road from Sunday to Sunday to get a taste of the scenery and attractions. About four hours away, Moab is a base for visits to Arches and Canyonlands national parks – and a dinosaur museum called Moab Giants. Ponder the puzzle of Upheaval Dome at Canyonlands, and appreciate the views from nearby Dead Horse Point State Park. Murray said the ranger-guided Fiery Furnace hike at Arches is “an amazing section of the park that very few actually get to go explore”, but a permit is required and it is strenuous.

Take in Natural Bridges National Monument on the way to Capitol Reef National Park, where Murray recommends checking out ancient petroglyphs, Panorama Point and the Hickman Bridge trail. Live out your Airstream dreams at Ofland Escalante, a resort with tiny cabins, vintage caravans and a drive-in theatre.

The drive to Bryce Canyon National Park – where Murray says Natural Bridge, Rainbow Point and Yovimpa viewpoints are must-sees – includes the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. One hidden gem in Zion National Park, he said, is the Kolob Canyons district: “If you see a dozen people while you’re in there, it’s a busy day.”

Don’t miss: Sunrise painting the landscape from Bryce Point or Inspiration Point at Bryce Canyon National Park. “I’ve seen it hundreds of times, if not thousands … and it still moves me,” Murray said.

The drive: The 833km route follows Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in Pennsylvania and New York, with sections along the Niagara and St Lawrence rivers. In Pennsylvania, Presque Isle State Park offers 1295ha for beaching and birdwatching.

“When you’re at the beach on Presque Isle, you would swear you’re at the ocean,” said John Oliver, chief executive of VisitErie, who called it “a jewel”.

Choose from nearly two dozen wineries in Lake Erie Wine Country. If you’ve never visited Niagara Falls, this trip is your chance to view the famous waterfalls from land or a boat. David Granoff, chief executive and creator of the Discover Upstate NY tourism website, recommended stops in Lockport for Erie Canal history during its bicentennial and respite at Fair Haven Beach. In Oswego, Fort Ontario’s history spans the French and Indian War to World War II, when the site served as a refugee camp for people who fled the Holocaust. The Thousand Islands region offers War of 1812 history, the Antique Boat Museum, water sports and bicycling. (The area is indeed the origin of the salad dressing.)

Don’t miss: Between early May and early October, take a boat to Boldt Castle near Alexandria Bay, meant to be a Gilded Age vacation home until the owner’s fate took a dramatic turn.

This story originally featured in the Washington Post.