These iconic American road trips span coastlines, mountains and deserts, showcasing some of the country’s most scenic and historic driving routes.

The U.S. was built for driving. Long before interstates connected every coast, wagon trails, railroad grades and hand-built mountain roads gave Americans a way to see a country too vast to take in from one place. That instinct never faded. Today, a handful of routes still stand out as the country’s most iconic American road trips, each shaped by different terrain and a different chapter of history.