Scenic highways in the United States

Scenic highways in the United States
Name	Scenic highways in the United States
Caption	Blue Ridge Parkway near Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Shenandoah National Park
Established	1910s–present
Maintaining authority	National Park Service, Federal Highway Administration, state transportation departments, local agencies

Contents

Scenic highways in the United States are roads and corridors designated, constructed, or promoted for exceptional scenic, historic, recreational, cultural, or archaeological value along routes such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, Pacific Coast Highway, and Trail Ridge Road. These routes traverse federal lands like Yellowstone National Park and Grand Canyon National Park, state parks such as Big Bend National Park (state-adjacent corridors), and landmark corridors including the Natchez Trace Parkway and Route 66. They are managed through partnerships involving the National Park Service, state departments of transportation such as the California Department of Transportation and Virginia Department of Transportation, and nonprofit organizations including the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Overview

Scenic highways combine engineering, landscape architecture, and heritage interpretation to link points of interest such as Grand Teton National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Denali National Park and Preserve, and urban vistas like San Francisco Bay while providing access to sites including Gateway Arch National Park, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Statue of Liberty National Monument, and Independence National Historical Park. Typical corridors include national parkways like the Blue Ridge Parkway, historic roadways like U.S. Route 66, coastal routes such as the Pacific Coast Highway (part of State Route 1 (California)), and scenic byways designated by programs like the National Scenic Byways Program. Agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration and organizations like the American Society of Landscape Architects influence design standards that address viewsheds, interpretive signage, pullouts, overlooks, and wildlife crossings near areas like Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Arches National Park.

The modern movement for scenic roadways grew from early 20th-century projects including the Lincoln Highway, the Parkway movement, and the creation of scenic park drives within Yellowstone National Park and Grand Canyon National Park. Legislative milestones include the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 which shaped interstate development, the Federal Lands Highway Program, and the establishment of the National Scenic Byways Program under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and continued by subsequent reauthorizations such as the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act. Conservation and preservation statutes—such as the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and environmental laws affecting corridors near Everglades National Park and Bering Land Bridge National Preserve—have guided mitigation, historic district registration, and viewshed protection.

Designation and oversight involve federal programs like the National Scenic Byways Program and the All-American Road designation, state-level initiatives such as the California Scenic Highway System, and local entities like metropolitan planning organizations in regions including New York City, Chicago, and Seattle. Federal land agencies—National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management—coordinate with the Federal Highway Administration and state departments including the Florida Department of Transportation and Texas Department of Transportation to balance access to resources like Joshua Tree National Park and Zion National Park. Nonprofits such as the Scenic America and the National Trust for Historic Preservation advocate for corridor protection, while professional bodies—American Society of Civil Engineers and U.S. Green Building Council—inform infrastructure standards.

- Northeast: corridors linking Acadia National Park, Niagara Falls State Park, Shenandoah National Park, and historic routes near Boston and Philadelphia including scenic overlooks of the Hudson River and Delaware River. - Southeast: parkways and byways traversing Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, coastal routes near Savannah, Georgia, and heritage corridors connecting Charleston, South Carolina and New Orleans. - Midwest: routes through Cuyahoga Valley National Park, vistas of the Mississippi River and Lake Superior, and heritage roads like Route 66 sections between St. Louis and Chicago. - South Central: scenic drives across Big Bend National Park, along the Gulf Coast, and through prairie and canyonlands near Santa Fe and Taos in New Mexico. - West: iconic corridors including the Pacific Coast Highway, Highway 101, U.S. Route 395 near Mammoth Lakes, Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, and alpine and desert byways through Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Death Valley National Park. - Pacific Northwest and Alaska: routes highlighting Olympic National Park, Crater Lake National Park, coastal panoramas of Puget Sound and Seward Highway views into Kenai Fjords National Park and Denali National Park and Preserve.

Scenic highways influence regional economies by supporting tourism economies in gateway communities such as Boulder, Colorado, Sedona, Arizona, Bar Harbor, Maine, and Jackson, Wyoming and by connecting cultural sites like Taos Pueblo, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Monticello, and Independence Hall. Environmental impacts include habitat fragmentation and runoff concerns near Everglades National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park that prompt mitigation measures including wildlife crossings and stormwater controls guided by agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Protection Agency. Cultural impacts engage Indigenous and local stakeholders—Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Cherokee Nation—and historic preservation partners such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation to protect corridors with archaeological resources like those at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site and Mesa Verde National Park.

Management strategies use corridor planning, scenic easements held by organizations such as the Land Trust Alliance, adaptive design standards from the Federal Highway Administration, and cooperative agreements among the National Park Service, state departments such as the Montana Department of Transportation, and tribal governments including the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Tourism planning emphasizes sustainable practices promoted by entities like the United States Travel Association and regional tourism bureaus in places such as Aspen, Colorado and Park City, Utah, integrating visitor management at sites like Zion National Park, interpretive programs by the Smithsonian Institution, and performance monitoring supported by universities such as University of Michigan and University of California, Berkeley.