I saw a post on Facebook today about the Devil's Highway out West.

This got me wondering, what do you think are the "must ride destination roads" in the US? 

I consider a "Destination Road" a road that is a travel destination in and of itself.

Some come to mind:

- The Blue Ridge Parkway
- Deal's Gap
- The Million Dollar Highway.
- Route 101 up the West Coast. 
- The Going to the Sun Road

What roads in this country do you think are worth traveling far just to ride?

Some of my favorites out west:

Beartooth Highway (US-212 west from Red Lodge, MT)

Cedar Canyon Road (Rt. 14 east from Cedar City, UT)

Icefields Parkway (Rt. 93 north from Banff to Jasper, BC)

Independence Pass (Rt. 82 west from Twin Lakes to Aspen, CO)

Lolo Pass (US-12 west from Lolo, MT to Kamiah, ID)

How could I have forgotten to include Beartooth Highway, Independence Pass, or the Icefields not to mention Lolo Pass? Good calls!

I've never ridden Cedar Canyon Road but I've added it to my wish list. From the map it looks good. Do you have any photos from there?

My basemaps don't cover Canada yet so I can't yet mark the Icefields. I was up there in 2010

Looking forward to doing 141 this summer. Did 145 through Telluride. 

Oh, that does look like a good road. I've added it to my list. :) 

Do you have any photos from this route? (Is this correct?)

Ah, this thread is invoking some fond memories!

Coming back from Alaska (via Williams Lake, BC and Seattle) last summer, I hit Lolo Pass over to Missoula.  Stayed the night in Kamiah, then headed east to Red Lodge and rode the Beartooth Highway.  Stopped at Top of The World Store on Beartooth for the night (they have a few motel rooms and I lucked out).  Dropped off Beartooth onto Chief Joseph Highway the next morning, then south through Wind River Canyon to Colorado.  Over to Aspen the next day, then up through Independence Pass eastbound and hit Pikes Peak on the way to Colorado Springs for a visit with the grandkids. 

I've got a few photos from that ride, but nothing spectacular.  Unfortunately, my photography skills are mediocre at best and I'm typically more interested in enjoying the ride than fiddling with a camera.  Trying to capture such beautiful scenery tends to interfere with "living the moment" and squeezing the most juice out of each trip, at least for me.  Plus, without a helmet cam, taking pictures requires stopping and I really don't like to stop--especially when things get twisty.  ;-)

Re Cedar Canyon road, it's been over 25 years since I've ridden that one (long before digital cameras), but I might have some old photos in a box somewhere.  I'll see what I can dig up.  Mentioned Cedar Canyon because it was one of my favorite rides when I was stationed in Utah many moons ago.  Lots of great canyon roads up and down the Wasatch and throughout Utah for that matter (more than I can recall really) but Cedar Canyon stands out in my memory for some reason.  Maybe because it was one leg of the first multi-day trip on my first beemer ('85 K100RS) circa 1991.

Two more worth mentioning from my time living in Texas:  Route 118 west of Fort Davis up to McDonald Observatory and the beloved "Twisted Sisters" roads down near Leakey.  Good riding in Texas hill country around Fredericksburg too.

Thanks for this! That just sounds like such an fantastic trip. 

In 2010, I rode up to Deadhorse, AK and back again on my own flying brick. It was the trip that inspired the creation of this site. 

The thread on the Facebook page has also yielded some very good suggestions including:

Cool. Thanks for the link. I've added it to the route on the map.

Awesome trip to Deadhorse and great write-up!

MTSweger, thanks! I still dream about that trip and envy my former self. 

I came across this today on the site "Only in your State". Have any of you ridden it? 

Yes.  I used to ride down there several times a year when we lived in west Texas (ca. 2000-2004).  Always lots of fun on the old K100RS.  Would have ridden the sisters even more often if it was closer to home.  Too bad it took me a couple hours of riding from San Angelo just to begin seeing some semi-twisty roads.

Wish I had my KTM 1200SA while living in San Angelo.  Lots of interesting ranch roads out that way to explore, but my beemer just wasn't the right tool for that job.  I did enjoy riding Texas hill country and trips out to Big Bend from time to time though.  

Made more than a few long-distance rides on that trusty old K100RS.  Both coasts and up to BC twice.  Was pushing 200K miles on that bike by the time we moved to Virginia in late 2004.

Hmmm... Maybe I'll hit the Twisted Sisters route after my ride to Austin for MotoGP next month as long as I'm in the neiborhood.

Another recommendation I received:

Nebreska Route 2 from Alliance to Grand Island (275 miles) is a nice ride. Not spectacular scenery but there is something about the rolling grasslands.

US 33 between Harrisonburg, Va and Harman, WV. Great fun, lots of twisties.

US250 between West Augusta, Va and Thornwood, WV. Demands a lot of attention but is an incredibly satisfying ride.

VA-80 south of Elk Garden, VA to  Poor Valley Rd. Narrow and little, to no, runoff. Can be scary, keep it real and it's fun.

This may have been mentioned and I missed it, but, Southeast Ohio has some phenomenal riding and gets very little mention. The triple nickel (OH-555) between Zanesville and Little Hocking is obviously a favorite, but, pick a direction in the area and have a good time. Be forewarned, there are LOTS of blind hills (Especially OH-555) and curves and can be off putting to some people. Don't let your guard down in SE OH. The few times I've been, the town of Marietta is a pretty nice place to call home base for a few days. The Microtel Inn is quite nice and the rates are reasonable.

Ride safe everyone...

Excellent suggestions!  It's been a while since I've ridden route 80 so I'm due to head down that way again.  Another good one east of there is route 16 between Marion and Tazewell.

Of course, there's also VA-42, which is a nice scenic route and a good way to avoid I-81 when heading down through the Shenandoah Valley.  Another nice diversion if you're in the area is route 622 north from Atkins to route 42, then 16 south to Marion--a twisty loop that will help scrub the chicken strips from the edge of you tires.  ;-)

I remember Route 80 well. The last time I was down there was in 2014 on my way cross country ... 
I may find myself down that way in early May riding with America.Rides.Maps. 

VA 80 looks intriguing. Thanks. Adding to the Route-to-scout list.

I live in the northwest, in Victoria BC, and can vouch for the Lolo Pass; that was the destination road of my annual trip two years ago.  Well worth it.

This year's trip is centered around another road mentioned here - Bear Tooth Pass on the north end of Yellowstone.  I'll make sure that we also ride Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.  Thanks for the tip, Embedded Object Error!
Yermo, another road I've ridden a couple of times that I know you would like is State Route 96 in northern California. 
Rode that one last year on the way to San Francisco.  Combined with 101 on the coast, it's a couple of days of great riding.

I don't know how to post a map but 215 North Carolina Route 2 107 107 through Glenville back down 178 264 back into Rosman but I'm also sure that somebody's probably listed the Blue Ridge Parkway anywhere from South Carolina to Virginia is a good section

Tattoomike, roughly like this? 

Recently returned from a ten-day ride from Victoria to Yellowstone and back.  Super trip all around and rode a couple of roads mentioned here - the Bear Tooth Pass and Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.

 In Red Lodge, Montana we stayed at the Alpine Lodge, a decent motorcycle-friendly place with a bike washing station and a great breakfast.  The road over the pass includes numerous switchbacks, major elevation changes, and breathtaking mountain scenery.

There are wild beasts along this route, however.
And there is no mistaking the bear tooth itself on the south side of the pass.
On the other side of the mountain, we took the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway to Cody, Wyoming.  Although less dramatic in terms of switchbacks and awesome nature, this is arguably the better road.  The scenery is great and gradually changes as you descend to the plains.  There are long, fast sweepers and shorter tighter ones, too.  We saw very little traffic and were thrilled with the ride when we got to Cody.

And one more comment on previously mentioned "best roads"...  I was looking for a place to stay for our second night on the road, which would be near Missoula.  Unsatisfied with motels conveniently located around the airport, I expanded my search and we stayed at The Jack Saloon, which is just off the Lolo Pass (highway 12).  It's an amazing place, built out of enormous cedar logs, oozing with character, has the best steak sandwich I've ever had, and was rated a "best bar in America".  There are three two-person cabins, which was perfect for our group of six, and there is live music every Saturday night, which was also perfect, as we were there on a Saturday.  Had an amazing time and would highly recommend it if you're looking for a place to sleep indoors in that area.
Hope everybody gets in a good long ride or two this summer.