We were five weeks into a summer-long American road trip and, for the past 30 miles, my kids had been watching movies in the back of the
minivan. But when we began climbing out of Wyoming and into Montana on the Beartooth Scenic Parkway, glaciers and snow-tipped Rockies
filling the windshield, Adam and Dana stashed their electronics and turned all eyes to the windows. “Like driving on top of the world,”
said Adam. When the road later delivered us to a spectacular pass and the Top of the World Store, he ran off to take pictures of a sign
that read “No phone―Can radio Cody sheriff in emergency.” Adam clearly thought being off the grid at the top of the world was pretty
cool.
Travelers often think of roads as the miles of asphalt to be covered to get to a destination. We devise ways―music, entertainment,
conversation, games―to make the miles go quickly.
But many roads are themselves destinations, and a slow-paced family drive along a scenic stretch of highway can connect you to the land
and to each other. On such roads, each mile is a gift.
Our family’s traveled dozens of fabulous byways. Here are a few favorites (hard to choose!) with WIFK/What’s In it For Kids sightseeing
suggestions on or near the routes, because kids do not live by scenery alone:
Acadia Byway, Maine:
With craggy coastlines, sheltered coves, clapboard villages and sea-hardened fishermen and their boats, this
40-mile loop in and around Acadia National Park dishes up quintessential coastal New England. WIFK: Whale-watching cruises; ferries to
the Cranberry Islands, named for the fruit that grows wild there; horse-drawn carriage rides on paths donated to the park service by
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; wearing plastic bibs while eating lobster dipped in butter.
Midland Trail, West Virginia:
Route 60 shows you West Virginia at work and play. As you make your way to Charleston and its gold-domed
capitol, you pass through coal towns like Boomer, Alloy and Smithers, hear whistles announcing mine blasts, and watch fully-laden coal
barges ply the brawny Kanawha River. The wet, wild landscape near Gauley Bridge and New River Gorge offers a bonanza of outdoor
recreation, including world-class whitewater rafting. WIFK: Dozens of outfitters offering adventures like rafting, horseback riding and
rock climbing; lookout points at Hawks Nest State Park for vertigo-inducing views of New River Gorge and its soaring namesake bridge,
America’s longest single span; riding a rail cart into the earth at Beckley Exhibition Mine, where guides shed light on the hard life of
miners.
Apache Trail, Arizona:
The southern half of Route 88's 50 miles is rugged, majestic and paved. The northern half is rugged, majestic and
unpaved. Some folks drive it all, others drive the southern half and turn around, usually at Tortilla Flat, an outpost of a few souls
that marks the line between dirt and asphalt. The roadway was carved in the early 20th century into the sides of the cactus-covered
Superstition Mountains to support crews building dams along the Salt River. It challenges the driver―especially near Fish Creek Hill,
where, via a series of switchbacks, you change 1,500 feet in elevation in a few short miles―but it rewards all passengers with
incomparable desert vistas. WIFK: Steamboat trips on Canyon Lake, one of three Apache Trail lakes created when the dams were
constructed; Goldfield Ghost Town, whose boom came and went in the 1890s; jeep tours into the Superstitions from
Lost Dutchman Mine State Park; Tonto National Monument, site of 700-year-old cliff dwellings built by the prehistoric Salado people.
State Route 13/Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin:
Gitchee Gumee, “All-Powerful Lake” in a native Algonquin language, is so close to your car on much of this road, an offshoot of the
Lake Superior Circle Tour, that you can hear whitecaps cresting and crashing through rolled up windows. For many of its miles, Route 13
parallels the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, a pristine land and waterscape of sculpted sandstone cliffs, broad beaches and
forested islands. WIFK: Apostle Island ferries and lighthouse cruises that depart from beautiful Bayfield; museums that chronicle
Superior’s famed shipwrecks; fish hatchery tours at Red Cliff Reservation, home of a band of Lake Superior Chippewa; marinas with
sailboat and kayak rentals; fried whitefish sandwiches with gobs of mayo.
Learn about hundreds of scenic routes nationwide at websites like ByWays.org, then
hit the road. The slow road. The back road. The road that makes you feel on top of the world.
About The Author:
Lori Hein is an author, a traveling mom and a freelancer specializing in travel writing. Her book,
Ribbons of Highway: A Mother-Child Journey Across America ,
takes you around the U.S., and her blog, Ribbons of Highway,
takes you around the world. Visit her professional site at at LoriHein.com.
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