{"id":303,"date":"2013-09-07T14:03:47","date_gmt":"2013-09-07T14:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gast.vamtam.com\/?p=303"},"modified":"2013-09-07T14:03:47","modified_gmt":"2013-09-07T14:03:47","slug":"these-are-the-quick-drives-you-need-to-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/these-are-the-quick-drives-you-need-to-take\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Of America\u2019s Finest Just-Outside-The-City Drives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Living in the city can often feel oppressive with traffic around every corner and tall buildings blocking most of the sun. Luckily, salvation isn\u2019t far away. Get out of the concrete jungle and enjoy the open road for the first time in weeks. Here are nine of the best quick drives you can easily hit from some of America\u2019s great cities. Get moving.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeattle Route\n\t<\/h2>\n\t

Chuckanut Drive is a road along the coast that\u2019s maybe greener than any drive you\u2019ve taken in your life. You\u2019ll be surrounded by overhanging trees and it\u2019ll often feel like you\u2019re driving through a tunnel of foliage. There\u2019s a faster way to get to and from Seattle, but why would you skip a beautiful, twisting, cliff-bound drive full of farmland and mountains? You can even make make it a foodie trip by stopping along the way at places like Breadfarm or Taylor Shellfish Farms.<\/p>\n

\n\tLos Angeles Route\n\t<\/h2>\n\t

West coast drivers have the ultimate asphalt blessing: Highway 1, an idyllic, 655-mile stretch of Pacific coastline driving. Blast some music and take the trip up to the perfectly unfancy and delicious Malibu Seafood Fresh Fish Market. Open your window for the ocean breeze. Get some fish, grab a picnic table across the parking lot, and stare at the water. Now, drive to Point Dume, and sit on the beach for as long as you possibly can.<\/p>\n

\n\tDenver Route\n\t<\/h2>\n\t

You can see the mountains from the city and they\u2019re calling your name. Drop everything (except your keys) and drive straight to Gem Lake Trail. Cruise up the mountains and keep the windows open for that fresh air, even if it\u2019s cold. Lean into the curves and accelerate at the apexes. You\u2019re in the Rocky Mountains, for God\u2019s sake: Not having your windows down should be criminal.<\/p>\n

\n\tAsheville Route\n\t<\/h2>\n\t

Even though Asheville isn\u2019t known for hustle and bustle, everyone needs to get out of town once in a while — and you\u2019re so close to an amazing drive, especially in the fall. Meet up with the Blue Ridge Parkway wherever it\u2019s closest to you and take it to Mount Mitchell State Park. The overlook is spectacular. Keep driving on the parkway and, pro tip, throw on some driving music you can turn up.<\/p>\n

\n\tSan Francisco Route\n\t<\/h2>\n\t

A drive in the City by the Bay is now more stop than go, so take the Golden Gate Bridge out of the city, head to Muir Woods National Monument, and drive among trees that were around when Charlemagne was crowned emperor of Rome. Then go directly to Hog Island Oyster Co in Marshall. You\u2019ll take the famous Highway 1 and enjoy stunning views of the ocean and Point Reyes National Seashore. You might not want to stop.<\/p>\n

\n\tMinneapolis Route\n\t<\/h2>\n\t

You\u2019ve heard of Minnesota\u2019s many, many lakes, but there are also many, many rivers that make for great weekend cruising. Take I-94 E out of Minneapolis and connect with MN-95 N\/St. Croix Trail North. You\u2019ll follow the St. Croix River, which you can take all the way up to the National Scenic Riverway Visitor Center. The whole trip feels like you\u2019re canoeing along the St. Croix, but in a much better (and faster) vehicle. You can easily take this route back to the city if you\u2019d like, but you can also head back by starting on US-8 E if you want a change of pace and enjoy views of some of the state\u2019s 11,842 lakes.<\/p>\n

\n\tMaui Route\n\t<\/h2>\n\t

Iceland has its famous Ring Road that circles the entire country but America has the Maui Loop in Hawaii. You\u2019ll drive from Kahului, taking the Hana highway to Ho’okipa Lookout for a spectacular view of the ocean. When you\u2019re not on the ocean, you might be climbing mountains with stunning overlooks and steep curves. Drive to Halfway to Hana for their famous banana bread, and then stop at the Hana Lava Tube, Waianapanapa State Park, or Koki Beach — or just keep going to the Laulima Farm Fruit Stand or Grandma\u2019s Coffeehouse on your way through the trees.<\/p>\n

\n\tPortland\n\t<\/h2>\n\t

The Columbia River Scenic Highway was the first scenic highway in this country and you\u2019ve probably never heard of it, even though it\u2019s beautiful and filled with moss, waterfalls, flowers, and, of course, the river. Take it to Vista House for a panoramic view, or keep driving to Latourell Falls or Bridal Veil Falls or Multnomah Falls or Horsetail Falls (there are a lot of waterfalls). Keep your window open and listen to the falls thunder as you speed by on your way to Cascade Marine Park where you can overlook the Bridge of the Gods. Yes, that\u2019s what it\u2019s really called.<\/p>\n

\n\tNew York Route\n\t<\/h2>\n\t

What New York has in traffic and congestion it makes up for upstate. To make the most of it, head north along the Hudson River and take the road to Bear Mountain, which is known for its hiking (the Appalachian Trail runs through it) and stunning view from Perkins Memorial Drive. Then drive to the giant sculpture park that is Storm King Arts Center or see farm animals at Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. Or, you can cross that bridge you saw, Bear Mountain Bridge, and get lost in the windy roads of the mountains. Hopefully you have a car that can handle turns and hills. If not, take it easy, enjoy the view, and head back down to the city along the river.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Living in the city can often feel oppressive with traffic around every corner and tall buildings blocking most of the sun. Luckily, salvation isn\u2019t far away. Get out of the concrete jungle and enjoy the open road for the first time in weeks. Here are nine of the best quick drives you can easily hit…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,21],"tags":[27,36],"class_list":["post-303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-see","category-trip-ideas","tag-challenges","tag-hotels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chaldare.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}