Some Of The Best Winter Road Trip Destinations
Surprising Beauty In The Winter Cold
America is a land of opportunity and beauty unparalleled throughout most of the world. Russia and China have their Mongolian and Siberian regions, but these are hard to access and to a degree dangerous. Meanwhile, in America, you can travel from Alaska to San Diego, to Florida, to Maine, to Washington—all in your car.
But where are the best places to drive in winter for a fine road trip destination? We’re going to exclude Alaska for the moment because even though that state definitely has the most breathtaking and alien beauty during this season, it’s also dangerous to travel on that highway along Canada’s western coast. But if you’re really adventurous, give it a try.
Following we’ll instead focus on locations within the contiguous United States. Starting from Montana and ending with California, you can visit all these locales in the winter if you like.
The Highway To Glasgow, Montana
Glasgow is about sixty miles south of the Canadian border. The reason this is a notable drive is that Highway 59 goes along Fort Peck Reservoir, which has a massive dam and some fine visuals. If you drive this road in January or February, it will likely be twenty degrees below zero, Fahrenheit, and amazing.
The water will have a cloud atop it owing to it being much warmer than the surrounding area. It’s a beautiful, pristine, frozen sight. Glasgow itself is a small town that’s extremely isolated and only has about 5,000 people. Accordingly, they love visitors; and be careful if you go out to have a few brews with them, they will pour shots down your throat if they like you.
Also, drive carefully; these highways in Montana are decades old and treacherous. But they’re an adventure, and the drive is stunning. Also, if you go west 350 miles, you can check out Glacier National Park.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
If instead, you go a little under 500 miles southwest, you can check out Yellowstone National Park, which has some of the most beautiful drives in the country. The best roads and wildlife will be in Wyoming’s part of the national park; that’s where you’ll find Old Faithful and adjacent, cosmopolitan Jackson Hole. Just don’t drive these roads at night.
Buffalo will stand on the highway if it’s cold outside because the road is warmer. You’ll see moose, deer, elk, sometimes wolves, and bears in this area. In the winter, you might see them all—then round a tight corner to see the south end of a Buffalo. If you’re not in a semi-truck, I wonder if a big old buffalo would even know it got hit by a car. So be careful! But it’s gorgeous.
The Million Dollar Highway Between Ouray and Silverton in Colorado
In Southwest Colorado, between Ouray and Silverton, is a 24-mile stretch of highway that was expected to cost $1,000,000 in 1920 dollars. That would be a little over $13 million today. At any rate, it’s a beautiful stretch of road in a remote location. Go during the day, understand how black ice works, take your time and enjoy the beautiful sights.
The Arches In Utah, Moab
Bill Watterson, the cartoonist who is responsible for that American gem Calvin & Hobbes, would use Utah as his inspiration for alien planets explored by the venerable and hilarious “Spaceman Spiff”. Moab, Utah has some astonishing geological configurations—aches, “circles”, and craggy peaks that seem to come out of nowhere.
It truly looks like an alien planet. If you start in Glasgow, bounce through Glacier, Yellowstone, and the million-dollar highway, your next logical step would be Moab, Utah which is just a hop skip and a jump to the west from Colorado.
Yosemite National Park, California
Yosemite National Park has some amazing cliffs and hiking trails. It’s been a popular national park for tourists for many generations. If you’ve never been, you owe it to yourself to check out this gorgeous locale; in winter or Summer. It’s the location of that famous summit El Capitan, where rock climbers make a pilgrimage almost by default.
Also, there’s a little known bit of trivia about this specific area. In 1977, an airplane carrying contraband crashed in a lake near El Capitan, and a bunch of climbing bums got the lost haul and started selling it locally.
This is ethically unscrupulous, certainly; but the fun trivia is, that’s part of the inspirational basis of the Sylvester Stallone vehicle Cliffhanger. Do a search engine query for “Yosemite Gold Rush, 1977” for more details.
Appreciating The Beautiful Scenery Of America’s Winter
Whether you’re exploring the stunning loneliness of northern Montana, Yellowstone’s gorgeous topography and diverse wildlife, Utah’s otherworldly geological configurations, Colorado’s pristine latitudes, or Yosemite’s historical peaks and lakes, there’s much fine exploration to be had for winter adventurers across America’s open roads.
For more tips on travel destinations and vehicular intrigue, be sure to explore our blog at Anybody’s Autos!