How Much It Costs To Drive 30 Scenic Roads Across America

As the summer of 2025 fades into fall, and the trees turn from green to a lovely red, orange and yellow, you might be feeling the call of the road. After all, when is there a better time for a scenic road trip? Fall offers an American beauty not overcooked by summer heat or made uncomfortably icy and slick by wintertime.

That said, various states offer so many potential road trips and routes, at varying lengths and gas costs, it may be hard to decide just where to point your car. To help you on your journey, GOBankingRates recently analyzed some of the most popular scenic routes in America, compiling both their lengths and the cost to drive them.

Curious about the cost of a multi-state journey down the famed Route 66? Or would you prefer a single-state trip through northern California, or the Florida Keys, or a gorgeous ride through Alaska? GOBankingRates has 30 options for nearly any scenic road trip preference you might have.

Also see scenic drives that are perfect for retirees and the toll costs to know.

• The longest, most expensive route is in a single state: Alaska’s 3,500-mile Marine Highway interconnects over 30 very remote communities along the state’s coastline, providing a very necessary throughway for travel and commerce in a state where such travel can be dangerous and difficult.
• The shortest and cheapest route still packs in a lot of scenery: The City of Las Vegas Boulevard provides an ample look at the sights and sounds (along with prime people-watching) in Sin City.
• Only one scenic road traverses more states than the famous Route 66: The Great River Road journey will take you through a whopping 10 states.

• State: Alaska
• Average cost of gas for trip: $547.66
• Length of trip: 3,500 miles

• States: Arizona, California, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico and Oklahoma
• Average cost of gas for trip: $247.89
• Length of trip: 2,041 miles

• States: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnestoa, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin
• Average cost of gas for trip: $232.60
• Length of trip: 2,069 miles

• State: Washington
• Average cost of gas for trip: $63.45
• Length of trip: 440 miles

• States: North Carolina and Virginia
• Average cost of gas for trip: $49.86
• Length of trip: 469 miles

• States: Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee
• Average cost of gas for trip: $48.72
• Length of trip: 444 miles

• State: Maryland
• Average cost of gas for trip: $44.26
• Length of trip: 419 miles

• State: Nebraska
• Average cost of gas for trip: $33.41
• Length of trip: 272 miles

• State: Louisiana
• Average cost of gas for trip: $19.95
• Length of trip: 180 miles

• State: Alaska
• Average cost of gas for trip: $19.87
• Length of trip: 127 miles

• State: Minnesota
• Average cost of gas for trip: $18.29
• Length of trip: 154 miles

• State: Utah
• Average cost of gas for trip: $14.13
• Length of trip: 123 miles

• State: California
• Average cost of gas for trip: $12.44
• Length of trip: 90 miles

• State: South Carolina
• Average cost of gas for trip: $12.38
• Length of trip: 110 miles

• State: Florida
• Average cost of gas for trip: $11.61
• Length of trip: 106 miles

• State: California
• Average cost of gas for trip: $11.05
• Length of trip: 80 miles

• State: Oregon
• Average cost of gas for trip: $9.98
• Length of trip: 70

• States: Montana and Wyoming
• Average cost of gas for trip: $9.49
• Length of trip: 68 miles

• State: New Mexico
• Average cost of gas for trip: $9.24
• Length of trip: 77 miles

• State: Hawaii
• Average cost of gas for trip: $8.37
• Length of trip: 54 miles

• State: Massachusetts
• Average cost of gas for trip: $7.03
• Length of trip: 62 miles

• State: Alabama
• Average cost of gas for trip: $5.99
• Length of trip: 54 miles

• State: Utah
• Average cost of gas for trip: $5.86
• Length of trip: 51 miles

• State: Colorado
• Average cost of gas for trip: $5.65
• Length of trip: 48 miles

• State: Maine
• Average cost of gas for trip: $4.81
• Length of trip: 40 miles

• State: New Hampshire
• Average cost of gas for trip: $4.11
• Length of trip: 34.5 miles

• State: Rhode Island
• Average cost of gas for trip: $2.31
• Length of trip: 19.35 miles

• State: Michigan
• Average cost of gas for trip: $0.93
• Length of trip: 7.4 miles

• State: Arizona
• Average cost of gas for trip: $0.93
• Length of trip: 7.5 miles

• State: Nevada
• Average cost of gas for trip: $0.45
• Length of trip: 3.4 miles

Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed some of the most popular routes in the United States to find the average cost in gas to drive along them. GOBankingRates sourced the most popular driving routes from Travel+Leisure’s “America’s Most Scenic Roads,” “Historic Columbia River Highway Scenic Byway,” “North Shore Drive with Fall Colors” and “Red Rock Scenic Byway Named Most Distracting.” The mileage for each route was sourced from National Scenic Byway Foundation’s list of America’s Byway Collection. The average price of regular gas was sourced from AAA’s Avg Gas Cost by State. The average miles per gallon was sourced from iSeeCars study of average MPG by state in 2024. Using the average mpg, the average cost of gas in each state and each route’s total milage, the average cost of gas to drive each road was calculated. The routes were sorted to show the most expensive routes first. All data was collected on and is up to date as of Sept. 10, 2025.