More often than not, top drives are set along picturesque coasts or around mountains. But while it doesn’t boast pine-scented forests or salty aromas lifting off the ocean, Route 66 is nonetheless the most scenic drive in America.
The journey, spanning 2,400 miles and traveling through eight states, earned the ranking from Tripadvisor, which looked at Instagram hashtag data. To determine its results, which the booking company shared with Travel + Leisure, Tripadvisor partnered with vehicle performance data site 0-60specs.com.
“Route 66, with its legendary pop culture status and rich history, tops the ranking with over two million Instagram posts, demonstrating how reputation can contribute to a driveâs social media popularity,” Emir Bacic, the owner of 0-60 Specs, said in a statement shared with T+L, adding “Uploading a scenic picture to Instagram can now capture the imagination of thousands of travelers, which is why some of these iconic drives have amassed a staggering number of social media uploads.”
The classic route, which is turning 100 next year, boasted 2.3 million Instagram posts, according to the study, higher than any other scenic drive in the country.
The route was officially created by the Bureau of Public Roads in 1926, according to the National Park Service (NPS), serving as a Dust Bowl migration route and later immortalized in pop culture, including in John Steinbeckâs 1939 novel âThe Grapes of Wrathâ and the song âRoute 66,â sung by Nat King Cole, The Rolling Stones, Bing Crosby, and Depeche Mode.
Coming in second on the list was the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway, which claimed 728,000 Instagram posts. The drive is a major leaf-peeping favorite every autumn, taking travelers through Virginia and North Carolina, connecting Shenandoah National Park with Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Flanked by vineyards, Oregon’s Willamette Valley ranked third on the list with just over 500,000 Instagram posts about the area. California’s Pacific Coast Highway and Maui’s Road to Hana rounded out the top five.
Deviating from the rest of the scenic drives, New York City’s Park Avenue came in at No. 6 with Instagram users posting about the skyscraper-flanked stretch 334,000 times.
This is the full list of the top scenic drives in America and how many Instagram posts they each boast, according to Tripadvisor.
- Route 66: 2,336,066 Instagram posts
- Blue Ridge Parkway: 728,000 Instagram posts
- Willamette Valley: 500,253 Instagram posts
- Pacific Coast Highway: 453,215 Instagram posts
- Hana Highway, Road to Hana: 409,870 Instagram posts
- Park Avenue: 334,000 Instagram posts
- Road to Nowhere: 320,000 Instagram posts
- 17-Mile Drive: 189,187 Instagram posts
- Crystal Beach: 166,000 Instagram posts
- Skyline Drive: 141,216 Instagram posts
