From National Scenic Byways offering memorable driving experiences through automotive museums and racing venues, here's a look at some of the best attractions in the USA for car lovers and petrolheads. Spread across the United States, they include points of interest on the world-famous historic Route 66, Carhenge in Nebraska and many more, including Old Car City USA, the world's largest-known classic car junkyard.
Click through the gallery to see America's best car-themed attractions...
Park up at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, and you may well be driving on asphalt that is converted to be part of the temporary, three-and-a-bit miles (5.4km) street circuit of Miami International Autodrome. The state-of-the-art racing circuit has 19 corners and first hosted a Formula One Grand Prix in 2022. In doing so, it became the 11th US venue to host a race in the Formula One World Championship.
Enjoy woodland driving? Situated close to both Shasta-Trinity National Forest and Lassen National Forest, Redding is well placed for enjoying such an activity during a west coast road trip. The city on the Sacramento River is home to the annual Kool April Nites event. Typically a week long, the springtime event is for classic car enthusiasts. It features car shows and shines, chances to buy vehicles and a grand parade as well as musical events and drive-in movies.
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A popular NASCAR venue, Bristol Motor Speedway, the track is a banked concrete oval and nicknamed the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’. As many as 146,000 fans can view racing at this atmospheric venue, which also hosts events including concerts and football games and is popularly known as The Last Great Colosseum. Miss a key moment? Look up to the largest outdoor centre-hung four-sided video screen in the world. The adjacent Bristol Dragway hosts drag racing throughout the year.
Reserve a time slot to drive Acadia National Park’s scenic three-mile (4.8km) Cadillac Summit Road. The winding road to the top of the 1,530-foot (466m) high mountain offers places to pause and enjoy the spectacular views. The Park Loop Road is a great way to explore the national park’s rolling landscape and craggy coastline. Into motoring history? Nearby Seal Cove Auto Museum houses more than 60 cars from 1895 to the 1920s. Displays touch on topics including women’s rights, innovation and invention.
Historic Highway 66 runs for 2,448 miles (3,940km) between Los Angeles and Chicago. In Pontiac, approximately 100 miles (161km) from the eastern end of the iconic trail, you can visit the Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame and Museum to see videos, photos and artefacts conveying the story of the so-called ‘Mother Road’. The city is also home to the Pontiac-Oakland Automobile Museum, displaying rare and antique vehicles from two classic American brands of car.
Like cars? And coffee? There’s every chance you’ll love Cars and Coffee held on the first Saturday of each month at the Java Surf Cafe and Espresso Bar in Virginia Beach’s creative hub, the ViBe district. Billed as ‘the Mid-Atlantic’s longest-running cars and coffee event’, the monthly event is an opportunity for likeminded car enthusiasts to park up, view vehicles and socialise in a city with a thriving culinary scene and more than 38 miles (61km) of sandy beaches.
An Infield Experience at Phoenix Raceway offers petrolheads the opportunity to see crews at work inside of garages before NASCAR Cup Series Championship racing revs away. It also gives you the chance to join in the celebrations in the Victory Lane. Throughout the year here, you can – thanks to the enjoyable NASCAR Racing Experience – get behind the wheel, put pedal to the metal and drive a NASCAR racing car on the mile-long (1.6km) oval.
The USA’s largest vintage street race and vintage racing event spans two weekends at the end of July and beginning of August. Established in 1983, the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix features a range of events, from the Black Tie and Tailpipes Gala to the Waterfront Car Cruise. The final weekend sees as many as 3,000 desirable cars, from classic models to vintage vehicles, parked at the Bob O’Connor Golf Course in Schenley Park and vintage track racing on the Sunday.
Detroit is the USA’s original Motor City and offers much for automotive enthusiasts. Henry Ford established his then innovative production line to make Model T cars in the brick-built factory now known as the Ford Piquette Plant Museum. It tells the story of the Ford brand from its beginnings. General Motors is headquartered in Detroit. Head to the GMRenCen to pick up branded merch at the company store.
More than 40 cars protrude nose-first from the arid ground of Goldfield, 180 miles (290km) northwest of Las Vegas. Once the most populous city in Nevada, Goldfield is today described as a ‘living ghost town’. One of its 250 residents, Mark Rippie, set out to break the Guinness World Record for the world’s biggest car forest and was joined by artists Zak Sargent and Chad Sort. Each vehicle in the International Car Forest of the Last Church features unique art and new commissions are continually added.
The Vehicle Vault is a state-of-the-art automotive museum and event space approximately 25 miles (40km) southeast of downtown Denver. The collection of rare and low-mileage vehicles spans every decade since the beginning of the last century and there’s a rotating exhibition of cars, including a 1930 Ford Model A, a 1956 Chevrolet 210 and a 1970 Dodge Superbee. Monthly Espresso and Exhaust events, on the second Saturday of the month, are a great way to meet fellow enthusiasts.
The Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari is at the eastern entry to New Mexico on Route 66. The restored roadside motel has been welcoming guests since 1939. On the National Historic Registry, it features a neon sign that motorists drive through to check in. The iconic motel is less than a five-minute drive from the New Mexico Route 66 Museum, whose claim to fame is that it has 'the world’s largest Route 66 photo exhibit'.
Check out America's most classic motels for your next US road trip
Ocean Drive winds along 10 miles (16km) of Atlantic shoreline in Newport, Rhode Island. The scenic route, which skirts Brenton Point State Park and Fort Adam State Park, presents views of mansions built as grand summer homes for wealthy families during America’s Gilded Age (a period of boom during the late 19th century). If you're searching for some automotive history, be sure to set aside time to visit Newport Car Museum and Audrain Automobile Museum after meandering along Ocean Drive.
The highways of Alaska offer rugged mountain scenery and road trips with a sense of adventure. The first automobile to be built in Alaska – more than half a century before statehood was attained – is displayed at the impressive Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum in Fairbanks. It’s one of around 100 rare, innovative or historically important vehicles at the museum, including the last Columbia Mark XIX and McFarlan Type 125 still in existence.
Amarillo's principal tourist destination and biggest roadside attraction is the Cadillac Ranch. Completed on the summer solstice of 1974, it is a permanent art installation of 10 Cadillac sedans with tail fins. Created by the Ant Farm art collective, they face west and jut out at a 60-degree angle (the same angle is also evident at the Pyramids of Giza) from a flat field within view of Interstate 40 on the Historic Route 66. They are seen by over 1.4 million visitors a year.
Bowling Green, Kentucky, is the only place in the world where the Chevrolet Corvette, the sleek vehicle known as ‘America’s sports car’, is assembled. Join a tour of the Corvette Assembly Plant to see vehicles on the production line. It’s next to the National Corvette Museum, which is dedicated to telling the story of the popular brand and also hosts temporary exhibitions. Test your ability to control a Corvette at speed on one of the museum’s racing simulators.
The 2.66-mile (4.3km) circuit at the Talladega Superspeedway features banking of up to 33 degrees, making it both the longest and steepest racetrack in NASCAR racing. Experience what it’s like to drive a NASCAR race car on the track during a NASCAR Racing Experience. In-car radio enables you to receive instructions while behind the wheel and a brief pit stop also provides tips on overtaking other drivers on the speedway.
The free-to-visit Fort Lauderdale Ferrari Museum offers an opportunity to see a rare Ferrari 275 GTB/C Speciale that was raced at Le Mans. There are just three of them in the world. Cars worth more than £78 million ($100m) are displayed at the museum, including a Gunnar Racing Porsche 935, Maserati MC12 and Lamborghinis. It’s within a vast flea market with indoor and outdoor stalls. The popular attraction has evolved from a drive-through cinema that the owner established in the 1960s.
Not really into sunbathing? How about a drive instead? On paying a daily access fee you can drive your car on the white sand of Daytona Beach. The resort in Florida is 56 miles (90km) northeast of Orlando and is famed for its racing heritage, with Daytona International Speedway hosting events since the 1950s. The Daytona 500 and the 24-hour Rolex 24 at Daytona are two of the most anticipated car races of the sporting calendar.
A 90-minute drive due west of Salt Lake City, the flat white landscape of the Bonneville Salt Flats spans 30,000 acres. Numerous land speed records have been set on the salty crust of the Bonneville Speedway, known as 'the fastest racetrack on Earth'. In 1935 Britain’s Sir Malcolm Campbell was clocked driving in excess of 300 miles per hour (484km/h) in his vehicle Blue Bird, a feat which helped establish the track’s fame. Depending on weather conditions and planned events, visitors are welcome.
The significance of the automobile in shaping American society is laid out at LeMay – America’s Car Museum. The collection encompasses automotive artefacts and 250 vehicles, including a 1913 Daimler Type 20 Touring Car, a 1940 Lincoln Zephyr and a 1994 Flintmobile used in The Flintstones movie. Keen drivers will enjoy exploring the surrounding region, which is home to the Olympic National Forest and Mount Rainier National Park. The latter’s Chinook Byway and White Pass Scenic Byway are connected by the Scenic Byways Loop and make for an enjoyable drive.
Experiential travel is becoming increasingly popular and it’s easy to understand why when you’re burning rubber and tearing around a track pushing a well-tuned engine to its maximum. Full-day classes at BMW’s Driver’s School impart advanced car control skills and offer a chance to record a lap time. The BMW Performance Center at Thermal is a short commute from downtown Palm Springs and handily placed for heading out on a scenic drive in Joshua Tree National Park.
Driving the southernmost section of US Highway 1, the Overseas Highway between Key West and Key Largo, means traversing a 113-mile (182km) stretch of road over the Atlantic Ocean, Florida Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Designated by the Federal Highway Administration as both a National Scenic Byway and an All-American Road, sections of the Overseas Highway are elevated above the water by 42 bridges. It also crosses 44 islands meaning there’s much to see along the way.
Running through White Mountain National Forest, the Kancamagus Scenic Byway is a 34.5-mile (56km) section of New Hampshire Route 112 between Conway and Lincoln. Known locally as ‘the Kanc’, the National Scenic Byway rises to an altitude of 2,855 feet (870m) at the Kancamagus Pass. The route serves up gorgeous views of the White Mountains and is regarded as one of the best driving routes to appreciate the fall colours of autumnal foliage in New England.
Among the Smithsonian Institution's expansive collection of historic vehicles at the National Museum of American History in Washington DC, visitors can see the first American-built car propelled by an internal combustion engine (the Duryea). The museum on the National Mall also has a sleek, open-topped Simplex Speed Car in a collection that conveys the significance of the car in American life. The Batmobile has even been displayed at this multifaceted museum.
Carhenge is a 20th-century replica of Stonehenge, the prehistoric structure featuring standing stones on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Jim Reinders had the idea of creating it as a memorial to his father. Using 39 cars, family members duly constructed the site north of Alliance, Nebraska. It is one of the points of interest along US Highway 87, which runs for 1,998 miles (3,215km) between southern Texas and northern Montana.
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The motor racing circuit in Indianapolis dates from 1909, making it one of the oldest in the world. The first of the famous Indianapolis 500 races, over 500 miles (805km) long, was held in 1911. Since then, the track has also hosted Formula One, IndyCar, NASCAR and MotoGP racing, making it a place of pilgrimage for a variety of fans. An Indy Racing Experience makes it possible to ride the circuit at speed in a two-seat IndyCar or to drive a vehicle that has competed in the Indianapolis 500.
Running for almost 123 miles (198 km) between Panguitch and Torrey in Utah, National Scenic Byway 12 is an All-American Road because of its dramatic views as well as its historical and cultural significance. A joy to drive, the route passes through rock arches in Red Canyon on the eastern edge of Dixie National Forest, skirts north of Bryce Canyon National Park, over a ridge known as ‘the Hogsback’ between Escalante and Boulder towards its northern end near Capitol Reef National Park.
No driver ever wants to experience having to call a tow truck. The International Towing Museum showcases how they have evolved since their introduction in 1916. More than 350 of the world’s top roadside recovery professionals and towing innovators are honoured in the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame, which is located inside the museum. If you’re in the city in October, check out the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival featuring a car auction and famous faces from automotive circles.
Spend a day wandering between more than 4,400 American-made vehicles dating from the 1970s and earlier at Old Car City USA. Rusting between trees, the 34-acre site features nature trails and is described as ‘the world's largest-known classic car junkyard’. Just a 45-minute drive northwest of Atlanta, it presents the perfect opportunity to photograph slowly decaying cars and trucks.
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