Five Best Paved Drives In Arizona
We are fortunate to be able to say that we’ve driven every single paved scenic drive in Arizona and many of the non-paved scenic drives as well. With that being said, we wanted to share with you our five favorite paved scenic drives in Arizona because they are also some of the best scenic drives in the entire country!
1. 89A From Sedona To Flagstaff
This was actually the last paved scenic drive we did in Arizona, and it blew our minds. The best route to take, in my opinion, is from Kingman to Topock. By following this direction, you get to climb up the mountain and enjoy breathtaking views on both sides.
If you’re lucky enough to hit Oatman Highway during a ‘super bloom’ in Spring, you are going to have your mind blown! We were able to go over the crest where we literally just started screaming because there were millions and millions of yellow poppies everywhere, covering the sides of the mountains.
Once you go over the mountain, you get to drive through the very cool, old mining town of Oatman. The town of Oatman is extremely unique in that they let their burros, a.k.a donkeys, roam free throughout the town. Many of the donkeys are quite friendly!
They also have great shops and a couple of restaurants, and it’s definitely worth a stop. You can even buy burro food from some of the shops to feed the donkeys. Once you’ve finished up with Oatman, you can easily continue down the road south to Lake Havasu City.
A great reason to visit Lake Havasu is that it is home to the original London Bridge – the biggest antique in America and Arizona’s second most visited tourist attraction after the Grand Canyon. The bridge was bought from London, taken apart piece by piece, shipped across the ocean, and rebuilt in Lake Havasu. It’s a very odd, unique, and funky thing to see, and it’s always a blast.
2. Oatman Highway From Kingman To Topock
This was actually the last paved scenic drive we did in Arizona, and it blew our minds. The best route to take, in my opinion, is from Kingman to Topock. By following this direction, you get to climb up the mountain and enjoy breathtaking views on both sides.
If you’re lucky enough to hit Oatman Highway during a ‘super bloom’ in Spring, you are going to have your mind blown! We were able to go over the crest where we literally just started screaming because there were millions and millions of yellow poppies everywhere, covering the sides of the mountains.
Once you go over the mountain, you get to drive through the very cool, old mining town of Oatman. The town of Oatman is extremely unique in that they let their burros, a.k.a donkeys, roam free throughout the town. Many of the donkeys are quite friendly!
They also have great shops and a couple of restaurants, and it’s definitely worth a stop. You can even buy burro food from some of the shops to feed the donkeys. Once you’ve finished up with Oatman, you can easily continue down the road south to Lake Havasu City.
A great reason to visit Lake Havasu is that it is home to the original London Bridge – the biggest antique in America and Arizona’s second most visited tourist attraction after the Grand Canyon. The bridge was bought from London, taken apart piece by piece, shipped across the ocean, and rebuilt in Lake Havasu. It’s a very odd, unique, and funky thing to see, and it’s always a blast.
3. Route 191 A.K.A The Devil’s Highway
We suggest taking this route from Springerville all the way down to Clifton. This is one of the windiest roads in America, but it’s well-paved and safe to drive. However, it does take about three to four hours to do this entire drive, and it’s in the middle of nowhere on the border between Arizona and New Mexico.
So, we often suggest a two-day loop from Phoenix to do the entire drive. If you’re interested in the two-day loop, we suggest staying around Pinetop or Show Low for the first night, then heading over to Springerville and taking the 191 all the way down and then looping back to Globe and then back to Phoenix.
If you do the whole loop, you’ll also get to enjoy Route 60 North from Globe to Show Low, another amazing drive that could easily be on this list by itself. Without forgetting, you also get to drive through an active mine at the end of the route, where the mining truck tires are bigger than your entire vehicle.
In a nutshell, Route 191 is definitely one of the more unique roads out there and definitely worth the drive.
4. Route 17 North From Phoenix To Sedona
I’m not entirely sure what it is about Route 17 North that has always drawn me so much to it, but it’s an incredible drive. While it is one of the more main roads that we recommend as far as scenic drives go, it’s usually not too busy, as long as you’re not driving it on the weekend, and you get to enjoy stunning mountain landscapes on both sides.
What’s really cool is the road continuously splits, whether you’re heading north or south, and so in each direction, you get to see completely new things. You can get some incredible sunsets by driving South on the 17 after you’ve visited Sedona, and you ultimately end up in Sedona – so that’s always a positive thing.
The 17 North is extremely accessible, well-paved, and absolutely worth the drive.
5. Route 95
One of the more unique drives in Arizona, because you get to drive alongside the Colorado River, is Route 95 from Parker to Lake Havasu. This is a really unique drive because of the fact that you’re driving next to water in the middle of the desert for about 45 minutes. You get very cool mountain landscapes and beautiful views of the river throughout the drive.
You can also see the Parker Dam on this drive and can even drive across the Parker Dam if you feel so inclined (for free!). You can also go across the river and take the 95 on the California side up as well.
This is one of the more unique drives you’re going to find in Arizona and America, at large, because it’s fairly rare that you get to drive alongside one of the largest rivers in America in the middle of a desert.
Bonus Drive – Mount Lemmon in Tucson
For the bonus drive, we have to mention Mount Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona. It’s about one to one and a half hour drive, if you’re in Tucson, to get to the top of Mount Lemmon, and you get to go through eight different ecosystems every one thousand feet.
In fact, they have every ecosystem from Mexico to Canada represented on this one mountain. When you get to the top, there is a great restaurant, a very delicious chocolate chip cookie shop, and a couple of other shops.
There’s also a small ski mountain at the top if you hit it at the right time of year. This is quite an amazing drive that most people in Tucson don’t even know about, so be sure to check it out. It’s paved the entire way, and it’s a blast!