By Aimée Dowl

America's highway system is more than a convenient way to get from one place to another. Along some routes it's also a great chance to tap into the country's natural beauty and rich heritage. River roads are part of the Department of Transportation's National Scenic Byways program, which designates and preserves roads that have large numbers of cultural, archaeological and recreational sites. No matter where you are on a Scenic Byway, special signs keep you informed of approaching landmarks and historic towns, and because each byway is developed with the help of local communities, you are bound to run into plenty of local hospitality whenever your make a stop.

Kentucky's Red River Gorge Scenic Byway (46 miles)

Enter this byway through the Nada Tunnel, constructed in 1910 for lumber and mineral freight trains carrying their loads to faraway destinations. Forty-six miles later in Zachariah, Ky., you'll have driven past more than a hundred large natural stone arches carved by the Red River over millions of years. These geological wonders foreground a rainbow of vibrant fall colors and make for easily accessible rock climbing year-round. Novices, experts and everyone in between can enjoy climbing, bouldering, kayaking and hiking along the area's bluffs. At Gladie Historic Site visitors may tour the simple log cabins of the pioneering lumber and mine workers who lived in these parts at the end of the 19th century.

Illinois River Road (291 miles)

From the sandstone bluffs of Ottawa to the llama farm in Havana, this scenic byway connects more than 100 sites where nature lovers can get their fix of hiking, wildlife and postcard-worthy views. Along the way, seven municipalities serve as pit stops and detours to trails, museums, state parks and wildlife reserves. The 250-year-old bur oak outside Princeton has acorns large enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and at Buffalo Rock State Park visitors can climb up high to look down on artist Michael Heizer's massive earthen sculptures. His frog is 140-feet long, and the snake is 2,070 feet long! The archaeological remains of the Native American burial mounds that inspired Heizer are viewable at Dickson Mounds, outside Lewiston.

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
© Rick Gerharter Lonely Planet Images.

Ohio River Road (943 miles)

This byway follows the Ohio River's route along the northern border of Kentucky with Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. It also marks the boundary between freedom and bondage for slaves fleeing north on the Underground Railroad before the Civil War. To see this history up close, visitors can go to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati or the house of John Rankin, a "conductor" who helped free thousands of slaves, in Ripley, Ohio. River-roaders can travel even further back in time in Metropolis, Ill., at Fort Massac, which was built by the Spanish in 1540 and occupied by the Americans during the Revolutionary War. Even earlier the Ohio River corridor was home to the Mississippian native people, who established a chiefdom at what is now called Angel Mounds between 100 and 1450 A.D. The Angel Mounds State Historic Site in Evansville, Ind., welcomes visitors to explore this highly developed hunting and farming culture in museums and demonstrations.

The site of the Lincoln-Douglass debate with memorial plaques.
© Charles Cook Lonely Planet Images.

Meeting of the Great Rivers Road (33 miles)

This river road along the floodplain where the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri Rivers converge may be short, but there it's chock full of sites and activities. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held their last, fiery debate while running for U.S. Senate in Alton, Ill., and Lewis and Clark took the first steps of the famous trail now named after them in Elsah, Ill. The entire town of Elsah is a National Historic Registry site and a stop on the Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail, which runs along the bluffs of the Mississippi River, offers expansive views of the floodplain. Birders from nearby St. Louis, Mo., and other cities flock to this river road to stare at thousands of eagles and migratory birds that winter in the area. Watch out for them – the birders, that is – peering through the binoculars on the side of the road.

Cutting east–west across Minnesota, this highway is a drive through America's immigrant history. In the German and Swedish settlement town of New Ulm, the glockenspiel (clock and bell tower) plays throughout the day, and 19th-century houses, many of which can be toured, convey a carefully preserved past. On both sides of the Continental Divide, numerous historic sites memorialize the conflict between the U.S. government and the Sioux and Dakota tribes that resulted in the deaths of hundred of Native Americans and settlers. The 60-foot Jolly Green Giant Statue greets visitors to LeSuer, home of the Minnesota Valley Canning Co., where they can also explore the beautifully preserved 1850s-era home built by the family of the founding doctors of Rochester's world-famous Mayo Clinic. Bird-watchers will relish the massive migratory flocks that return to the Mississippi flyway every year, as well as the more than 100,000 Canadian geese whooping it up at "Lac qui Parle" ("The Lake that Speaks").

Bio: Aimée Dowl is a freelance writer and editor living in Quito, Ecuador. From her home at 9,200 feet above sea level, she has written for "Ms.," "Bust," "Yoga Journal," Lonely Planet Publications and various anthologies.

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