City to city
Interstate 5 in six hours, or Highway 1 through Big Sur across two days, which is not really the same journey at all.
Direct route
422.5 mi
Scenic route
916.5 mi
Days to enjoy it
5 days
Great roads on route
6
Checked by the Drivers Atlas desk
Scored and written by the Drivers Atlas editorial desk, drawing on driven routes across the UK and Europe, mapping data and member road reports. Distances are planning estimates. The road list is drawn from the scored Atlas library inside this corridor. How we score roads.
Last reviewed 30 March 2026
The detour
The fast way
Motorway and trunk road for most of it, one fuel stop, nothing you will remember. Useful when the drive is a means to an end.
The good way
About 14 hr 5 min of that is spent on the great roads themselves, which is where the whole difference lies.
On the way
01 · United States
The Pacific coast at its most theatrical, cliff curves above the open ocean.
90.1 mi · Rating 9.5 / 10
02 · United States
Yosemite high country, granite domes and meadows, then a drop to Mono Lake.
62.1 mi · Rating 9.3 / 10
03 · United States
The steepest Sierra crossing, narrow and demanding with barely a car on it midweek.
47.8 mi · Rating 9.3 / 10
04 · United States
Los Angeles's mountain playground, hours of clean sweepers above the basin.
65.9 mi · Rating 9.1 / 10
05 · United States
The Santa Monica Mountains run every Los Angeles driver knows, ending at the Pacific.
21.1 mi · Rating 8.9 / 10
06 · United States
Cypress trees, crashing surf and Pebble Beach, best taken slowly at first light.
16.8 mi · Rating 8.5 / 10
More routes