Scenic and fun drives? (houses, live, cars)

[HurricaneDC]

What are some good scenic, fun drives around the area? I've done the GW Parkway which is great. By "fun" I mean a drive where you can go pretty fast, hug some curves, and generally just feel like you are one with the highway.

I think I might try the BW Parkway today. What others are there?

[normie]

Great question, although all I can think of are roads in Northern Virginia that are probably a bit too far away to be posted here. Maybe I should start a similar thread in the Nova Forum. Thanks for a great idea.

[HurricaneDC]

You could post them on here if they're withing the DC Metro area.

[normie]

Here are the ones I posted on the Nova forum. In addition to the ones in this link, the drive from Warrenton to Charlottesville is very scenic. But.... be careful about speeding. It's easy to get a ticket on a couple of these roads.

Scenic Drives

[PenguinSix]

Rock Creek Park is a fun drive, past the zoo, and when there isn't much traffic. Don't go on the weekend as they close down the road for bicycles only, but during the day when no one is around or late at night you'll occasionally see an exotic car doing some funky stuff.

[goozer]

Originally Posted by HurricaneDC

What are some good scenic, fun drives around the area? I've done the GW Parkway which is great. By "fun" I mean a drive where you can go pretty fast, hug some curves, and generally just feel like you are one with the highway.

I think I might try the BW Parkway today. What others are there?

Problem with most of the roads in the DC area is that there is usually a fair amount of traffic, which makes it tough to cruise along at a fast clip and become "one" with the road. The other thing, most of the really nice scenic drives (Skyline Drive in Shenandoah Nat'l Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway) also have a 45 mph speed limit and typically have many cars slugging along at much slower speeds.

[HurricaneDC]

I hear ya, the Balt-Wash Parkway at some parts was pretty slow. I did get a few good long stretches though overall it was a good driving day. 495 sucked as usual.

Is that so about the speed limit though? I mean the BaltWash Parkway has a limit of I think 55MPH but everyone was going at least 65. I hit 90 at one straight stretch that was pretty much empty.

[normie]

Originally Posted by HurricaneDC

I hear ya, the Balt-Wash Parkway at some parts was pretty slow. I did get a few good long stretches though overall it was a good driving day. 495 sucked as usual.

Is that so about the speed limit though? I mean the BaltWash Parkway has a limit of I think 55MPH but everyone was going at least 65. I hit 90 at one straight stretch that was pretty much empty.

You may learn a very expensive lesson doing that. Sorry, but speeding will get you a ticket.

[HurricaneDC]

I know :| I just thought it'd be fun to go at a high clip for a few seconds. I normally stay at or near the speed limit (e.g. within 10MPH... since that's the buffer for cameras in MoCo). In fact when I was headed home on the Beltway I stayed at 55MPH in the right hand lane the whole time.

[BKmachine]

I live one block from the B-W parkway so I've gotten to drive on it many times, the best part is between Laurel and Baltimore, thats where most of the good landscapes are. The only downside is that most of the highway is two lanes in each direction so traffic can pile up at certain stretches.

Another one would be the beltway and driving on it all the way around in a loop.

A lot of people may disagree on this but Southeast is very beautiful, especially along Alabama Ave, Southern Ave, MLK Ave, and Wheeler Road. The only thing that veers a lot of people from that area is crime, but other than that the landscape and houses is gorgeous.