Take the Long Way Home: Beautiful Vistas and Spectacular Byways
By Britt Aamodt
The route was called the Mother Road. It linked Chicago to Los Angeles, but the segment that snugged between these stationary endpoints was, by contrast, a raucous wayward path that dragged through parts of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and down through the southwest before collapsing in a luxuriant sunset at the West Coast terminus.
It was always sunny in California. At least that’s what the Midwestern farmers heard. They heard that California’s orange trees sunk under the weight of their fruit and that grapes plumped on the vine. They heard that stars glimmered in the heavens and walked the streets of Hollywood. So in the late 1920s and early 1930s, farm families hit the Mother Road in droves in search of the Promised Land: good soil, paid work, three square meals and a roof over their heads.
This road was Route 66, one of America’s first highways, and the site of the great migration stirred up by the Depression-era Dust Bowl. John Steinbeck documented these rootless farmers in his novel The Grapes of Wrath. His characters journey west on the same Route 66 you hear about in songs: “Get your kicks on Route 66″ The route of American myth and legend. The Route 66 you and your tour group can still follow today with a little ingenuity and a few jogs left and right to bypass America’s roaring Interstate system.
Interstates are great. Don’t get me wrong. They’re efficient and direct. But somehow they never quite capture the imagination, nor pack the scenic punch, the way America’s byways do.
What are byways? Only the best option for getting from point A to point B when you’re slowing down to take in the grand vistas that dominate the American Midwest and stopping off to soak up culture in the whistle-stops along the way. Sounds a lot like a motorcoach tour, doesn’t it?
America‘s Byway System
Byways have always been around. They’ve always been the less direct and more picturesque track to Grandma’s house. Yet in 1992, the U.S. Department of Transportation established the National Scenic Byways Program, officially recognizing a slew of picture-perfect byways across the fifty states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia not just the windy path to Grandma’s lake cabin.
Since 1992, the program has funded more than 2,800 byway projects, which are notable for their archaeological, cultural, historical, natural, recreational and/or scenic attractions. Not all byways bring your tour group toe to toe with waving oceans of prairie grass or the remnants of old growth forests. Some dazzle in neon signage. Others, like Route 66, trade on nostalgia and history, offering museums, roadside entertainments and landmarks from yesteryear.
What’s more, because these byways are recognized as state and national attractions, they have the road-going tourist group in mind, providing convenient access to points of interest, ample parking, lodging, food and, above all, an exceptional traveling experience.
Destination History
The Native American Scenic Byway darts through South Dakota, with offshoots to North Dakota, for a window on the area’s rich past. The 305-mile stretch passes through Lakota homelands and crosses four reservation Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Cheyenne River, and Standing Rock. Museums and sacred sites commemorate the Sioux Nation and provide histories from a Native American perspective.
Along the way, encounter Meriwether Lewis and William Clark at the Standing Rock Lewis & Clark Nature Trail. The 19th-century explorers spent months in the area, both on the trip west and then back again to report their findings to President Thomas Jefferson. Like them, you can trek into the wilds and collect impressions of the region’s abundant wildlife and plant life. Of course, you’ll have the benefit of cleared trails, interpretive signage, restrooms and a picnic shelter.
Sacajawea, the Shoshone guide and interpreter who traveled with Lewis and Clark, is buried along the Standing Rock portion of the byway. Overlooking Oahe Reservoir is the Standing Rock Monument. The monument gets its name from a stone, which local legend holds to be the body of a petrified woman.
The Great River Road is another avenue to Native American history. The byway hugs the Mississippi River from Minnesota to Louisiana. Cave murals found in Wisconsin’s Trempealeau Mountain hint at prehistoric cultures that inhabited the river bluffs. Step off the motorcoach at Effigy Mounds in Iowa to wander animal-shaped earth mounds and then head for the interpretive center for films and exhibits on the people who built the sacred mounds. Missouri’s Trail of Tears State Park encompasses a segment of the infamous Trail of Tears undertaken by Native Americans who were ousted from their homes and relocated to reservations.
Highway 61 Revisited
You may not own a copy of Bob Dylan’s 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited, but you can savor the road on which it’s based. Highway 61 extends 1,400 miles from Minnesota to Louisiana. Part of it is folded into the Great River Road Byway. But its various segments incorporate a number of road-themed adventures. Like its western counterpart Route 66, Highway 61 is a trip down memory lane, preserving vintage gas stations, motor lodges and road-food hotspots. Movie buffs appreciate the 61 Drive In off Highway 61 in Maquoketa, Iowa, one of the last remaining drive-in theaters in America.
In Minnesota, the scenic byway enters Red Wing, home of Red Wing Shoes and Red Wing Pottery. Going further north, you can shake off the city and lap in a panoramic vista of Lake Superior. The small communities dotting the shore from Duluth to Canada are a trove of gift shops, overlooks, trails and good eats. Your group will devour Knife River’s Great Lakes Candy Store and its homemade sweets.
Outside Grand Marais, the Gunflint Trail winds to a hilltop dairy, which sells small-batch milk, chocolate milk, creamy yogurt and dunk-worthy cookies from a refrigerated case. And beyond the cow barns is the gorgeous vista of downtown Grand Marais and Lake Superior. But you’ll have to ask locals for directions to Lakeview Dairy. Or else, ring up the local CVB.
Because byways are governed by local groups, representing tourism, business, parks, recreation and other interests, you can tap into people “in the know.” People who can provide in-depth knowledge about their stretch of scenic highway, plus ideas for group tour itineraries, lodgings and enjoyable experiences that will take you off the beaten path and onto some of the Midwest’s spectacular byways.
