These featured AAA Drive Trips highlight the Northwest and Southwest. Click on the Drive Trip's name to access the complete printable itinerary.

The 275-mile Turquoise Trail Drive Trip will take travelers to the high country of Santa Fe, formerly an old mining town, and now is a mecca for artisans and craftsmen. The Turquoise Trail received its name from the Cerrillos Hills, south of Santa Fe, where rich deposits of turquoise have been mined by Native Americans for many centuries. From Albequerque to Santa Fe to the offbeat artists' enclave of Taos, on this road trip you'll see everything from ancient Pueblo Indian dwellings to modern art galleries and museums as well as some of the most spectacular scenery in the American Southwest.

AAA Road Reporter Mike Robb says,"Taos is a ‘GEM’ (designated a Great Experience for Members) and a great place to spend a few days with all of its many points of interest.     SR 14 (the Trail itself) is very scenic and the tiny quaint town of Madrid will definitely catch the eye.    There is very little to see along I-25 from Albuquerque and Santa Fe (a great place to see as well) so definitely take the Turquoise. This trip can be driven year-round but watch for winter weather from November to February/March."

The 743-mile Vancouver-Cascade Mountains Drive Trip offers everything from tea rooms to totem poles. A great port, cultural center and tourist area, Vancouver is the crown jewel of western Canada. The Cascade ranges, a lush valley and a system of rivers, lakes and protected ocean waterways are the hallmarks of British Columbia's natural beauty. 

The Road Reporter says, "There's a good AAATravelViews blog here on the Othello Tunnels that would be a highlight of this Drive Trip. Transcontinental Highway 1 from Hope to Boston Bar is beautiful. Hope is also where they filmed most of the movie ‘First Blood’ in 1981-82. All of the ‘town scenes’ were shot there and the gorge/woods scenes were filmed in Golden Ears Provincial Park which is over near Vancouver. "Kamloops is often referred to as the ‘unofficial capital’ of south-central British Columbia. As one would expect in a city that size (around 100,000 people) there are some points of interest but the main attraction is the great outdoors. Going east toward Chase & Salmon Arm the scenery is nice and Salmon Arm is quaint & Salmon Arm Lake is partially visible from the highway east of town. Heading south toward Kelowna on PR 97 passes through some pretty mountainous scenery.   South of Kelowna there are some great views of Okanagan Lake to Penticton. Osoyoos (O-SAH-YOOS) is a resort town with a wide array of hotels/motels & various businesses and facilities, and a couple of great coffee places. Then travelling west in PR Hwy 3, the route traverses more remote mountainous terrain and mountain passes  toward Hope, with lot of steep grades along this portion. Then back in Hope, one has the option of ‘shooting back’ on TCH 1 or taking the ‘slower’ PR 7 through Harrison Hot Springs some other small villages en route to Vancouver."

Have you driven these areas? Tell us your experiences and suggestions in the comment box below. 

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