15 U.S. Mountain Ranges Everyone Should Get To See

From coast to coast and north to south, the United States has dozens of mountain ranges offering adventure, recreation, and beautiful scenery. Yet, there are some that are particularly outstanding, and even if life only gives you time to drive past them or through them, you ought to see them.

For this, we’ve selected mountain ranges that are easy to admire from the road, but as always, the best way to appreciate them is to put on some hiking boots and head out into them.

Alaska Range, Alaska

600 miles long, much of the Alaska Range is in Denali National Park. Its showpiece is Denali Peak, formerly called and currently renamed by the government as Mt. McKinley (Denali is the traditional name, going back for millennia), the highest peak in North America.

Cascade Range, Pacific Northwest

The Cascades range from southern British Columbia into northern California. While they contain plenty of “traditional” mountains, they’re best known for their snow- and ice-covered volcanoes such as Mt. Rainier (Washington) and Mt. Shasta (California), some of which are considered still active though not likely to erupt. Geologists keep a close eye on activity though. 1980, when Mt. St. Helens erupted, wasn;t that long ago, and Mt. Lassen erupted in the early 1900s.

Sierra Nevada, California

John Muir’s “Range of Light” graces a long stretch of eastern California and contains Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the Lower 48. From the road, they’re best viewed from the east along U.S. 395 and the Tioga Pass area of Yosemite National Park.

Spring Mountains, Nevada

There are two faces to the Spring Mountains. One is that of high limestone peaks such as Mt. Charleston that can retain snow into early summer. The other is that of the spectacular sandstone peaks of Red Rock National Conservation Area just west of Las Vegas.

Sawtooth Range, Idaho

As soon as you see these mountains, which some liken to the Sierra Nevada, you’ll understand the name. To appreciate them from the road, it’s as easy as driving south on the highway from the tiny town of Stanley. Nearby Redfish Lake has a lodge, restaurant, campground, and boating facilities. Several trailheads in the area allow foot access to these spectacular peaks.

Lewis and Clark Range, Montana

This group of mountains runs through Glacier National Park, which has some of the most amazing mountain scenery on the continent. Going-to-the-Sun Road, the east-west road through the park, has stunning views and provides access to waterfalls, lakes, peaks and passes, and more.

Absaroka Range, Montana-Wyoming

In Wyoming, these dark and brooding mountains are mostly volcanic in origin and consist of a brittle rock called breccia, a conglomerate of rock and hardened volcanic ash. They change over to granite in Montana. The Absarokas are vast and wild, and they have the highest population of grizzly bears in the mountains of the Lower 48.

Teton Range, Wyoming

Often incorrectly called the Grand Tetons, this range does include the Grand Teton, one of the world’s most beautiful and recognizable mountains. While most people see and approach the Tetons from Jackson Hole, they’re also visible and accessible from the Idaho side, which provides a perspective far fewer people see.

Wind River Range, Wyoming

The Winds are Wyoming’s highest range, containing Gannett Peak, the state’s highest, and all but 4 of the state’s “13ers”– peaks above 13,000’ in altitude. The high peaks of the Winds are difficult to get close to without donning a backpack and camping gear, but you can view them pretty well from roads around Pinedale.

Wasatch Range, Utah

These rugged peaks aren’t the highest in Utah– the Uintas are– but they’re arguably the most spectacular for their sharp, serrated profiles. They dominate the skyline for miles and miles north and south of Salt Lake City, and there’s great access from destinations such as Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. The Wasatch Range gets high-quality snow that makes it a world-renowned ski destination.

Elk Range, Colorado

The Elks include the Maroon Bells, two of the most famous and most photographed mountains in the country. This range isn’t that easy to appreciate from paved roads, and the best way of doing so is by driving south out of Aspen to famed Maroon Lake.

San Juan Range, Colorado

The broadest and most spectacular mountain range in Colorado, the San Juans are easy to tour via the San Juan Skyway, a roughly triangular route connecting the towns of Ridgway, Durango, and Cortez. Numerous four-wheel drive roads get you to lake basins, high mountain passes, gorgeous alpine wildflower meadows, old mining ruins, and more.

Guadalupe Mountains, Texas-New Mexico

The highest and most spectacular of these limestone peaks that were once a gigantic reef beneath the sea are in Texas, where a paved highway parallels them for several miles. Among the most notable peaks are El Capitan, probably the most-photographed mountain and Texas, and its neighbor Guadalupe Peak, the highest in Texas. On the New Mexico side, the mountains are lower and less spectacular, but they do contain Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Blue Ridge, North Carolina-Virginia-Maryland

These mountains offer a gentler beauty and a certain charm compared to the western ranges, with deep forests, quiet hollows (narrow mountain valleys), rushing streams and waterfalls, and more. One of the best mountain road trips you can ever do is to drive Skyline Drive through Shenandoah National Park in Virginia (105 miles) and then pick up the Blue Ridge Parkway, which winds its way for 470 miles into North Carolina, ending at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. If you continue through the Smokies to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the trip is a total of more than 600 miles of scenic, stoplight-free driving.

White Mountains, New Hampshire

New England’s highest mountains, including Mt. Washington, the highest in the region and its only one exceeding 6000’ in altitude. Many of the peaks here rise above timberline and feature alpine tundra on their upper reaches.