This Southern California Scenic Byway Is The Road Trip Of A Lifetime

Driving in Los Angeles is not most Southern California residents’ idea of a good time. With a reputation for constant congestion and…let’s just say creative driving choices, Los Angeles is noted nationwide as an unpleasant place to drive. But that’s a shame, because the city is blessed with both natural beauty and worthwhile attractions. At the right time of day, and with a doable itinerary, driving in Los Angeles can be a pleasure. Need proof of that? One of the Federal Highway Administration’s eight listed scenic byways in California, the Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway, is located entirely within Los Angeles County, and on a sunny, traffic-free morning, it’s easy to see why.

About The Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway

Most nationally-recognized scenic byways in the America’s Byways program are full-on road trips. And to that end, many of them involve sweeping natural scenery and go on for at least a few hundred miles. But the Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway, the only scenic byway on the list located entirely within Southern California, is very different.

The Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway, or State Route 110, is less than ten miles long, thoroughly urbanized, and a very different kind of scenic than you might imagine. But as one of America’s oldest freeways, it was also innovative for its time, designed to highlight the area’s natural beauty and make driving not only practical but enjoyable.

Finished in 1949, it coincided with the post-World War II boom in car ownership and a subsequent need for updated infrastructure. Conceived as the first modern freeway in the American West, the Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway thus blended the elements of parkway-style driving courses that were previously common - think wide curves, attention to landscaping, and an eye to appealing views - and the newer, faster modern freeways.

Thus, the 9.45-mile stretch of highway connecting downtown Los Angeles to the outlying city of Pasadena (one of California’s top college towns, we might add) has a different look and feel than your average LA highway. It’s narrower, curvier, and comes with a lower speed limit - but if you dodge peak traffic, all of those things make for an unexpectedly pleasant drive that opens up one of Los Angeles’ most underrated day trips.

Getting To Pasadena Via The Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway

If you’re visiting Los Angeles, it likely won’t be long before you start to hanker for a break from the big city. It can be overwhelming to navigate, even setting aside the traffic, and the natural beauty that Southern California is world-famous for can feel miles away. That’s when the Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway is a perfect opportunity to get out of the city.

Picking up in downtown Los Angeles, the Parkway is easily accessible from most of the city’s major hotel hubs. Once you navigate the short distance to The Stack, a four-level interchange in the heart of Downtown where multiple freeways converge, following the signage for State Route 110 to Pasadena will take you straight to the Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway. Roughly nine and a half miles later (about twenty minutes in light traffic), the scenic byway merges into Pasadena’s street grid.

Right away, you’ll notice that this isn’t the Los Angeles you’ve gotten used to. While technically its own city, Pasadena is best understood (as locals do) as a leafy, peaceful suburb of Los Angeles with hardly a skyscraper in sight. In only twenty minutes, you’ve made it to a very different side of this megacity - so what’s worth your stop?

Using The Byway: One Perfect Day In Pasadena

The terminal exit of the Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway will leave you just blocks from Old Pasadena, the city’s beating heart and scenic historic business district. If you’re getting an early start, stop by Amara Cafe & Restaurant for Venezuelan breakfast specialties, coffee, and maybe (you’re on vacation!) a little chocolate.

After breakfast, head a mile and a half down the road to Burlington Arcade. This covered shopping street, inspired by a favorite London attraction, is about as far from the Hollywood glitz and Downtown congestion as you can get, and you don’t have to be the shopping type to make Burlington Arcade a fun place to spend a little while browsing. Even if you walk away empty-handed, you’ll walk away charmed. And now you have two choices for the rest of your day in Pasadena.

If you’re liking the mood of Pasadena’s Old Town and you’d like to stay a while and browse, take it slow and consider a leisurely lunch at Ginger and Spice Noodle & Grill, a local favorite for the area’s best Vietnamese cuisine, or Dos Besos, a refined Mediterranean tapas spot. Then, a ways across town to the Norton Simon Museum, a small but mighty art museum that will leave you wondering why no one mentioned it while you were planning your Los Angeles getaway. (It’s known for its excellent collection of Impressionist art - to the tune of Edgar Degas’ iconic “Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen” sculpture.) Its scale won’t overwhelm, but it’s easy to lose a few hours in its halls before dinner.

But if Impressionist art isn’t your thing, Pasadena has another cultural offering par excellence at which to spend the rest of your day: the Huntington Library and Gardens. Drive a little way south, and you’ll arrive at the sprawling former estate of Arabella and Henry Huntington, now a complex of museums, restaurants, and a botanical garden. You could easily stay all day, especially if you want to enjoy afternoon tea or a sit-down meal at one of its elegant restaurants.

Whichever you choose, plan to head back into Pasadena for dinner - eating here will let you dodge the rush-hour traffic heading back into LA. Check out Guisados for traditional street tacos made with mouthwatering braised meats. By the time you’re done, the worst of the traffic will likely have let up (aim for roughly 7 P.M. to beat the commuter rush), so take the Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway back into the city and enjoy the unbeatable views of the Los Angeles skyline it’ll offer on your return trip.

One-Day Road Trip Vibes

Admittedly, the Arroyo Seco Historic Parkway is a bit of an outlier among America’s Byways. It’s not what you’d call a proper road trip, cuts through city and suburbs, and can be completed in under half an hour if you time it right. But for its historic purpose - to connect Los Angeles and Pasadena - it’s still as functional and enjoyable as it was designed to be. So what better way to enjoy this scenic byway than to use it the way it was meant to be used?