Chapter: Byways can be designated nationally or at the state and local levels
External LinkAll-American Roads and National Scenic Byways
America's Byways® is the umbrella term for the collection of 184 roads designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. America's Byways include National Scenic Byways and All-American Roads.
Click on any state in the map to see a listing for that state, with links to local information.
External LinkState byway requirements for your state
If you want to get a byway named a scenic byway in your state, you need to know the process. While the steps for getting that official designation differ from state to state, they do have requirements in common, such as having a corridor management plan. Scenic America offers guides to each state’s process for designating state scenic byways and links to existing byways in that state.
External LinkScenic America advocates for scenic conservation and helps communities that want to protect their unique qualities.
Chapter: Tourism is serious economic development for rural areas
External Link“Tourism: Economic Development for Any Size Community”
The book is a comprehensive guide for communities that want to make the most of what tourism has to offer. The author, Maree Forbes Gaughan, is managing director of the National Travel Center.
The book offers action steps communities can take to ramp up tourism, such as adapting to tourism trends, delivering great experiences, building on what makes the community special, using pre-designed itineraries along with byways and trails to make travel easy, and using the quality of place to draw visitors.
External LinkStudies of the economic impact of various scenic byways
Scenic America shares studies that demonstrates the economic benefits “to identifying, protecting, and promoting scenic byways.” As of July 2025, the studies posted on the website included the Cherokee Hills Scenic Byway in Oklahoma, Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway in Minnesota, Louisiana Scenic Byways, Scenic Byway 12 in Utah and more.
Chapter: Rural development hubs can pull the region together
WealthWorks offers a systematic approach that identifies opportunities in a region and engages partners in turning those opportunities into results that both build and capture wealth. It can complement or incorporate traditional economic development methods but intentionally focuses on creating more value that becomes rooted in local people, places and firms. WealthWorks is self-organizing and led by a group of External Linkregional hubs and national partners, including Aspen CSG, the National Association of Development Organizations, and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership.
External LinkRural Development Hubs: Strengthening America’s Rural Innovation Infrastructure
Since 1985, the Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group (CSG) helped connect, equip and inspire local leaders as they build more prosperous regions, with more than 75% of that work in rural America. CSG found that intermediary organizations – groups that act as connectors – are key. A subset of intermediaries, what they call Rural Development Hubs, are the main players advancing an asset-based, wealth-building approach to rural community and economic development. Among the contents: 10 routes to a stronger rural development ecosystem that policymakers, public, private and philanthropic investors can act on now.
Chapter: The byway that bluegrass built
External LinkNational map of regional development organizations (RDOs)
NADO, the National Association of Development Organizations, represents the national network of more than 500 RDOs across the country. RDOs are multi-jurisdictional, quasi-governmental organizations that provide regional planning and local community and economic development services.
Many RDOs help provide the services and resources needed within underserved and rural communities. RDOs also administer a variety of federal, state, and local funds. To find out which RDO, if any, serves your region, use the link below.
Chapter: Destination marketing organizations help byways build (and sell) the visitor experience
External LinkThe PA Wilds Design Guide for Community Character Stewardship
The mission of the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship is to integrate conservation & economic development in a way that strengthens communities of the Pennsylvania Wilds. After being dramatically logged over at the turn of the century, 100 years of conservation and sustainable forestry practices have restored the PA Wilds to what it is today. The natural assets and the community character of the region's small towns and cities make it a destination for visitors.
The PA Wilds Design Guide for Community Character Stewardship is a voluntary planning document that highlights how communities can protect or enhance their unique community character as they grow – whether that growth is due to tourism, other economic development planning, resource extraction or other industries.
Getaway is a podcast series about rural America’s recreation economies. Outdoor recreation contributes 1.2 billion dollars to the U.S. economy — and depends on small towns surrounded by public land. A Daily Yonder_ reporter looks at communities around the U.S. that are all focused on their recreation economy. The podcast is a part of Rural Remix (“your source for a deeper, richer story about life in rural places.”) It is a co-production of the Daily Yonder and the Rural Assembly, both projects of the nonprofit Center for Rural Strategies.
External LinkEmbeddable maps for almost every byway
The National Scenic Byway Association offers an interactive U.S. map with state and byway-level maps that DMOs or others can embed on their own websites. Click on your state for maps that include those designated America’s Byways, as well as state scenic byways and other scenic drives. Below the U.S. map, the site includes state-by-state lists and links to information about designated America’s Byways as well as designated state byways.
External LinkA toolbox of resources for people starting or building a byway
The National Scenic Byway Association offers a resource library that includes fact sheets, case studies, leadership training materials, and publications on things like byway interpretation, marketing and wayfinding and roadside improvements.
Chapter: To understand why people care about Route 66, start with the history
Rutgers University studies of Route 66 economic impact
The Rutgers University studies are the foundation of what has happened since on Route 66 and paved the way for increased investment in the Mother Road. They also offer useful information for other byways. The studies were conducted in collaboration with the National Park Service Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program and World Monuments Fund.
Here is what is included in each report:
- External LinkRoute 66 Economic Impact Study: Synthesis of Findings.Released June 2011. Rutgers analyzed Route 66 with a focus on its historic preservation, economic landscape, and heritage tourism. The study included a national survey of travelers along Route 66, mapping of the Route 66 corridor in Geographic Information Systems form, survey of 25 Main Street programs and 33 museums, 25 in-depth case studies of Route 66 sites, and implementation of input-output models to quantify the economic contribution of Route 66. The synthesis summarizes major study findings.
- External LinkRoute 66 Economic Impact Study: TECHNICAL REPORT, VOLUME 1. History, Characteristics, and Economic Contributions.
- External LinkRoute 66 Economic Impact Study: TECHNICAL REPORT, VOLUME II. Tales from the Mother Road: Case Studies of the People and Places of Route 66.
- External LinkRoute 66, Revisited. Conducted in collaboration with Route 66: The Road Ahead Partnership. Released July 2022. The study includes detailed case studies of six Route 66 communities, including Tulsa, Okla., a survey of a larger number of communities on Route 66 concerning economic development, reconnaissance analysis of the market potential from households near Route 66, and an overview of economic development and other programs available to Route 66.
- External LinkThe Road Ahead report: Report from a strategic roundtable held November 20-22, 2013, in Anaheim, California.The World Monuments Fund convened a series of panel discussions drawing more than 100 people representing government, business, tourism, and preservation. The group honed in on several key issues to tackle, many of which were echoed in the Kansas City Fed study.
Chapter: Miami: Preserve the past to secure your future
External LinkMain Street America Knowledge Hub
The Main Street Resource Center offers strategies, including Main Street America’s extensive Knowledge Hub, a comprehensive digital library containing a broad range of resources, including Main Street Approach handbooks and guides, revitalization toolkits, and vetted materials from across the network.
External LinkRoute 66 Preservation Toolkit
Developed by The Road Ahead Partnership, the toolkit identifies real-world Route 66 preservation success stories, used as case studies to help communities acquire, rehabilitate, or find a new use for an empty building, as well as serve as advocates, and more. The toolkit presents preservation topics in an easy, clear manner.
Chapter: Vinita: The Cherokee Nation story is intertwined with Route 66
External LinkAmerican Indians & Route 66 guidebook
The American Indigenous Tourism Association (formerly the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association) produced an extensive guidebook, "American Indians & Route 66," introducing the tribes living along the route. The organization said it sought to inform and to point the way to genuine cultural experiences all along Route 66 - from Chicago to LA.
Note: The guidebook requires 11 x 17 paper to print.
Additional information from the American Indigenous Tourism Association about travel in Indian Country is available External Linkhere.
Chapter: Clinton: Encourage the volunteers. They bring passion, skill and pride to byways.
External LinkOklahoma Route 66 Association website
The website is where you can order a free Oklahoma Route 66 trip guide, learn about the history as well as the latest news, and gain access to helpful resources. For example, the website has a tutorial on how to travel Route 66_ that explains all the things to you.
Endnotes
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City or the Federal Reserve System.