The Sea-to-Sky Highway: Officially Highway 99, this drive is a lesson in geology. Starting in West Vancouver, the amazing route begins at sea level at Howe Sound and the Squamish Cliffs -- sheer rock faces rising hundreds of feet -- then up a narrowing fjord, climbing up to Whistler, at the crest of the rugged, glacier-clad Coast Mountains. Continue over the mountains and drop onto Lillooet. Here, on the dry side of the mountains, is an arid plateau trenched by the rushing Fraser River.

The Sunshine Coast: Highway 101 follows the mainland British Columbia coast from West Vancouver, crossing fjords and inlets three times on ferries on its way to Powell River. On the east side rise the soaring peaks of the Coast Mountains, and to the west lap the waters of the Georgia Strait, with the green bulk of Vancouver Island rising in the middle distance. From Powell River, you can cross over to Vancouver Island on the BC Ferries service to Comox.

Hazelton to Hyder, Alaska: This trip through the backcountry leads to two of the most isolated communities in North America. Highway 37 departs from the Yellowhead Highway near Hazelton, heading north through forests and climbing up to the Coast Range summit, an alpine wilderness choked with glaciers. The road then drops precipitously down to sea level at Stewart, British Columbia, and its cross-border neighbor, Hyder, Alaska. These twin towns are at the head of the Portland Canal, one of the longest fjords in the world.

Williams Lake to Bella Coola: Start at the ranching town of Williams Lake, and turn your car west toward the looming Coast Mountains. Highway 20 crosses the arid Fraser River plateau, famed for its traditional cattle ranches, until reaching the high country near Anaheim Lake. After edging through 1,500m (4,920-ft) Heckman Pass, the route descends what the locals simply call "The Hill": a 32km (20-mile) stretch of road that drops from the pass to sea level with gradients of 18%. The road terminates at Bella Coola on the Pacific, where summer-only ferries depart for Port Hardy on northern Vancouver Island.

The Icefields Parkway (Hwy. 93 through Banff and Jasper national parks): This is one of the world's grandest mountain drives. Cruising along it is like a trip back to the ice ages. The parkway climbs past glacier-notched peaks to the Columbia Icefields, a sprawling cap of snow, ice, and glacier at the very crest of the Rockies.