In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with sections of the road modified from its original design and the rest areas mostly gone, writers for "The New York Times" have variously described the Taconic as "a pleasure to use, evoking those bygone days when people went for a drive just for the fun of it" and "unquestionably among the most scenic roadways in the Northeast, winding along the Hudson Valley with a painter's eye for landscape and a gearhead's idea of fun." The Lonely Planet New York State guidebook calls it a "highway masterpiece".