In addition to the numerous recreational activities the highway offers access to, the highway's status as a Scenic Drive is a draw in and of itself. The Forest Service describes the drive as a biological and ecological tour from Mexico to Canada in only 27 miles. Over the length of the drive, visitors will encounter saguaro cacti, mesquite trees, and cholla plants of the Sonoran Desert, pass through stands of oak, juniper, and pinyon pine, enter pine forests and then finally stands of fir and aspen on the cooler, north-facing slopes at the end of the highway.