There are high/low,rough/smooth,beautiful/not-so-hot roads. How do you choose a path in advance without knowing which is which?

I already know the roads in my area, so I don't even think about it. I just take the ones that gets me there fastest.

I use a lot of 4 lane roads that are basically in good condition.  Once I used an unfamiliar 4 lane in southern Ohio that was awful. Patch on patch! Then I used another southern Ohio state " highway"(350?) that was nothing but a single lane county road. Must be impossible in the snow!