I have read many lists of the best US Road Trips. Many include the coastal highways, Route 66, Colorado’s Mountains and the Mississippi River, but I wanted to share our favorite US Road Trips because they are a little different and a bit less travelled.
I truly believe that the United States has something for every kind of traveler. The country is giant and has a huge variety of landscapes and cities to explore. If you are short on time, flying is a quick way to get around, but US Road Trips are really the best way to get a real feel for the country and it’s different regions.
US Road Trips We Love
For some epic mountain views, explore Montana & Wyoming.
From Grand Teton National Park up to the Canadian Border, you can curve your way through the Rocky Mountains. There is the option of going through Yellowstone if you want the full experience, but you can also bypass the busy national park by cutting to the back side of the Tetons into Idaho.
Big Sky, Montana is one of our favorite places in Summer and Winter. Lone Peak is beautiful and offers tons of hiking and skiing depending on the season.
Bozeman is an awesome small city to hang out for a night or two. The Main Street is old school with tons of great shops, restaurants and bars to explore. I would recommend this amazing hotel if you are staying there.
From there, make your way northwest staying in the mountains. You can check out Missoula or just head straight towards Kalispell and Glacier National Park. It all depends how long you have to explore.
For palm trees, take Highway 1 from Miami to Key West in Florida.
We took this classic US Road Trip a few years ago when we were in Florida for a wedding. It was so much better than we expected. Although this route is fairly popular, we never felt like it was too busy anywhere.
Miami is the start and end of the trip, so make sure to spend at least one night in South Beach doing some beach sitting and people watching. We stayed at this hotel and loved it.
You’ll head south out of town. It’s impossible to get lost because Highway 1 is the only road that hops from island to island using a series of over the ocean bridges. The Everglades is on your way in or out of town if you want to do some gator spotting and kayaking.
Once you’ve made the jump off of mainland Florida, you will be surrounded by beautiful turquoise waters, sandy beaches and palm trees. There are tons of small islands to stop and explore.
Our top recommendations are Top Pine Key to spot some endangered Key Deer, Sombrero Beach, any of the spots you can kayak or snorkel and Key West. Also, eat Key Lime Pie, but don’t stop there – make sure to have a key lime flavored everything. I loved the Key Lime Pina Colada which was like the keys in a cup.
For wide open spaces, head Southwest to check out Texas and New Mexico (and AZ too).
The Grand Canyon is one of the most visited places in the United States and the National Parks of Utah are on tons of US Road Trip lists. Don’t get me wrong, those are all beautiful places, but the Southwest has some other gems that I would recommend instead.
Big Bend National Park in Texas is incredible. Make it part of a road trip through the big open lands of Texas with stops in Austin, Hill Country and Marfa. You’ll find quirky roadside attractions like the Prada store pictured below and you might go an hour without seeing another human.
Right next to Texas is New Mexico which is completely under appreciated. With White Sands National Park (the newest national park), Santa Fe, Taos and some beautiful untouched public lands, this is another great option for a southwest road trip.
For all those reasons, you should go right now. But if you still need convincing, I think BBQ, enchiladas and some fantastic margaritas should do the trick.
For small town charm and great fall colors, Vermont and New Hampshire cannot be beat.
Fall is a great time for a road trip because every tree is an attraction during those colorful months. We have done a few different road trips in the fall, but the best is through New England.
The small mountain towns and sweeping views of red, orange and yellow trees cannot be beat. It feels like every building you are going to enter will look like a Norman Rockwell painting (in fact, I think we saw the inspiration for this painting).
Just imagine a week of flannel, cozy fires at Bed & Breakfasts, stacks of pancakes and hikes in the cool mountain air. It’s a feeling I wish I could bottle up.
In New Hampshire, the Kancamagus Highway is the best route through the White Mountains – see more photographic proof here. Portsmouth is a great harbor city to visit as well. In Vermont, you should have Woodstock, Stowe and Burlington on your list. Don’t forget to stop at Ben & Jerry’s headquarters for ice cream samples.
Read our full itinerary for a New England fall leaf peeping road trip.
For pine trees and lakes, visit Northern Minnesota and Lake Superior.
Northern Minnesota is a special little secret that people from MN keep to themselves. Ask anyone that grew up there and they will tell you that they have memories of going “up north” at some point in their childhood. Whether it’s cabins, camping or just a day trip from Duluth, the shore of Lake Superior and Northwoods are incredible.
Your starting point will be the Twin Cities since there is plenty to do in the most populated metro area of Minnesota. Head north from there to Lake Superior and the city of Duluth. Continue towards the Canadian border up Highway 61 for beautiful views and quiet places to camp or enjoy some hiking.
The highlights for us are Lutsen, Grand Marais and all the state parks along the lake. You can also try out the Brainerd Lakes area or the famous Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
Check out this post for a list of our favorite places to stop on this road trip.
For history, visit the sites of the Civil Rights Movement in the South.
American history has a whole line of injustices that are still visible today in different ways. Learning about history, both good and bad, is imperative to moving forward. While Washington DC and Boston are popular cities for visitors with tons of museums and historical sites, I think a road trip through the South offers a better perspective of history that we brush over too quickly in schools. The Civil Rights Trail should be on everyone’s US road trips list.
There are multiple routes and stops to meet any budget or timeline. The Civil Rights Trail website has a ton of great information and helped us plan our road trip earlier this year. The main cities we visited were Memphis, Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma. Here is the full post of our trip.
We’d like to spend some time in Atlanta, Charleston and Savannah in the future to do more exploring and learning.
What US Road Trip do you have on your wishlist?
Tell us where you are road tripping. Our dream list includes the PNW and exploring more of the Rocky Mountains into Canada and up to Alaska.
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