20 Incredible Road Trips in the U.S.

The transportation in your travels doesn’t have to stay only as a way of going somewhere; you can use that time to also enjoy the journey. What is the best way of transportation to enjoy the journey: America offers you many options. With its highways stretching to the horizon, car trips are one of the best ways to travel with your loved ones and discover new places with nature parks and beautiful views. If you can’t decide what to do on your next vacation, you should give the car trip a chance.

Blue Ridge Parkway

Approximately 500 miles of winding blacktop were constructed through the Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah National Parks for spectacular travelers looking for Appalachian views. With undulating hills of colour in the autumn, a profusion of forest canopy in the summer, and ski resorts in the winter, it is a panoramic drive for all seasons. With more than 50 permanent species, the parkway has become a birder paradise. In fact, it has greater diversity than the entire continent of Europe.

 

 

Hana Highway

Travelling the 52 miles from Kahului to Hana may take more than two and a half hours as you go through cliffs of the sea covered in blossoming mango trees. Purchase banana bread from roadside stands and stop for Jurassic views. Nudists and endangered monk seals broil idly in the sun on the red sand beach in small Hana, a village on the island of Maui.

 

 

Florida Keys

As they depart the mainland for Florida’s Keys, a 120-mile-long series of islands, visitors encounter a paradise of beach clubs and water sports. The international roadway connecting Key Largo to Key West runs through lighthouses and underwater coral reefs. The 7 Mile Bridge is one of the world’s longest bridges, as it bead-strings the islands together.

 

 

Lake Shore Drive

Starting in the north in Hollywood and extending south to Jackson Park, a distance of 26 miles, the rock stars of American architecture are arranged like soldiers facing Lake Michigan. The downtown structures are stunning, from the Willis Tower to the Rookery by Burnham and Root to the austere post-Bauhaus boxes by Mies van der Rohe. The world’s best road for architecture is this one.

 

 

17-Mile Drive

Less than 10 miles make up the ’17-Mile Drive,’ which spans California’s Monterey Peninsula. The route travels through the exclusive Del Monte woodlands of the Pebble Beach golf enclave on a privately owned section of Highway 1 between the cities of Pacific Grove and Carmel. Harbor seal colonies and sea-beaten cliffs are also sights to worth seeing.

 

 

Route 12

State Route 12 winds between Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon National Parks, showcasing Utah’s majestic red rock landscape in all its glory. To see the high sandstone canyons and cliffs of the purple sage and traverse the narrow road known as The Hogback, one must have a map and the will to travel the 124-mile stretch, which has quirky little communities and few access points.

 

 

Kancamagus Highway

This area comes alive in the fall when locals and visitors enter the countryside to observe the trees’ changing hues. Join the leaf-peepers on this well-liked 56-mile drive through the “Kanc,” or Kancamagus Highway, in New Hampshire for gorgeous ponds, hiking paths, and breathtaking views.

 

 

Beartooth Highway

Enjoy stunning vistas of the Absoroka and Beartooth Mountains as you travel through southwest Montana and northwest Wyoming. You’ll pass past forests, glacial lakes, waterfalls, and animals as you travel. To cap it off, you arrive at Yellowstone National Park’s entrance.

 

 

Scenic Highway

There are many areas in Florida where you may drive with the top down. Still, it isn’t easy to match a Sunday (or any day) trip down Scenic Highway 30A through northwest Florida, home to the picture-perfect South Walton region of beach communities.

 

 

Trail Ridge Road

Ridge Road runs through Rocky Mountain National Park at a height of up to 12,183 feet and is the highest continuously paved road in the United States. Visitors may glimpse the stunning tundra’s elk, deer, and bighorn sheep above the tree line. Following the path Native Americans took thousands of years ago to cross the Continental Divide.

 

 

Sun Road

Through the snow-covered peaks, sub-alpine meadows, and lakes of Glacier National Park, one of America’s most magnificent public works projects crosses the Continental Divide in the Rockies. Wintertime snowdrifts might reach 100 feet. Therefore, the route is only wholly accessible when conditions permit (typically in the summer).

 

 

Highway 101

The state of Oregon controls the entire Oregonian coast. It has protected unhindered natural vistas along the roughly 300 miles of beaches off Highway 101. Between Port Orford and Brookings, rough coastal cliffs contrast with Oregon’s tiny towns’ pastoral farms and wandering cattle. 

 

 

Olympic Peninsula Loop

Highway 101 wraps around the most significant road-free region in the contiguous United States. It serves as the scenic route and the peninsula’s only main roadway. To enter the Hoh River rainforest, which is dominated by old Sitka spruce and western hemlock, go northwest from Seattle. From Hurricane Ridge’s summit, you can see the San Juan Islands. At low tide, the pools on Olympic beaches are teeming with starfish, sand dollars, and crabs.

 

 

Route 6

This 118-mile path connects the network of beaches, marshes, tidal ponds, fishing villages, and sand dunes on Cape Cod. Following it will take you to Provincetown’s music festivals and art galleries, to the bay for family-friendly beaches, or to the ocean for views of the Cape Cod National Seashore.

 

 

Anchorage to Valdez

The route connecting the Glenn and Richardson highways from Anchorage to Valdez passes via ancient glaciers and across mountain ranges with many 14,000-foot peaks many of which are still unnamed. The trans-Alaska pipeline weaves in and out of view throughout its 300-mile path. The final approach to Valdez entails a 25-mile descent from Thompson Pass, 2,771 feet above sea level, to sea level through Keystone Canyon’s waterfalls, which open onto Prince William Sound.

 

 

Ocean Drive

The ancient houses and breathtaking vistas of Narragansett Bay are packed along the 10-mile coastal path. The lavish residences erected for the Vanderbilts, Astors, and Morgans, giants of the fin de siècle industrial revolution, vie with the seaside backdrop for jaw-dropping beauty among the Gilded Age “cottages” of Ocean Drive.

 

 

Lemhi Pass

At Lemhi Pass (7,323 feet above sea level), Meriwether Lewis first saw the Continental Divide, which runs across the Rocky Mountains in North America. When Lewis gazed west over the mountains, he didn’t see the mythical Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean—he saw more mountains. Dedicated tourists with a 4 x 4 can get the historic vista from Beaverhead Rock State Park in Montana or Salmon National Forest in Idaho through single-lane Forest Service roads.

 

 

Highway 143

Visit the Roan Highlands in the Appalachian Mountains along Tennessee Highway 143 to view the most extended continuous length of grassy heaths in the world. In the early summer, purple rhododendron flowers cover the slopes.

 

 

The High Road

The 56-mile drive from Santa Fe to Taos offers several photo opportunities, including historic adobe villages with artist communities and ancient pueblos, deserts, woodlands, and meadows covered with wildflowers. From the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the Rocky Mountains, The High Road ascents, offering canyon vistas above Truchas Peak’s 13,102-foot summit.

 

 

Silverado Trail

Here’s a road trip where the cuisine matches the surroundings. The Silverado Trail on the eastern end of Napa Valley traverses a who’s who of the American culinary scene, flanked by the undulating vineyards of more than 40 wineries. Two notable locations include Yountville, where the French Laundry restaurant is, and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, where a 1973 cabernet garnered media attention.

 

 

While on the road trip, you might want to settle down for a night have a shower or relax. Finding an affordable place for a night might be challenging but don’t worry we got you covered. With Holiday Swap, you can find yourself a house to stay on anywhere in the US, without paying a bunch of money on hotels. You can make an arrangement beforehand and when you are in the state, there will be a house waiting for you to restore your energy for your next destination. With the money you save from booking from Holiday Swap, you can spend it on whatever you want! Have a safe trip and a great stay with Holiday Swap!