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Best Road Trip Routes in the USA: Coast, Mountain, and Everything Between

America was built for road trips in a way that nowhere else quite manages — the scale, the landscape variation, the quality of the diner coffee at 7am, the specific satisfaction of watching the scenery change through a windshield. Here are the routes that deliver on all of it.

The first time I drove the Pacific Coast Highway I spent so much time at pull-offs taking photographs of the same ocean from slightly different heights that I covered 47 miles in five hours and arrived at my motel at 10pm having missed dinner everywhere. This was not a failure. This was, in retrospect, the correct response to that road.

The American road trip’s core principle: the route is the destination. The places you stop are the punctuation. The drive is the sentence. Here are the best sentences.

1. Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1), California

San Francisco to Los Angeles, 600 miles, minimum 5 days if you’re not rushing (7–10 if you’re doing it right). Highway 1 clings to the cliffs above the Pacific from Marin County south through Big Sur, past Hearst Castle, through San Luis Obispo wine country, to Malibu. The Big Sur section (100 miles of largely undeveloped coastline) is the peak. McWay Falls. Bixby Bridge. The point where the road curves and there is only ocean. It’s extraordinary.

2. Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia to North Carolina

469 miles through the Appalachian Highlands with no stoplights, no billboards, and an average speed limit of 45mph — by design. The Parkway was built as a scenic road and remains exactly that. Shenandoah National Park connects at the north end; Great Smoky Mountains at the south. Best in October for the fall foliage, when the hardwoods turn and the ridgeline becomes a colour show.

3. Route 66, Chicago to Santa Monica

The original highway, 2,400 miles, properly done in 12–16 days. The trick is driving the original 1926–1985 alignment rather than the Interstate segments — you’ll find the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, the Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo, the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, and a sequence of small towns that exist in genuinely specific relationship to the highway’s history. Apps and maps exist specifically for the original alignment.

4. The Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana

Only 50 miles, technically, but Going-to-the-Sun Road crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (6,646 feet) through scenery that makes most scenic drives feel modest. Open typically mid-June to mid-October depending on snowpack. Vehicle reservations required in summer — book well ahead. The Lake McDonald valley, the Garden Wall, the view from Logan Pass toward the Canadian Rockies.

5. The Great River Road, Minnesota to Louisiana

2,000 miles following the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca (where you can step over the river’s headwaters) to New Orleans. The road runs through the bluffs and farmland of the Upper Midwest, past the river towns of Missouri and Tennessee, through the Delta, and into Louisiana. It’s not consistently spectacular — there are long agricultural stretches — but the cumulative experience of following one river across the entire country is genuinely meaningful.

6. The Florida Keys, Miami to Key West (US-1)

113 miles of bridges and islands stretching into the Gulf of Mexico, culminating at the southernmost point of the continental United States. The Seven Mile Bridge (actually 6.79 miles) is the centrepiece. Stop at Bahia Honda State Park (the best beach on the route), have a key lime pie in Islamorada, arrive in Key West for the Mallory Square sunset.

7. The Overseas Highway / Turquoise Trail, New Mexico

The Turquoise Trail (NM-14) between Albuquerque and Santa Fe is a 50-mile alternative to I-25 that passes through Madrid (a former coal town now occupied by artists and galleries), the Tinkertown Museum, and the Sandia Mountains. Best paired with Santa Fe itself — the museums, the Georgia O’Keeffe trail, the high desert light that makes everyone who goes there understand why artists kept going there.

8. The Enchanted Circle, New Mexico

An 83-mile loop from Taos through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, passing through Eagle Nest Lake, the D.H. Lawrence Ranch, and Red River. Combine with Taos Pueblo (UNESCO World Heritage, continuously inhabited for 1,000 years) for one of the American Southwest’s richest days. Doable in a day from Taos; better as an overnight.

Route	Miles	Min. Days	Best Season	Highlight
Pacific Coast Highway	600	5	Apr–Oct	Big Sur cliffs
Blue Ridge Parkway	469	3–5	Oct (fall colours)	Ridge views, Smokies
Route 66	2,400	12–16	Apr–May, Sep–Oct	Painted Desert, old alignment
Going-to-the-Sun	50	1–2	Jun–Sep	Logan Pass, Glacier
Florida Keys	113	1–2	Nov–Apr	Seven Mile Bridge
Great River Road	2,000	10–14	Any	Mississippi origin to NOLA

What’s the best road trip route for first-timers? Pacific Coast Highway, California. Manageable length (5–7 days), self-contained (start in SF, end in LA or vice versa), well-serviced with accommodation and food, and spectacularly beautiful throughout.

Is Route 66 still driveable? Yes, with the right map (the original alignment). About 85% of the original highway is still intact and driveable. The Route 66 Association has excellent resources; the app “Historic Route 66” shows which segments to take.

What’s the best time to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway? Mid-October for peak fall foliage — the Appalachian hardwoods in colour are one of the American East’s great visual experiences. Go on a weekday if possible; the Parkway gets genuinely crowded on October weekends.

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