Summertime in the States: The All-American Road Trip

Invariably whenever I encounter students hoping to study in America, after they say their university of choice, they continue on to say they want to take the traditional American road trip.

Well, as an American, I can say that sounds exhausting to do the an all American road trip, but I used to drive every day and had to do 5-8 hour trips to visit family on a regular basis… so you may have rose colored lenses in your glasses about the favorite mode of transportation in the US, and I will say, it is a great way to see the US.

Keep in mind the maps can be deceiving, the US is a big big big big big place, so you’ll need to plan your summer break road trip with some stops along the way so you don’t burn out… I would actually recommend that you take parts of these famous routes and scale them down so you’re not ending up across the country with a rental car. 

Ready the mixtapes, cds, playlists, bottles of water, sandwiches, highway bingo books and let’s look at your options.

The East Coast/Southeast – Route 1

The scenic Route 1 spans the length of the East coast from the birthplace of  Paul Bunyan in Maine to the sunny Florida Keys. If you’re in an upper East state or Florida, this could be a good route to take. You’ll be stopping through Portland, Portsmouth, Boston, Providence, a few places in Connecticut, NYC, the world’s largest lightbulb in Edison, NJ (yes, the whole point of road trips is to stop at these things), Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Arlington National Cemetery, Richmond, Raleigh, Okefenokee Swamp (GA), Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Boca Raton, Miami & the Keys.

If you like seafood, you’ll be going from crabcakes and lobster to crawfish boils and then Cuban-fusion ceviches. This would be a good route if you like history, a bit of a city break and beach rest stops. If you were ambitious, you could do the length in probably 3 days if you jammed everything in and swapped drivers, but you’d really want to take at least a week to be able to get the most out of some of these key US cities!

Your route is looking like:

The East Coast/ Midwest – I80

The ‘On the Road’ cross-country American road trip route made famous by the Jack Kerouac novel is usually what people think of when they want to drive across America. If you’re starting in NY ideally or Ohio/Chicago/Detroit area, you can follow along I80 through the farmlands and stop in Des Moines, Omaha, Lexington, Cheyanne, Salt Lake City, Reno, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco and end up in LA. Your trip would essentially look like this:

A good route if you have a lot of time on your hands, want to see the changes in countryside, don’t mind some boring states (sorry boring states!) and a fairly big budget for gas or the wherewithal to rent a Prius. You could probably skimp and stay in small town rest stops and eat at diners and dives (which I cannot recommend enough, America is famous for highway food and some diners are infamous for their greasy delights, you really cannot skip this element on any of these trips!). I haven’t ever done this route, so I won’t guess on a timeline, but suffice to say you’d want to take more than a week or two…

Northeast/Midwest/Pacific Northwest – I94

If you’re in NY, Detroit/Chicago/Minneapolis, or Seattle – this could be a good American road trip route. Sometimes referred to as the High-Line route, you’ll be going through a lot of greenery, some mountains, big cities and like the I80 route, this will take you very nearly from coast to coast, but this time you’ll be going along the Northwestern states along the Canadian border.

If you’re after some great national parks and a stop in probably the most famous waterfall around, take I94 and you’ll be stopping in Bar Harbor, White Mountain National Park, Lake George, Niagra Falls, Cleveland, Cedar Point if you want a theme park!, Indiana Dunes Lakeshore, Chicago, Milwaukee, Devil’s Lake State Park, Minneapolis, Sheyenne National Grasslands, National Bison Range, Glacier National Park, Hell’s Canyon, Grand Coulee Dam and Seattle!

Midwest/Southwest/West Coast – “Route 66″

The famous Route 66 is actually no longer an official part of the US highway system as it has been mostly replaced by larger interstate routes. It still exists if you’re feeling that nostalgic burn for pop culture references.

This road will take you from the Midwest to the West Coast through some similar territory as the I80 route but you get a straight shot to LA from Chicago. You’ll be stopping in: Chicago, St Louis, Meramec Caverns in Stanton, Fantastic Caverns in Springfield, Tulsa, OK County Route 66 Museum, Oklahoma City, Palo Duro Canyon, Albuquerque, Petrified Forest National Park, Flagstaff and Hollywood!

Midwest/Southern Gulf – Mississippi River Route 

Being a Midwesterner, I’d actually like to do this one myself, this starts you off in Duluth (well, you could start in Minneapolis, let’s be real… (Duluth is lovely, but to make a special trip…eh…)) then you’ll be stopping in the twin cities, Effigy Mounds National Monument, Galena, Mark Twain National Preserve, Hannibal, St Louis, Memphis, Graceland, Delta National Forest, Baton Rouge, New Orelans or the other way around. You’ll need to swap highways so just look at a map if you’re doing the route of the Old Miss!

This would be a good route if you’re a fan of music as you’ll be going from the home of the blues, through the country music capital, and ending up in the hometown of Prince (or Duluth if you can be bothered to go that far, again, sorry Duluth).

Your route will look like:

West Coast /East Coast / Southern Gulf

This looks like a particularly interesting route if you’re one for the sun, starting at either end, you could be going through Okefenokee Swamp, Panama City Beach, Mobile, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Tuscon and San Diego.

You could always break this up into CA-> TX or TX-> FL if you wanted to do a shorter trip. I imagine the person on this route has a surfboard strapped onto the top of the car and is after some waves where the sun rises and sets. Your route would look like this and would be a lot quicker for a coast to coast than the routes that take you through the Midwest:

West Coast – Pacific Coast Highway

You’ll start off on the 101 in Olympia and take the 1 through California from SF onward. This famous route has fantastic sunsets, beach scenery and you can incorporate some wine tours if you’re feeling thirsty.

Stops include Olympic National Forest, Cannon Beach, Florence, Redwood National Park, San Francisco, Big Sur, Hearst Castle, Hollywood and San Diego. You can continue up through Seattle-adjacent and up to Vancouver if you’re feeling extra adventurous. Route below:

Canada to Mexico – Route 83

The shortest path from Canada to Mexico is US Route 83, which passes through the plains states. This isn’t a typical route for the first-timer but if you want to do something just to say you’ve done it, be my guest and take this North/South highway which will give you stops in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Wichita, (pick any truckstop in Nebraska), (ditto with South Dakota), Bismarck .. et voila! You’re nearly in Canada!

You could probably do this in a few days, but there’s not a ton of city stops in here, just small towns and scenery, your map would look like:

Southwest

If you’re not really along any decent route above, try the Thelma & Lousie route (sans crime) or Romy & Michelle’s Highschool Reunion route from LA to Tuscon, but you’ll have to do it in a beat-up Jaguar.