America’s great road trips

By the ULTIMATE California Editorial Team

How to drive them

A flight shows you the map of America; a road trip lets you read it. Between the coasts lie redwood forests and lava fields, river towns and prairie, neon motels and the quiet of the high desert, and the only way to understand how they join together is to drive from one to the next.

These thirteen routes are planned at an easy pace: about three to five hours at the wheel a day, so there is time for the view, the museum, the long lunch and the walk to the falls. Each comes with its character, the road it follows, the best time of year, one practical tip and a day-by-day plan you can stretch or shorten. Distances are given only where the road’s own authority publishes them.

1. The Pacific Coast Highway: San Diego to Seattle

The great ocean road of the West. Surf towns and Spanish missions give way to the cliffs of Big Sur, the cool fog of Monterey Bay, the redwoods of the far north and the sea stacks of Oregon. It is the most varied coastline in the country, and the road clings to it for most of the way.

The route: Highway 1 and US 101 up the coast of California, then US 101 along the Oregon coast, with the last stretch inland to Seattle. Fourteen days at an easy pace. Best from late spring to early autumn; summer mornings can be foggy north of Santa Barbara.

Our advice: drive it from south to north and the ocean stays on your side of the road, with the pull-outs easier to reach. Highway 1 through Big Sur reopened in full on 14 January 2026, but storms can still close parts of it at short notice, so check Caltrans QuickMap the evening before.

• Day 1 · San Diego: the Hotel del Coronado, the sea lions and tide pools of La Jolla Cove.
• Day 2 · San Diego to Los Angeles: Highway 1 begins at Dana Point; Laguna Beach and the beach towns of Orange County.
• Day 3 · Los Angeles to Santa Barbara: Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains, then the Old Mission and the red-roofed old town.
• Day 4 · Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo: the Danish-style village of Solvang and the dunes and pier at Pismo Beach.
• Day 5 · To Cambria: Hearst Castle above San Simeon (book your tour ahead) and the elephant seals on the beach at Piedras Blancas.
• Day 6 · Big Sur to Carmel: McWay Falls, the Bixby Creek Bridge and Point Lobos, the most dramatic day of the trip.
• Day 7 · Monterey to San Francisco: the Monterey Bay Aquarium, then the coast road north past Half Moon Bay.
• Day 8 · San Francisco: a day out of the car for the city.
• Day 9 · San Francisco to Mendocino: across the Golden Gate and up Highway 1 past Point Reyes and Bodega Bay.
• Day 10 · Mendocino to Eureka: the Avenue of the Giants through Humboldt Redwoods State Park.
• Day 11 · Redwood National and State Parks, then into Oregon at Brookings.
• Day 12 · The southern Oregon coast to Florence and the Oregon Dunes.
• Day 13 · Florence to Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock, by way of the harbour at Newport.
• Day 14 · Cannon Beach to Seattle: Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia, then inland to the city.

Our Pacific Coast Highway guide →   Hearst Castle →   Bixby Creek Bridge →   Monterey Bay Aquarium →   The San Francisco guide →   Redwood National and State Parks (NPS) →   Caltrans QuickMap →

2. The Blue Ridge Parkway: the Smokies to Shenandoah

A road built for the pleasure of driving. The Parkway follows the crest of the southern Appalachians for 469 miles with no traffic lights, no billboards and no lorries, linking the Great Smoky Mountains with Shenandoah National Park. The views are of ridge after blue ridge fading into haze, and in October the forests turn every shade of red and gold.

The route: the Parkway from milepost 469 at Cherokee, North Carolina, to milepost 0 at Rockfish Gap near Waynesboro, Virginia, where Skyline Drive continues through Shenandoah. Five days. Best in May and June for the rhododendrons, and from late September to October for the colour.

Our advice: the speed limit is 45 mph or less, and you will want to go slower still. Hurricane Helene damaged the North Carolina section in 2024, worst between Linville Falls and Mount Mitchell, and the National Park Service expected repairs to finish in late 2026: check its road status page before you go and allow for a detour. Fill up in the towns, as there are no petrol stations on the Parkway itself.

• Day 1 · Cherokee to Asheville: the Oconaluftee valley, the high overlooks at Waterrock Knob, and an evening in Asheville.
• Day 2 · Asheville to Little Switzerland: Craggy Gardens and Mount Mitchell, the highest summit east of the Mississippi (check the road status for this stretch).
• Day 3 · Linville Falls to Blowing Rock: the waterfalls of the Linville Gorge and the Linn Cove Viaduct, the bridge around Grandfather Mountain that completed the Parkway in 1987.
• Day 4 · Blowing Rock to Roanoke: the meadows of Doughton Park, then old-time music at the Floyd Country Store on a Friday night.
• Day 5 · Roanoke to Rockfish Gap: the Peaks of Otter, the James River and the last miles to milepost 0, with Shenandoah ahead.

Blue Ridge Parkway road status (NPS) →   Great Smoky Mountains National Park →   Shenandoah National Park →

3. Route 66: Chicago to Santa Monica

The Mother Road turns one hundred: US Highway 66 was designated in November 1926, and the centenary year has brought travellers back to its diners, motels and neon. It was officially retired in 1985, once the interstates had bypassed the last of it, but most of the old road is still there to drive, through eight states from the lakefront in Chicago to the Pacific at Santa Monica.

The route: Historic Route 66, signed with brown markers, across Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, more than 2,200 miles depending on which of its alignments you follow. Fifteen days. Best from April to June and in September and October; high summer in the Mojave is fierce.

Our advice: buy a good turn-by-turn guide to the old alignments before you set off, because satnavs always prefer the interstate. Petrified Forest is the only national park with a stretch of Route 66 inside it.

• Day 1 · Chicago to Springfield: the “Begin” sign on Adams Street, the Gemini Giant at Wilmington and the museum at Pontiac; supper at the Cozy Dog Drive In, a family business since 1946.
• Day 2 · Springfield to St Louis: the old Chain of Rocks Bridge across the Mississippi, now for walkers and cyclists, and frozen custard at Ted Drewes on the old road through south St Louis.
• Day 3 · St Louis to Springfield, Missouri: the show caves of Meramec Caverns and the motor court at Cuba’s Wagon Wheel Motel, open since the 1930s.
• Day 4 · Into Kansas and Oklahoma: the road spends barely a dozen miles in Kansas, through Galena and Baxter Springs, then on to Tulsa.
• Day 5 · Tulsa to Oklahoma City: the Round Barn at Arcadia and the giant soda bottle at Pops.
• Day 6 · Oklahoma City to Amarillo: the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum at Clinton and the art deco U-Drop Inn at Shamrock, built in 1936.
• Day 7 · Amarillo to Tucumcari: Cadillac Ranch, the row of half-buried Cadillacs that visitors spray-paint, the midpoint of the road at Adrian, and the neon of the Blue Swallow Motel after dark.
• Day 8 · Tucumcari to Albuquerque: Central Avenue, which was Route 66 through the city.
• Day 9 · Albuquerque to Gallup, past the red cliffs of western New Mexico.
• Day 10 · Petrified Forest National Park and the Wigwam Motel at Holbrook, where you sleep in a concrete tepee.
• Day 11 · Holbrook to Flagstaff: the corner at Winslow, then the pine forests of the Colorado Plateau.
• Day 12 · Flagstaff to Kingman: Seligman’s old main street and the Hackberry General Store.
• Day 13 · Kingman to Needles over Sitgreaves Pass, through Oatman, where wild burros wander the street.
• Day 14 · Needles to Barstow through the Mojave, past Roy’s at Amboy.
• Day 15 · Barstow to Santa Monica: the last miles across Los Angeles to the sign at the end of the trail on the pier.

Route 66 travel itinerary (NPS) →   Petrified Forest National Park →   Oklahoma Route 66 Museum →   Santa Monica Pier →   The Los Angeles guide →

4. The Atlantic Coast: New York to Key West

The long road south, from the Victorian porches of Cape May to the last island of the Florida Keys. On the way come two of the great crossings of the East Coast, the barrier islands of the Outer Banks, the oak-shaded squares of Charleston and Savannah, the Spanish fort at St Augustine and, at the end, a road that hops from key to key across the sea.

The route: the Garden State Parkway to Cape May, the ferry to Delaware, the coast roads of the Delmarva Peninsula and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Virginia, then the Outer Banks and the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, finishing on US 1, the Overseas Highway. Fourteen days. Best in spring and autumn; the hurricane season runs from June to November.

Our advice: book the Cape May–Lewes Ferry ahead in summer. The crossing covers 17 miles of Delaware Bay in about 85 minutes, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel runs 17.6 miles shore to shore, so these are the two days to drive in good weather.

• Day 1 · New York to Cape May: down the Jersey Shore to the painted Victorian houses at the tip of New Jersey.
• Day 2 · The ferry to Lewes, then south through Delaware and Maryland to Assateague Island and its wild ponies.
• Day 3 · Chincoteague to Virginia Beach, across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
• Day 4 · The Outer Banks: the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kill Devil Hills, where the first powered flight took off on 17 December 1903, and the lighthouse at Cape Hatteras.
• Day 5 · The Outer Banks to Wilmington, North Carolina.
• Day 6 · Wilmington to Charleston, past the long beaches of South Carolina.
• Day 7 · Charleston: the old city on foot.
• Day 8 · Charleston to Savannah, by way of Beaufort.
• Day 9 · Savannah to St Augustine, founded in 1565, with the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States.
• Day 10 · St Augustine to Cocoa Beach and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
• Day 11 · The Space Coast to Miami, by way of Palm Beach.
• Day 12 · Miami: a day out of the car for the city.
• Day 13 · Miami to Marathon: the Overseas Highway begins, with Key Largo and Islamorada on the way.
• Day 14 · Marathon to Key West: the Seven Mile Bridge, the beaches of Bahia Honda State Park and, at last, Key West.

Cape May–Lewes Ferry →   Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel →   Wright Brothers National Memorial →   Castillo de San Marcos →   Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex →   The Overseas Highway to Key West →   The Miami guide →

5. Border to border on US 93: Montana to Arizona

The road down the spine of the West, from the Canadian border to the Sonoran Desert. It begins among the lakes and forests of north-west Montana, crosses the Bitterroot and the volcanic plains of Idaho, runs the length of Nevada’s empty basins and ends among the saguaros, with Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam along the way.

The route: US 93 from the border crossing at Roosville, Montana, south to Wickenburg, Arizona, where it ends at US 60 for the last hour into Phoenix. Nine days. Best from June to September in the north; Nevada and Arizona are kinder in spring and autumn.

Our advice: in Canada the same number carries on north as Highway 93, the Icefields Parkway through Banff and Jasper national parks, if you want to begin among the glaciers. In Nevada, fill the tank whenever you can.

• Day 1 · Roosville to Kalispell, through Eureka and Whitefish, with Glacier National Park close by.
• Day 2 · Kalispell to Missoula, along the western shore of Flathead Lake below the Mission Mountains.
• Day 3 · Missoula to Salmon, Idaho: up the Bitterroot Valley and over Lost Trail Pass.
• Day 4 · Salmon to Arco: the Salmon River country and the Lost River Range, ending at the lava fields of Craters of the Moon.
• Day 5 · Craters of the Moon to Twin Falls: Shoshone Falls on the Snake River, at its fullest in spring, and the canyon below the Perrine Bridge.
• Day 6 · Twin Falls to Ely, Nevada: across the border at Jackpot and down through the open basins.
• Day 7 · Ely: the Nevada Northern Railway, or a day at Great Basin National Park to the east.
• Day 8 · Ely to Las Vegas, the longest empty stretch of the trip.
• Day 9 · Las Vegas to Phoenix: the Hoover Dam, then Kingman and Wickenburg.

Craters of the Moon (NPS) →   Great Basin National Park →   Hoover Dam →   The Las Vegas guide →

6. The Appalachian Trail country: the White Mountains to the Berkshires

Autumn’s own road trip. The White Mountains of New Hampshire, the green hills of Vermont and the Berkshires of Massachusetts are threaded by the Appalachian Trail, which crosses the road at Pinkham, Crawford and Franconia notches. In October the maples blaze, the villages put pumpkins on their porches and every inn has a fire lit.

The route: from Gorham, New Hampshire, by the notches and the Kancamagus Highway across the White Mountain National Forest, then west into Vermont and south on Route 100 to the Berkshires. Five days. Best from late September to mid-October, and lovely in summer too.

Our advice: the foliage weekends are busy, so book inns early and drive the Kancamagus on a weekday morning. The Mount Washington Auto Road, opened in 1861, climbs 7.6 miles to the summit and runs from spring to autumn; the weather at the top can be wintry in any month.

• Day 1 · Gorham: up the Mount Washington Auto Road, then down through Pinkham Notch to the covered bridge at Jackson.
• Day 2 · Crawford Notch and Bretton Woods, where the cog railway climbs Mount Washington from the west.
• Day 3 · The Kancamagus Highway from Conway to Lincoln, then the Flume Gorge in Franconia Notch State Park.
• Day 4 · Into Vermont: the village green at Woodstock, then south on Route 100 through the farms and ski hills.
• Day 5 · Southern Vermont to the Berkshires: Manchester, then Williamstown and Lenox, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood.

White Mountain National Forest →   Franconia Notch State Park →   The Clark Art Institute →

7. The Great River Road: the Mississippi from source to sea

The river that runs through America’s story, from a stream you can step across in the Minnesota woods to the levees of New Orleans. The road follows it past the bluffs of the Driftless country, the boyhood town of Mark Twain, the Gateway Arch, the Memphis studio where so much early rock and roll was recorded, and the blues towns of the Mississippi Delta.

The route: the signed Great River Road, a National Scenic Byway that follows the river for about 3,000 miles through ten states, from Itasca State Park to the Gulf. Thirteen days for the main line from source to New Orleans. Best from May to October; the upper river is glorious in autumn.

Our advice: follow the green pilot’s-wheel signs and cross the river often, since the prettiest stretches switch banks. In Memphis, book Graceland and Sun Studio ahead.

• Day 1 · Itasca State Park: walk across the Mississippi on the stones at its source, then on to Grand Rapids.
• Day 2 · Grand Rapids to Minneapolis and St Paul.
• Day 3 · The Twin Cities to La Crosse: Red Wing, Lake Pepin and the bluffs of the Driftless Area.
• Day 4 · La Crosse to Dubuque: the Effigy Mounds in Iowa and the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.
• Day 5 · Dubuque to Burlington, past the river towns of Iowa and Illinois.
• Day 6 · Burlington to Hannibal, Missouri, and Mark Twain’s boyhood home.
• Day 7 · Hannibal to St Louis: the Gateway Arch, at 630 feet the tallest monument in the country, and the Cahokia Mounds across the river.
• Day 8 · St Louis to Cape Girardeau, by way of the French colonial town of Ste. Genevieve.
• Day 9 · Cape Girardeau to Memphis.
• Day 10 · Memphis: Sun Studio, Graceland and the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, with Beale Street after dark.
• Day 11 · Memphis to Vicksburg: the Delta Blues Museum at Clarksdale, then the national military park at Vicksburg.
• Day 12 · Vicksburg to Natchez and on to Baton Rouge.
• Day 13 · Baton Rouge to New Orleans along the River Road.

Great River Road (Mississippi River Parkway Commission) →   Gateway Arch National Park →   Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum →   Sun Studio →   Graceland →   National Civil Rights Museum →   Delta Blues Museum →

8. The Great Plains on US 83: North Dakota to Nebraska

Big sky country in its purest form. US 83 runs straight down the middle of the continent through the Dakotas and Nebraska, past the reservoirs of the Missouri River, the earthlodge villages of the Hidatsa, two state capitals and the grass-covered dunes of the Sandhills. Hours pass with only grain elevators on the horizon, and the stars at night are extraordinary.

The route: US 83 from the Canadian border at Westhope, North Dakota, south to McCook, Nebraska. Six days. Best from June to September; winter here is serious.

Our advice: never pass a petrol station with less than half a tank, and carry water and a paper map, since phone signal is patchy between towns.

• Day 1 · Westhope to Minot, across the prairie potholes.
• Day 2 · Minot to Bismarck: Lake Sakakawea, then the Knife River Indian Villages, where the Hidatsa lived in earthlodge villages for centuries.
• Day 3 · Bismarck to Pierre: the North Dakota Heritage Center, then south down the Missouri’s wide valley to South Dakota’s small capital on the river.
• Day 4 · Pierre to Valentine, Nebraska, across the White River country.
• Day 5 · Valentine: a day on the Niobrara National Scenic River, made for canoeing, and the waterfall at Smith Falls State Park.
• Day 6 · Valentine to McCook, through the Sandhills and North Platte.

Knife River Indian Villages (NPS) →   Niobrara National Scenic River (NPS) →

9. The Great Northern on US 2: Seattle to Duluth

The northern route across the top of the country, named for the railway that runs beside much of it. From the Cascades it crosses the apple orchards and dry coulees of eastern Washington, the lakes of the Idaho panhandle and the southern edge of Glacier National Park, then the High Line of Montana and the prairie to the north woods and the shore of Lake Superior.

The route: US 2 from Everett, north of Seattle, to Duluth, Minnesota, with a short detour to the Grand Coulee Dam. Ten days. Best from late June, when Glacier’s high road is usually open, to September.

Our advice: Going-to-the-Sun Road over Logan Pass is seasonal. In 2026 no vehicle reservations were needed, but Logan Pass was reached by ticketed shuttle and parking there was limited, so check the park’s plans for your year.

• Day 1 · Seattle to Leavenworth over Stevens Pass, to the Bavarian-style village below the Cascades.
• Day 2 · Leavenworth to the Grand Coulee Dam, through Wenatchee and the coulees.
• Day 3 · Grand Coulee to Spokane.
• Day 4 · Spokane to Kalispell, by way of Sandpoint and Lake Pend Oreille.
• Day 5 · Glacier National Park: Lake McDonald and, in season, Going-to-the-Sun Road.
• Day 6 · West Glacier to Havre: East Glacier and the Museum of the Plains Indian at Browning, then the High Line.
• Day 7 · Havre to Williston, North Dakota, past Malta and Wolf Point.
• Day 8 · Williston to Minot.
• Day 9 · Minot to Grand Forks, by way of Devils Lake.
• Day 10 · Grand Forks to Duluth: the Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues at Bemidji, built in 1937, then the north woods to Lake Superior.

Going-to-the-Sun Road (NPS) →   Grand Coulee Dam (Bureau of Reclamation) →   Visit Bemidji →

10. Oregon’s high desert: Mount Hood to Boise

The Oregon Trail in reverse. The wagon trains came west across the sagebrush, over the Blue Mountains and round Mount Hood; this drive goes the other way, from the Pacific through the forests of the Cascades to the volcanoes, lava caves and climbing rocks around Bend, then across the empty high desert to Idaho, where you can still walk in the wagon ruts.

The route: US 26 from Cannon Beach through Portland and over Mount Hood to central Oregon, then US 20 east from Bend to Ontario, and I-84 to Boise. Seven days. Best from June to October; snow can close the high roads at other times.

Our advice: in Bend, the Lava River Cave in Newberry National Volcanic Monument is open in the warmer months and needs a timed reservation, so book before you arrive.

• Day 1 · Cannon Beach to Portland on US 26, through the Coast Range forests.
• Day 2 · Portland to Mount Hood: Timberline Lodge, built by hand in the 1930s from local stone and timber, and Trillium Lake below the peak.
• Day 3 · Mount Hood to Bend: the Museum at Warm Springs and the cliffs of Smith Rock State Park.
• Day 4 · Bend: the lava flows and caves of Newberry National Volcanic Monument.
• Day 5 · Bend to Burns on US 20, across the high desert, with the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to the south.
• Day 6 · Burns to Ontario: the Oregon Trail wagon ruts at Keeney Pass, south of Vale.
• Day 7 · Ontario to Boise.

Timberline Lodge →   The Museum at Warm Springs →   Smith Rock State Park →   Malheur National Wildlife Refuge →

11. The Loneliest Road: San Francisco to Great Basin on US 50

In July 1986 Life magazine called the Nevada stretch of US 50 “the loneliest road in America”, and Nevada has worn the title proudly ever since. Beyond the Gold Rush towns of the Sierra foothills and the blue of Lake Tahoe, the road crosses basin after mountain range after basin, with a handful of old mining towns and, at the end, the ancient bristlecone pines of Great Basin National Park.

The route: from San Francisco to Sacramento, then US 50 over the Sierra Nevada to Lake Tahoe and across Nevada by Fallon, Austin, Eureka and Ely to Great Basin. Six days. Best from June to October, when the scenic drive up Wheeler Peak is open.

Our advice: Lehman Caves in Great Basin are seen only on ranger-led tours, which sell out in summer, so book ahead; and fill up at every town in Nevada.

• Day 1 · San Francisco to Sacramento: Old Sacramento and the river.
• Day 2 · Sacramento to South Lake Tahoe: Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park at Coloma, where the Gold Rush began, and Placerville.
• Day 3 · Lake Tahoe to Fallon: Carson City, then the desert begins.
• Day 4 · Fallon to Austin: the singing dune of Sand Mountain and the old silver town of Austin.
• Day 5 · Austin to Ely, by way of Eureka.
• Day 6 · Ely to Great Basin National Park: Lehman Caves, the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive and the bristlecone pines.

Travel Nevada →   Great Basin National Park →   Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park →   Our Lake Tahoe guide →   The San Francisco guide →

12. The southern route: San Diego to San Antonio

Desert all the way, and never the same desert twice. From the mountains behind San Diego the road drops to the Imperial Valley and the great dunes on the Mexican border, crosses the Sonoran Desert to the saguaro forests of Tucson, follows the Rio Grande to El Paso, and detours into the high grasslands of West Texas for the art of Marfa before the hill country leads to San Antonio.

The route: I-8 from San Diego to its end near Casa Grande, then I-10 across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, with a loop on US 90 through Marfa and US 290 through the Hill Country. Nine days. Best from October to April; summer heat in the low desert is dangerous.

Our advice: carry plenty of water in the car, and keep to the roads; the sand of the dunes is for those with the right vehicles and permits.

• Day 1 · San Diego to El Centro: the Sunrise Highway through the Laguna Mountains, then down to the desert floor.
• Day 2 · El Centro to Yuma: the Imperial Sand Dunes and the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park.
• Day 3 · Yuma to Tucson, by way of Gila Bend.
• Day 4 · Tucson: the two districts of Saguaro National Park, either side of the city.
• Day 5 · Tucson to Las Cruces: Old Mesilla’s plaza, with White Sands National Park within reach to the north-east.
• Day 6 · Las Cruces to Marfa, through El Paso and down to the high plains.
• Day 7 · Marfa: the Chinati Foundation and, at night, the stars from the McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis.
• Day 8 · Marfa to Fredericksburg: a long day east across the Pecos country into the Texas Hill Country.
• Day 9 · Fredericksburg to San Antonio: the Alamo and the four other missions that make up Texas’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Saguaro National Park →   White Sands National Park →   Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park →   The Chinati Foundation →   San Antonio Missions →   The Alamo →   Our San Diego guide →

13. The Natchez Trace Parkway: Nashville to Natchez

A green and gentle road through three states and many centuries. People have travelled this corridor for some ten thousand years; the Natchez, Chickasaw and Choctaw traded along it, and in the early 1800s the “Kaintucks” who floated goods down the Mississippi walked home this way after selling their flatboats for timber. The modern Parkway, completed in 2005, runs for 444 miles under oak and pine, with no lorries and no billboards.

The route: the Parkway from milepost 444, where it meets Highway 100 south-west of Nashville, to milepost 0 at Natchez, Mississippi. Four days. Best in April and May and from October to November.

Our advice: the speed limit is 50 mph and lower in places, and there are no services on the Parkway itself, so leave it for petrol and meals in the towns nearby. Stop at the Parkway Visitor Center near Tupelo for maps.

• Day 1 · Nashville to Florence, Alabama: the Double Arch Bridge over Birdsong Hollow, then the music town of Muscle Shoals across the river.
• Day 2 · Florence to Tupelo: across the Tennessee River and on to the Elvis Presley Birthplace.
• Day 3 · Tupelo to Jackson: the boardwalk through the Cypress Swamp, among water tupelo and bald cypress.
• Day 4 · Jackson to Natchez: walk in the Sunken Trace, worn deep by travellers’ feet, see Emerald Mound, and end on the bluffs above the Mississippi.

Natchez Trace Parkway (NPS) →   Elvis Presley Birthplace →   Visit Natchez →

Before you go

Fuel and water: on US 83, US 50, the Nevada stretch of US 93 and the deserts of the south-west, towns can be an hour or more apart. Fill up whenever you can and carry water.

Road status: check the National Park Service road status pages, Caltrans QuickMap in California and the state 511 services before each day’s drive, especially in winter and after storms.

National parks: each park sets its own entrance fee, and an America the Beautiful annual pass covers entrance to all of them. Rules and fees for overseas visitors changed in 2026, so check nps.gov before you buy.

Hire cars: one-way rentals often carry a drop-off charge, so compare it with the cost of flying back to your starting point.

Our advice: plan the overnight stops, then leave the rest loose. The best moments on these roads are rarely on the itinerary: a diner with the pies in the window, a sign to a waterfall, a small-town rodeo. Take the detour.

California essentials →   Find a park (NPS) →

Questions and answers