Cool Road Trips in the US: Four Routes Worth the Gas Money
Pacific Coast Highway, Route 66, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Going-to-the-Sun Road each solve a different kind of trip. Here's the real mileage, timing, tunnel clearances, and the season windows that shift every year.
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By Elena Kovač, Fortrip contributing editor, who writes about North American driving routes and the logistics — mileage, tunnels, seasonal closures — that guidebooks often skip.
Last updated: November 2025. Seasonal and reservation details, especially for Glacier National Park, are noted below where they're subject to change — verify against the NPS site before booking.
Search "cool road trips in the US" and most lists hand you the same four or five routes reshuffled in a different order. The four below are worth the actual gas money and the actual days off: a coastal run, a fragmented classic through eight states, a mountain parkway with a hard speed cap, and a short-season alpine road with no fixed opening date. What follows is the real mileage, timing, and the seasonal windows for each — the details that decide whether a route fits the week you actually have.
Why there's no single 'best' American road trip
Lonely Planet, Road Trip USA, and RAC Drive all publish rankings of US road trips, and they don't agree, because they're not measuring the same thing. Lonely Planet optimizes for scenery and variety. Road Trip USA leans into Americana and small-town stops. RAC Drive, writing for a UK audience renting cars, cares about logistics like fuel stops and road conditions. None of them is wrong — they're answering different questions (Lonely Planet, Road Trip USA).
That's why a forced top-10 list serves readers worse than a shortlist organized by what kind of trip each route delivers. This piece covers four routes, not a dozen: a coastal run, a historic Americana drive, a mountain route with a speed cap, and a short-season alpine road. Each solves a genuinely different problem — pick based on the kind of drive you want and the time you actually have, not on whichever name shows up first in search results.
Pacific Coast Highway: the coastal run
"PCH" means different things depending on who's writing. The scenic core that most people picture is California Highway 1 from Dana Point to Leggett — about 655 miles. Road Trip USA's full Pacific Coast route runs Port Townsend, Washington to the Mexican border, roughly 1,650 miles. Lonely Planet frames it as San Diego to Seattle, about 1,600 miles over 8-12 days (Lonely Planet; Road Trip USA).
Big Sur is the stretch most people mean when they say they want to drive "the PCH": San Simeon to Carmel, about 90 miles, including Bixby Creek Bridge (RAC Drive; Qz). It's drivable as a day trip, but fog banks at Hurricane Point and the pull of stops like McWay Falls and the coastal overlooks south of Carmel are why most people stretch it into two or three days instead.
Before comparing mileage figures between guides, check whether a quoted number folds in sections of Highway 101. Some "PCH" itineraries route onto 101 north of San Francisco or south of Los Angeles, which changes both distance and drive time without changing the name on the map. If you're building a day-by-day route yourself, Fortrip's AI trip planner will flag when a leg quietly jumps from Highway 1 onto 101.
Route 66: the fragmented classic
The original Route 66 ran 2,448 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica Pier, commissioned in 1926 and decommissioned as a federal highway in 1985 (Qz). It no longer exists as a single continuous road. Pieces of it were absorbed into I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15, and I-10, which means a chunk of any modern "drive Route 66" itinerary is actually interstate driving with frontage-road detours mixed in.
The eight states the original route crossed — Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California — each publish their own tourism board maps of surviving segments. Those are the practical tool for finding the actual old road rather than relying on a generic overlay, since GPS apps will default you to the interstate. The Midpoint Café in Adrian, Texas, marks the literal midpoint between Chicago and Santa Monica — a useful checkpoint for gauging how much of the drive so far has been original pavement versus interstate substitution.
Pace it at 1-2 weeks end to end if you want time in towns like Tucumcari or Seligman instead of just logging interstate miles with a sign photo stop. Lonely Planet's version of the route runs a comparable 2,250 miles on the same timeline. For more on pacing a multi-stop Americana drive without burning every day on the highway, the blog has other route breakdowns in the same vein.
Blue Ridge Parkway: the mountain drive with a speed cap
The Blue Ridge Parkway is exactly 469 miles, from milepost 0 near Shenandoah National Park to milepost 469 at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The default speed limit is 45 mph, dropping to 25-35 mph through named sections — not arbitrary enforcement, but a response to tight curves and blind overlooks built into the road itself (NPS).
There are 26 tunnels along the route, mostly south of Asheville. If you're driving an RV or anything oversized, check height clearances before committing to the southern half — and note that commercial vehicles are banned outright on the Parkway (NPS).
NPS rangers investigate an average of 200 accidents a year on the Parkway, with about half resulting in serious injury (NPS Driving Safety). That's worth taking seriously rather than treating the Parkway as a slow, scenic given — the low speed limit exists because of a documented accident rate, not just for atmosphere.
Going-to-the-Sun Road: the short-season alpine route
Logan Pass, the alpine section of Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, has no fixed opening date. NPS says it's typically fully open by early July and closes around the third Monday of October, weather permitting — and in heavy snowpack years it has opened as late as June 30 (NPS).
For the 2026 season specifically, NPS projected full opening on June 22. The park also changed its access system for 2026: no vehicle reservation requirement, but a three-hour parking cap at Logan Pass and a ticketed Logan Pass Shuttle replacing the old Sun Road Shuttle, both starting July 1, 2026 (NPS). These rules were last verified against the NPS Glacier site in November 2025; NPS policy pages for Logan Pass get revised on short notice, so confirm the current version before you book.
If you're planning a spring or early-summer trip around Logan Pass, build in slack days. Projected opening dates can slip later if a late snowstorm hits. Because the access rules were mid-change as of this writing, check the NPS Glacier page directly at time of booking rather than relying on a roundup like this one.
The four routes side by side
Route
Length
Typical Duration
Season Notes
Pacific Coast Highway (Hwy 1 core, Dana Point–Leggett)
~655 miles
Long weekend to 5 days
Open year-round; full coastal version (San Diego–Seattle, ~1,600 mi) runs 8-12 days
Route 66 (Chicago–Santa Monica)
2,448 miles historic
1-2 weeks
Open year-round; now partly interstate with frontage-road detours
Blue Ridge Parkway
469 miles
2-4 days driven straight, longer with stops
Open year-round; speed drops to 25-35 mph through named sections
Going-to-the-Sun Road (Logan Pass)
Full route through Glacier NP
1-2 days once open
Typically fully open early July–third Monday of October; 2026 target June 22
One week: pick a single regional route. That's the Highway 1 core of the PCH, the full Blue Ridge Parkway, or a Glacier-focused trip timed to land inside Logan Pass's open season.
Two weeks: a full Route 66 run from Chicago to Santa Monica, or the complete coastal PCH from San Diego to Seattle, both fit comfortably at a sightseeing pace.
Three weeks or more: an actual coast-to-coast trip. Non-stop driving time from Los Angeles to New York is about 41 hours and 2,790 miles; from San Francisco to New York it's roughly 45-50 hours and 2,800-3,000 miles (Open Road; Turo). Almost nobody drives that straight through — most travelers spread it over one to three weeks with detours and park stops.
The honest answer to "how many days coast to coast" is that the driving-time figure isn't the planning number. Stops, fatigue, and which parks you want to see along the way are what actually set your schedule. If you're stitching together a multi-week route across several of these, running it through an itinerary validator before you book lodging catches the days where you've scheduled more driving than daylight allows.
Before you leave: the logistics that change every year
Check seasonal road status directly on the NPS pages for the Blue Ridge Parkway and Going-to-the-Sun Road before finalizing dates. Both can close or restrict sections depending on weather, and those dates move year to year.
Confirm vehicle fit for the Blue Ridge Parkway's 26 tunnels if you're driving an RV or anything oversized — clearance issues aren't something you want to discover mid-route.
Verify current park entrance fees and any shuttle or reservation systems, especially Glacier's 2026 rules, directly with the park at booking time. Systems like this change on short notice and older articles won't reflect it. If you're comparing paid planning tools to keep track of multiple park reservations, check the plan tiers on Fortrip's pricing page before committing to one for a multi-week trip.
Decide which "PCH" mileage applies to your plan — the 655-mile Highway 1 core or the longer 101-inclusive coastal route — before you book lodging by the day. The two numbers produce very different itineraries.
FAQ
How long does the Blue Ridge Parkway take to drive?
The Parkway is 469 miles end to end. Driven straight through at the 45 mph cap (and slower through 25-35 mph sections), that's roughly 2-3 days of driving; most people take 3-4 days or more to stop at overlooks and hike short trails along the way.
When does Going-to-the-Sun Road open each year?
There's no fixed date. The alpine section over Logan Pass is typically fully open by early July and closes around the third Monday of October, weather permitting. In heavy snowpack years it has opened as late as June 30. For 2026, NPS projected a June 22 opening — verify this against the current NPS Glacier page before booking, since it's a projection, not a guarantee.
How long is the Pacific Coast Highway?
It depends on which stretch you mean. The scenic core — California Highway 1 from Dana Point to Leggett — is about 655 miles. The full coastal route some guides use, from San Diego or Port Townsend to the Mexican border, runs 1,600-1,650 miles.
Is Route 66 still a continuous road?
No. It was decommissioned as a federal highway in 1985 and absorbed piecemeal into I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15, and I-10. Driving "Route 66" today means combining surviving frontage-road segments with interstate stretches, using state tourism board maps to find the original alignment.
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Frequently asked questions
How long does the Blue Ridge Parkway take to drive?+
The Parkway is 469 miles end to end. Driven straight through at the 45 mph cap (and slower through 25-35 mph sections), that's roughly 2-3 days of driving; most people take 3-4 days or more to stop at overlooks and hike short trails along the way.
When does Going-to-the-Sun Road open each year?+
There's no fixed date. The alpine section over Logan Pass is typically fully open by early July and closes around the third Monday of October, weather permitting. In heavy snowpack years it has opened as late as June 30. For 2026, NPS projected a June 22 opening — verify this against the current NPS Glacier page before booking, since it's a projection, not a guarantee.
How long is the Pacific Coast Highway?+
It depends on which stretch you mean. The scenic core — California Highway 1 from Dana Point to Leggett — is about 655 miles. The full coastal route some guides use, from San Diego or Port Townsend to the Mexican border, runs 1,600-1,650 miles.
Is Route 66 still a continuous road?+
No. It was decommissioned as a federal highway in 1985 and absorbed piecemeal into I-55, I-44, I-40, I-15, and I-10. Driving "Route 66" today means combining surviving frontage-road segments with interstate stretches, using state tourism board maps to find the original alignment.
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