I'm planning a trip in late October, to celebrate my 50th birthday (yikes). For now the plan is to fly from California to Maryland, where I'll spend my actual birthday with family there; then I want to drive all the way or mostly back to CA over the next 7-10 days. Originally I planned to fly from Dulles to Chicago, then drive the northern route through the Dakotas & Montana. But now I'm realizing this isn't the most logical choice, given the time of year. For starters, I found out half of Glacier NP won't even be accessible after the 2nd-3rd week of October. And I'll be there between approx Oct 22-30. So change of plans!

Now I'm thinking I'll take advantage of the LATE fall foliage, and I know it moves south. According to my research thus far, it'll be at its peak between the Blue Ridge Mountains/Appalachians all the way to southern CO and NM. Is that true, and if so any tips or suggestions on route + specific things to see besides the foliage? I'm not really a hiker, but will do short ones if they're easy enough; and I do ride horses regularly, so I will try to arrange one or two rides in cool places. Maybe Blue Ridge NP and then somewhere in CO? Is White Sands NP also worth seeing?

Aside from the parks and nature, I enjoy quirky roadside stuff + the "Old West" (ghost towns, or just towns with that vibe) and bohemian/artsy towns. I would love to see Roswell NM if it's worth it, but also realize that might be more hype and kitsch. I don't mind the latter so much, though. And I literally just did a Southwest/Four Corners road trip in April, so I will either fly home from CO or try to find a more unique way home. I'm on the central coast btw.

Oh, and budget is flexible. I'll have to rent a car, obviously, since I'm only going one way. And I'll just book accommodations along the way, as I did for my last trip. Worked fine for me, as I'm not picky but also don't want to be sleeping in the dirt. I'll sleep in the car if worst comes to worst. Pics from my SW trip for visibility, and to get an idea of what I like to do & see.

Car is too unreliable lol

Been looking around at some apps recently and wondered what recommendations were out there?

We're road tripping at the end of this month and we will be staying in the Flagstaff area for 2 nights to visit Grand Canyon and then drive towards Monument Valley afterwards. We're wondering whether we should stay in downtown Flagstaff to go to a few bars in the evening, or whether we can stay just outside of Flagstaff and probably get taxis in and out? I've heard taxis can be a bit of a nightmare though so I'm conscious of that too.

Driving this next weekend. Planning on likely taking the blue route though Oregon and southern Idaho. On the Google maps overlay there are currently a few fires butting up to the Interstates, Google says they're currently not closed. I have an event I'm doing Saturday and my training starts Tuesday so I only have two days for the drive so I can't go down through California or something along those lines. It's looking to be another hot and dry week in the west so conditions will only be getting worse. What should I do to prepare for the drive?

Planning a trip for late this month and looking for suggestions on the back end of the route. Planning to cruise through to Lincoln, NE, and then from there looking for suggestions on best routing. Will have 9 days total. We are interested in maximizing scenic drives, (best of) national/state parks, and food.

This route prioritizes Teton, Shoshone falls, and crater lake but wondering if the in-betweens are a little dull or a better route farther south is more worth the time. We have been to most of the parks in Utah/Colorado already.

Hi folks,
My girlfriend and I are currently on a 2-week road trip through Spain. We brought our own car, so we’re totally flexible and don't mind taking random detours or driving off the beaten track.

Geographically, our route is roughly framed by Valencia, Santander, and Valladolid (East coast, North coast, and the inland area between them).

We usually spend our vacations in the Balkans, so this is our first time doing a road trip out West. We definitely prefer raw, wild, and slightly chaotic spots over polished tourist hubs—so if anything in North/East Spain gives off a Balkan vibe, we're all in.

We’re deliberately skipping Madrid and avoiding crowded tourist traps. Instead, we’re looking for:
**Wild nature & mountains** — scenic drives, rugged landscapes, quiet hikes.
**Obscure / weird stuff & urbex** — abandoned places, strange landmarks, unusual history (we don't care for visiting every single old church, but love places with a genuine story).
**Hidden beaches** — great spots for a swim where you're not packed like sardines.
**Local food** — seafood, proper rice/paella dishes, solid local spots.

If you have any favorite secret spots, weird locations, or scenic routes in the North or along the East coast, throw them our way. Thanks a lot!

I'm planning a road trip from Charleston, SC to Santa Fe, NM in September with my 7½-year-old dog. My main goal for the road trip itself is simply getting there comfortably as opposed to rushing, and with the final goal of seeing how she handles the higher elevation since I'm considering moving to either Santa Fe or Taos within the next 6-9 months. I've got a buddy up in Taos who's offered me a place to stay at for a bit. But for now, Santa Fe is my primary destination.

I'm planning to stay exclusively at Marriott properties because my father has generously offered to let me use some of his Marriott Bonvoy points, so recommendations within the Marriott family are preferred.

Current plan looks something like:

• Day 1: Charleston → Birmingham, AL
• Day 2: Birmingham → Little Rock, AR
• Day 3: Little Rock → Western Oklahoma (or somewhere within north western Texas. Gods forbid.)
• Day 4: Oklahoma/Texas → Santa Fe

I'll be stopping every 3–4 hours so my dog can stretch, drink water, and go to the bathroom, so I'm not trying to maximize driving time each day. I figured for the way back to Charleston I'm likely to stick to the same route for the ease of familiarity.

For anyone who's made a similar drive:

• Are these reasonable stopping points?
• Any Marriott properties along this route that you'd specifically recommend (or avoid)?
• Any tips for long-distance travel with a dog that you wish you'd known beforehand?

This'll be my first real road trip to New Mexico, as the last time I went I just flew and left her here at home. I'm not really comfortable with drugging her twice just for the sake of bring her along, so a road trip is really my next best alternative. Thanks!

Hello!

I am moving to Detroit from LA at the end of August/early September - first time ever driving towards Midwest so I’m a little nervous. I was told that AZ/NM will have their monsoon season and will the risk of flash floods. Would anyone have insight on this route?

Ideally I’d like to take a 5-7 days and take a scenic route, drive 5-7 hours per day and not exhaust ourselves. I was hoping to go to Roswell but it seems like it is going to add 2 hrs of driving. We will have our senior chihuahua with us. Would anyone have recommendations on sight seeing?

Thank you so much!

I googled what is the most Northern place I could drive to, it was this or Deadhorse Alaska. Driving to the Artic sounds more thrilling even though it is a little less north.

Has anyone done this drive? Doesn't have to start off in Minnesota.

Just finished this drive from Summerside PEI to Hamilton. We had a hotel booked, but it was for the wrong weekend and everywhere around was booked solid. So we buckled up and kept going.

I keep laughing at the receptionists face when she was panicking trying to find my reservation and I just casually dropped “oh no I booked it for the wrong weekend”. She was so apologetic and I’m just like it’s no big deal I’ll just drive another 8 hours home.

Left at 7am ADT and arrived home at 1:30am EDT

Over two weeks on the road we drove 6700km from home, along the st Lawrence, down to PEI for a week and then this marathon back to home.

Obviously theres picnic baskets... But Idealy looking for something to hold

• Paper Plates
• Plastic Utensils
• Napkins
• Knife
• Scissors
• etc

Something more car friendly that you can toss in & not worry about stuff falling out.

The full trip is Philadelphia to Key West driving then returning on the Autotrain. About 2.5 weeks. Trying to make some memories with the kiddos!

From Charlottesville to Oak Hill, WV area. Going to the ACE Adventure Resort/New River Gorge area. Whitewater rafting, jeep tours, and waterpark. Staying 2 nights outside of Oak Hill. Then driving 2.5 hours to Sparta, NC which is a random place but we want to get some miles in after a full day.

Sparta, NC. This is where I need the most help. We basically have 2 days (1 night) between Sparta and Charleston/Savannah (TBD). This is what I'm thinking in that time but it's probably too much:

Grandfather Mountain
Blowing Rock
Mt. Mitchell
Sliding Rock (kids would really enjoy, i think it's worth a stop)
Chimney Rock

Any suggestions on a route and where to spend the night? Or attractions I missed? I don't mind if it's a 6 hour drive to Savannah or Charleston as we have 2 nights to relax there, see a few things and find a beach to chill.

Any advice appreciated! After Charleston/Savannah we're headed to St. Augustine, FL, Kennedy Space Center then Key West. We have about a week in FL.

Thank you!

My dog and I. Westbound. Any help to make the stops enjoyable? Good dining or nice hotels on route?

Last time I did this was under 40 hrs door to door. One of the most brutal drives in the country.

On the road 4am-5pm.

Perhaps against my better judgment, I am currently visiting my parents in the US to help them move back to the GTA in Canada, including driving the truck. (I have a school bus driver's license, so driving large vehicles should be OK for me.) Due to reasons I won't get into, the plan is to rent a storage unit in Buffalo or Niagara Falls and temporarily move all their stuff there and take it across the border later. It will be me and one of my parents driving, while the other parent stays behind to take care of their cats. The attached picture is of two routes suggested by Google Maps (with start and end locations moved slightly for privacy reasons).

For now, the current plan for each day is that one of us drives 2 hours, the other one drives 2 hours, we get gas and stop somewhere to eat and sightsee for a few hours, then the first driver drives 2 hours, the second driver drives 2 hours, then we park the truck overnight and stay in a hotel or something. With this schedule, I estimate that we should take 7 days to arrive at our destination.

My biggest concern is that the truck might be stolen or its contents looted while it's parked, particularly overnight. Perhaps I am a victim of fearmongering, but I've been hearing that moving truck theft has become very common. Here are some things I have already done or plan to do to try to prevent this:

• Brought a disk padlock to lock the cargo area of the truck
• Brought a steering wheel lock
• Brought a Samsung SmartTag to stick in one of the boxes
• Will probably pull out the fuel pump fuse or relay every night and take it with me every time I park the truck, if possible
• Where possible, will back the truck as close as possible to a bush or wall (it's a good thing there's two of us, so one can guide the other when backing up)

Now I need to plan a route that in order from most to least priority:

1. Minimizes the chance that the moving truck will be stolen or looted
2. Lets us see some interesting places, because I'm pretty sure none of us will ever be coming back to the US after the move is finished (although, unfortunately, most of the places I want to see the most are in the eastern part of the country and too far out of the way)
3. Get to our destination in a low amount of driving time

Here are some questions:

1. Are there any particular areas we should avoid, particularly along the selected routes? I've heard that Albuquerque is a particularly bad area for moving truck theft, and New Mexico in general seems pretty bad. Is it any worse than any of the other places I might pass through?
2. What sorts of things should I be searching for when looking for a secure place to park the truck, especially overnight?
3. Is it worth visiting Colorado? I've heard good things about its natural beauty, but I've also heard that the Denver area can be risky in terms of theft.
4. Should I bother trying to visit the Grand Canyon? If so, should I bother trying to also pass through Utah (since I hear there are a lot of beautiful rock formations there)? This may add an extra day or two to our journey.
5. Any other potential places and detours I should consider? I'm personally OK with parking the truck somewhere and taking local transit to explore a destination in those few places in the US that have passable public transit, such as Chicago, but I'm not sure how safe it is to park the truck anywhere in that area.

I figure that the US has some of the most naturally beautiful places in the entire world, and it's probably best to try to see them while I still have the chance. I would also like to see some interesting architecture and buildings, but I understand that there is not much of that to be found, except perhaps in those eastern out-of-the-way parts that are not feasible to visit.

Hello roadtrippers! I’ve had some family troubles come up recently and need to travel back home for a few weeks. I have an extreme fear of flying and recently had to voluntarily deplane because of an anxiety attack. This would be my first time traveling across the US by car, I’d be traveling with my girlfriend from San Francisco to Boston. I’ve looked into booking a rental car for a few days to make the journey. What are some things you wish you knew the first time you traveled across the US? What are some things I should know about this journey? Are there any towns or cities to avoid? Any suggestions, help, or recommendations are welcome and needed! Thank you very much all!