America’s 5 Best Summer Road Trips

As gas prices continue to remain low, the temptation for road trips is oh so attractive. 2015 is destined to be the summer of the road trip and you’ve got five thrilling, adventurous, and affordable options for a memorable summer road trip vacation.

Pack up the trunk, fill the cooler with ice, prep your music playlists, and hit the open road to explore America!

Iconic Route 66-New Mexico
Start: Albuquerque, New Mexico
End: Moriarty, New Mexico
Distance: 38 miles

At the top of most road trippers bucket list is Route 66. This 38 mile drive along I-40 is iconic and recently has a new twist, now known as Singing Road, and one of few such roads that exist in the world. Drivers will hear “America the Beautiful,” but there is a catch-you must reduce speed to 45mph. The road uses rumble strips to play music to help prevent motorists from speeding or falling asleep at the wheel. An experiment by the National Geographic Channel as part of its series “Crowd Control,” the Singing Road is part of an innovative experiment designed to test and curate social behavior, revealing how and why we behave as we do. This drive will take you through the Cibola National Forest, Tijeras, Sunset Motel, old west bars, and along the way you will spot those familiar neon Route 66 signs which are often seen in familiar blockbuster hits, like Little Miss Sunshine released in 2006. 

Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway
Start: Grand Junction, Colorado
End: Moab, Utah
Distance: 424 miles

This route loops you through some of the Wild West’s top dinosaur sites-plus some killer scenery. By starting in Grand Junction, Colorado you can head northwest to the town of Dinosaur. Spend a few hours at Dinosaur National Monument, where you can see live digs and a paleontology lab. A prehistoric pairing for the recent release of this summer’s film Jurassic World, continue west into Utah where you can visit the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum. Kids especially love the museum’s garden of life-size dinosaurs.

Montgomery National Historic Trail
Start: Selma, Alabama
End: Montgomery, Alabama
Distance: 54 miles

Take a drive through history on this National Scenic Byway which traces 54 miles of civil rights history. This route was home to civil rights demonstrators in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Road trippers can spend a few hours exploring the small Alabama town that took center stage in the fight for voting rights. Then follow U.S. 80, crossing over the famous arched Edmund Pettus Bridge which is the site of the violent clash between marchers and law enforcement known as Bloody Sunday. Not only does this route take you on a history lesson, the drive through Montgomery continues east and takes you through breath-taking rural countryside, passing farms and churches that served as campsites for the marches.

Coast-To-Coast
Start: Boston, Massachusetts
End: Seattle, Washington
Distance: 3,024 miles (without detours of course)

A true road trippers dream along with low gas prices make this coast-to-coast road trip a must-do. If you’re going to drive across the country, you might as well take the long route: I-90, which connects Boston to Seattle along the longest interstate in the U.S. Passing through thirteen states, you could do the drive in 6 days, but it’s best to take your time and make detours to some of the nation’s top sites which include Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, the Great Plains, Continental Divide, and Yellowstone National Park.

Presidential Trail
Start: Pensacola, Florida
End: Key West, Florida
Distance: 1, 045 miles

As presidential candidates start to announce their run for the White House, you may want a reason to explore an impressive lineup of historic sites relating to former presidents. This route has you starting in Pensacola, where Andrew Jackson served as Florida’s first governor after accepting the land from Spain. Cruise over to northern Florida in the Daytona Beach area where you can dine at The Cellar, a restaurant that used to be Warren G. Harding’s home. A true experience! Onward to Central Florida, you’ll find some tributes to America’s leaders at Walt Disney World Hall of Presidents and Clermont’s The Presidents Hall of Fame. Finally, swing down into the Keys for a peek at Harry Truman’s Little White house, his winter home on Key West. This road trip covers almost the entire state, from the Panhandle to Key West, so if time is tight, you may want to consider focusing on one section.