North America:

The Ultimate Road Trip Guide

North America:

The Ultimate Road Trip Guide

Destinations: Canada, USA, Mexico

Length of Trips: 1.5 weeks - 7 weeks (3.5 months combined)

Lodging Costs$30.64/night (average)

Here is the guide to the planning the best road trips in North America. We will go over the best road trips to do in the US and Canada, including a taste of Mexico. We know most people will not have the time to do a 3-4 month road trip in one go, so below you will find a breakdown of the best road trips in North America.

The three main regions are the North East, the Great North, and the West. Each part includes the total length of time, miles driven, and destinations included. Individual destination posts part of each region include the best things to do, lodging costs, and total length of stay. We hope this will help you create your own best road trip in the US and Canada.

The Complete Road Trip Map

The North East

Red Line

Starting Point: Baltimore, MD

Ending Point: Niagara Falls, ON

Trip Length: 16 Nights | 2,120 Miles

This trip starts in Baltimore, MD and ends in Niagara Falls, ON for a total of 16 nights. Of course, this is not a full round trip as we continued onward to Banff National Park, AB. However, it is possible to make the 8 hour drive back from Niagara Falls to Baltimore in a day.

3 Nights

5 Nights

4 Nights

4 Nights

The Great North

Blue Line

Starting Point: Calgary, AB

Ending Point: Loveland, CO

Trip Length: 28 Nights
2,300 Driving | 3,100 Flying

The easiest way to start this portion is to fly into Calgary, AB. Not included in the trip length is the 5 day/2,400 mile drive from Gettysburg, PA to Banff, AB (upper portion of the white line on the map). We also decided to to fly from Calgary, AB to Anchorage, AK which saved us over 4,000 miles of driving.

But, the driving miles above do include what we drove from Anchorage to Denali National Park, and from Banff to Loveland, CO where we ended the trip. If we were to make this a round trip back to Gettysburg, PA it would add just over 1,600 miles and about 2-3 days of driving. All in all, this is one heck of a road trip. In our opinion, 28 nights was a good amount of time to get a feel for 4 National Parks, plus Mt. Rushmore.

10 + 2 Nights (Calgary)

7 Nights

3 Nights

4 Nights

2 Nights

The West

Green Line

Starting Point: Olympic National Park, WA

Ending Point: Loveland, CO

Trip Length: 46 Nights | 3,500 miles

The best place start a west coast road trip is Olympic National Park, WA. From here we drove down the coast through Oregon and California. Honestly, California is a road trip in and of itself. We spent 30 nights in the state; you can read more about the best way to road trip California if you keep scrolling. This west coast portion covers the southwest with a great road trip through Utah for 10 nights. The best way to road trip Utah is also listed below next to the California Road Trip.

Not included in the trip length was the extra 2 nights/1,300 miles to drive from Loveland, CO to Olympic National Park to make this a complete loop. It also took us another 3 days/2 nights to make the 1,700 mile drive from Loveland, CO back to our home in Maryland before beginning our tour of South America in Peru.

4 Nights

1 Day

2 Nights

2 Nights

4 Nights

1 Night

4 Nights

2 Nights

14 Nights

1 Day

1 Day

3 Nights

3 Nights

3 Nights

1 Day

1 Day

1 Night

3 Nights

Breaking up the West

30 Nights

We know that not everybody can take a month and a half road trip out west. So we have broken down the majority of our trip into the best two road trips for the west coast. We know 30 days is quite a while to spend in California, however 14 of those days were spent in San Diego. So realistically, you could spend a few nights there and do a great California road trip in roughly 16 days to get a taste of the state.

10 Nights

Planning the best road trip through Southern Utah is tough when there is so much that this state has to offer. With five national parks and hundreds of thousands of acres of public land, Utah is breathtaking. Doing a 10 day trip through southern Utah will give you a taste of the amazing landscape and leave you craving more. Check out crazy cool national parks and other iconic landscapes we got to see on that road trip here!

Back to Destinations >>

National Park Guide: Day Trip to Torres del Paine

November 18, 2018

Mt. Rushmore, SD

June 22, 2018

Acadia National Park, ME

May 5, 2018

Los Angeles, CA

August 15, 2018

Olympic National Park, WA

July 26, 2018

Zion National Park, UT

September 5, 2018

Arches National Park, UT

September 15, 2018

Alaska

June 4, 2018

Monument Valley, UT

September 13, 2018

Salvation Mountain, CA

August 29, 2018

Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park, UT

September 10, 2018

Avenue of the Giants, CA

August 2, 2018

Self Guided Tour of Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park

March 19, 2019

Day Trip Guide to Killarney National Park

April 17, 2019

Ontario

May 14, 2018

Victoria, BC

July 27, 2018

Newport, RI

May 2, 2018

North America: Best Road Trips in USA and Canada

October 2, 2018

Big Sur, CA

August 10, 2018

Santa Barbara, CA

August 11, 2018

Portland, OR

July 31, 2018

California

August 2, 2018

Banff National Park, AB

May 25, 2018

Yellowstone National Park, WY

June 16, 2018

Glacier National Park, MT

June 13, 2018

San Francisco, CA

August 6, 2018

Montréal, QC

May 11, 2018

Joshua Tree Nat’l Park, CA

September 1, 2018

Horseshoe Bend, AZ

July 24, 2017

Confusion Hill vs. Mystery Spot

August 8, 2018

Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

September 7, 2018

Utah

September 2, 2018

San Diego, CA

August 20, 2018

Tijuana, MX

August 28, 2018

San Francisco, CA

August 6, 2018

Horseshoe Bend, AZ

July 24, 2017

California

August 2, 2018

Confusion Hill vs. Mystery Spot

August 8, 2018

Newport, RI

May 2, 2018

Salvation Mountain, CA

August 29, 2018

Portland, OR

July 31, 2018

Self Guided Tour of Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park

March 19, 2019

Day Trip Guide to Killarney National Park

April 17, 2019

Ontario

May 14, 2018

National Park Guide: Day Trip to Torres del Paine

November 18, 2018

North America: Best Road Trips in USA and Canada

October 2, 2018

Montréal, QC

May 11, 2018

Arches National Park, UT

September 15, 2018

Los Angeles, CA

August 15, 2018

Alaska

June 4, 2018

Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

September 7, 2018

Glacier National Park, MT

June 13, 2018

Banff National Park, AB

May 25, 2018

Utah

September 2, 2018

Acadia National Park, ME

May 5, 2018

Victoria, BC

July 27, 2018

Mt. Rushmore, SD

June 22, 2018

Zion National Park, UT

September 5, 2018

San Diego, CA

August 20, 2018

Big Sur, CA

August 10, 2018

Tijuana, MX

August 28, 2018

Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park, UT

September 10, 2018

Avenue of the Giants, CA

August 2, 2018

Olympic National Park, WA

July 26, 2018

Yellowstone National Park, WY

June 16, 2018

Monument Valley, UT

September 13, 2018

Santa Barbara, CA

August 11, 2018

Joshua Tree Nat’l Park, CA

September 1, 2018