10 Amazing Summer Road Trip Ideas You Need To Take
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Last updated on June 26, 2025
Looking for amazing summer road trip ideas? You’ve come to the right place! Nothing says “summer” quite like a road trip. There’s something about the long warm days, endless outdoor activities, and loads of fun events happening in the summer months that make it the ideal time to explore new places.
We have spent the last 6 summers traveling all across the country seeing some of North America’s most stunning sites. And today, we’re rounding up our 10 favorite summer road trip destinations with recommended stops for each place.
From mountains to epic coastlines, National Parks, quaint towns, and regional foods – this list of 10 amazing summer road trip ideas will leave you yearning for the open road. Get ready to roll down the windows, feel the warm breeze, and let the road lead you to unforgettable summer memories.
Table of Contents
1. The Sawtooth Mountains Idaho
We visited the Sawtooth Mountains in the summer of 2022 and I think it might be our favorite summer destination we’ve ever been to. That says a lot, considering we’ve RV’d full-time for 6 years!
The Sawtooth Mountains are located about 3 hours from Boise, Idaho, and are a quiet place to unplug, relax in natural hot springs, hike the mountains, or relax near a crystal clear lake.
This part of Idaho is remote and rural. There is little to no cell reception, no grocery stores, and very few restaurants or hotels. But that’s the beauty of it. It’s a dream for camping with several free and affordable campgrounds to stay at.
🚗 Road Trip Option 1: From Boise, you can take Highway 20 to Bellevue. From there, continue north on Start in the Sawtooth Mountain Scenic Highway. It’s about a 2-and-a-half-hour drive in total, and 116 miles or 187 kilometers, and will take you through several small towns. Recommended stops include Hailey, Ketchum, Sun Valley, and then end in Stanley.
🚙 Road Trip Option 2: From Boise go North, passing through Grimes Pass and Stanley National Forest. Be warned, this road is incredibly windy and steep! The scenic highway doesn’t officially start until you reach Stanley, but there are so many great hot springs sprinkled in the Boise National Forest – we recommend stopping here, too. From Stanley head south to the Sun Valley stopping in Hailey and Ketchum.
2. The Oregon Coast
The Oregon Coast is a dream come true in the summertime. The warmer summer days are still greeted with moody morning fog. Add in the tiny, but charming coastal towns, haystack rocks, epic beaches, tide pools, and wildlife and it’s the perfect place for a summer road trip.
You can follow along on our summer road trip up the Southern Coast of Oregon in our vlog below. But we also share stops along the entire coast in this blog post.
🚙 Recommended Oregon Coast Road Trip Itinerary: It doesn’t matter if you start from the north (Seaside) or the south (Brookings) of Oregon’s coast. The entire drive will be stunning! You’re going to take Highway 101 the entire way. This is a very windy and sometimes steep road, with certain sections recommending vehicles under 35 ft. We did it in our 25 ft RV but had trouble pulling off and parking at some scenic overlooks.
3. Maine’s Mid-Coast + Acadia National Park
We took a summer road trip up the coast of Maine our first year on the road as full-time RVers. We had never been to the East Coast before and were absolutely blown away by its beauty. We’ve now traveled to 35 other US states, and the Maine coast remains in our top 5 favorite places in the country.
If you’re looking for an iconic all-American summer road trip up the East Coast, Maine is the spot to do it. Picture cool nights, lobster rolls, charming seaside towns, fantastic beer and food, and great hiking, particularly in Acadia National Park.
🚗 Recommended Maine Coast Road Trip Itinerary: You can start in Kennebunk (the southern side of Maine’s coast) and continue driving Scenic Highway 1. Stop at Old Orchard Beach, Portland (which has an amazing food + beer scene), Freeport, Boothbay, and finally Bar Harbor which is home to Acadia National Park. This route should take 4 to 5 hours in total not including stops.
4. Great Smokey Mountains + Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Mountains and Great Smokey Mountain National Park are two of our favorite places for a fall road trip, but it’s an amazing summer road trip idea, too! Great Smokey Mountains are particularly attractive because it’s one of the few National Parks that doesn’t require an entrance fee and is packed with beautiful hikes, waterfalls, and quaint mountain towns.
We love driving the Scenic Blue Ridge Parkway through the Smokey Mountains so much we’ve done this drive 4 times already!
🚙 Recommended Smokey Mountains Road Trip Itinerary: We recommend driving from Boone, NC to Gatlinburg, TN. This takes you through the most iconic spots of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smokey Mountains scenic drive while having loads of epic hikes and waterfalls to visit along the way. Great stops on this roughly 4-and-a-half-hour drive are Pisgah National Forest, Asheville (so many fun things to do here), and Cherokee. Check out this interactive map to see some of the must-stop hikes, waterfalls, and things along the Blue Ridge here.
5. The Pacific Coast Highway
The Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) is one of the most iconic roads in the country. Aside from Route 66, it may be the most famous scenic drive you can do in the summertime. While this road is great to travel year-round, you’ll be treated to much sunnier weather in the summer and find a lot more events happening in the charming seaside towns.
➡ Read Next: 5 Day Monterey, CA Vacation: Scenic Drives & Hidden Gems ⬅
The Pacific Coast Highway, also known as Highway 1 goes from the top of the coast in Washington to San Diego, spanning the entire East Coast of the USA. However, most people looking for summer road trip ideas will only have time to do a small section of the PCH.
The area spanning north of Los Angeles and just south of San Francisco is arguably the most popular section of the Pacific Coast Highway and includes the infamous Big Sur. If you have more time, we recommend continuing North of San Francisco passing through the Redwood Forests and the slightly moodier shores of Northern California.
🚗 Recommended Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip Itinerary: Stops along the way are Carmel by the Sea (Soberanes Canyon Trail is a great scenic coastal hike), Salmon Creek Falls, Elephant Seal Vista Point (be warned they are stinky), Monterey, Point Lobos, Bixby Creek Bridge, Pfeiffer Beach, and McWay Falls. Read about our favorite stops in Monterey here!
6. Colorado Mountains
Colorado is paradise in the summertime. We spent two full months driving to different mountain towns in the summer of 2021. Its stunning scenery, fantastic scenic drives, charming towns, rich history, and epic outdoor activities make it without question, one of the best summer road trip ideas on this list.
We have an entire Colorado series showing all of the stops we made on our two-month road trip which you can watch here.
🚙 Colorado Summer Road Trip Option 1: This road trip itinerary takes you from Denver to Rocky Mountain National Park, down to Granby, then to Idaho Springs before returning to Denver. It’s a short route, but a scenic one that will blow your socks off. Be ready for crowds in the National Park, it’s extremely busy in the summer months. If you have extra time you can head south toward Colorado Springs to visit Pike’s Peak!
🚗 Colorado Summer Road Trip Option 2: This central Colorado road trip starts in Durango, which is near Mesa Verde National Park. From there you’ll head north on 550 until you reach the old mining town, Silverton. Continue further north on 550 stopping in Ouray, then Montrose, and eventually Gunnison, which is home to the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. If you have more time, continue toward Salida and Buena Vista before going back toward Colorado Springs.
7. Glacier National Park and Montana Lakes
Glacier National Park is one of the prettiest national parks we’ve visited. Montana, as a whole, is a stunner. We were blown away by its gorgeous lakes, fields, and fields of flowers, rolling rivers through Big Sky, and massive mountains.
You can easily make your entire road trip to Glacier National Park since a large lake separates two sides. Driving between the two can take as much as three to four hours! However, if you have time for more, I highly encourage you to explore the other stunning areas of the state (particularly Big Sky).
🚗 Recommended Montana Road Trip Itinerary: Start south of Bozeman in Big Sky. It’s a bit of a detour but my jaw was open the entire drive from this area’s beauty. Then head north to Bozeman and continue toward Missoula. Not far from there, you’ll find Whitefish and Flathead Lake (we loved it here), and just north of that is Kalispell, which is near the start of Glacier National Park.
8. Banff and the Canadian Rockies
Not far from Montana, north of the border is Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies. Located in the state of Alberta, Canada is one of the most famous places in North America – Banff. We visited Banff on our first year on the road and could not believe a place this beautiful existed.
From its waterfall, striking blue glacial lakes, actual glaciers, massive mountains, and fantastic town centers it is a true bucket list trip. However, Summer is a zoo in Banff. Many people line up to get in line at like 5 or 6 am to see popular lakes like Lake Louise and Lake Moraine.
We went in early July just after Canada Day and to our surprise, it wasn’t that busy. This is probably because it’s still quite cold this time of year. To beat the crowds come early (June or early July like we did) or in late September when it’s started to get cold.
🚙 Recommended Banff Road Trip Itinerary: Starting in Calgary, you’ll take Canadian Highway 1 toward Banff. You’ll want to visit the popular lakes near Banff, including Lake Loise and Moraine Lake. But also drive the Bow Valley Parkway and continue north to the Icefields Parkway. You’ll pass glaciers (that you get so close to you could touch) and there are loads more incredible glacial lakes.
9. Michigan + the UP
Michigan is one of the states that surprised us the most. I think most people seeking summer road trip ideas will be surprised to see it make the top 10 list. But if you’ve visited, it’s not even the slightest bit surprising.
Michigan, including the southern part (aka the Mitt) and the Upper Peninsula (lovingly called the UP), is a summer paradise. Just look at the color of the water in Lake Michigan. Talk about underrated!
Michigan has waterfalls, miles of pristine forests, stunning beaches, seaside retreats, delicious food, historic lighthouses, cherry picking, and vibrant cities sprinkled throughout. We spent 6 weeks traveling Michigan in total and it blew us away!
🚗 Michigan’s Mitt Recommended Itinerary: If you’re only doing Michigan’s southern “Mitt” start on the south eastern coast in Benton Harbor. Take Highway 196 all the way up to Traverse City, stopping at South Haven, Muskegon, and Leland. From Traverse City (we love that city so much), continue north to Charlevoix, Petoskey (rock hunting), up to Mackinaw City, then end in Presque Isle if you have time.
🚙 Michigan UP Recommended Itinerary: Michigan’s UP is extremely remote. It officially begins after passing the bridge near Mackinaw City. From St. Ignace (the town on the other side of the bridge), you’ll want to catch the ferry to Mackinac Island. After you’ll head north to Tahquamenon Falls State Park then Pictured Lake National Lakeshore. After you can drive to Marquette before finishing in the Keweenaw Peninsula and then the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness. We took 4 weeks for this trip, but you can get this done in much less time!
10. The Badlands
The Badlands is the only summer road trip on this list we haven’t personally done. After all, there’s only so much time in the summer to experience all of these places. We need more summers to truly explore each place.
However, from our friends who have done this road trip, we’ve heard it’s fantastic. There’s a lot more in this area to enjoy than the Badlands alone though. It’s rich in Native American culture and home to one of our Nation’s most well-known statues, Mt. Rushmore.
🚙 Recommended Badlands Road Trip Itinerary: You’ll likely be starting from Rapid City. Head toward Wall, a history western town home to Wall Drug, an institution and popular tourist stop. Then continue toward Badlands National Park. Explore every part of this park, hiking, and stopping at overlooks before making your way to Bear Butte State Park. Then drive toward Custer State Park making pit stops at Mt. Rushmore National Memorial and Crazy Horse National Memorial.
Hopefully, these 10 amazing summer road trip ideas have got your travel juices flowing and you’re ready to dive deeper into planning an unforgettable summer adventure. Which of the 10 are most appealing to you?
