Planning a road trip can be intimidating. There is a lot to figure out, often through areas that you have never been to before. Follow our road trip planning steps to get started with your next road trip!
In my opinion, road trips are the best way to travel. No other type of travel truly allows you to see the country. Rather than just landing at your destination, road trips allow you to see everything between you and your end destination.
In fact, many of the best places I have been have actually been places I drove through that I have later gone back to as the focus of a road trip. There are so many local gems that are easy to miss, and road tripping is the best way to find them
Road trips are awesome, but they can be intimidating. It’s much harder to plan an awesome road trip than it is to book a flight and a hotel room at a resort somewhere, but I think the extra effort is worth it.
The freedom, the flexibility, and the ability to see and do much more are why I personally think road trips are the way to travel. If you are someone who is interested in taking a road trip, or getting into road tripping, but don’t know where to start, this guide is for you.
If you’re planning a national parks trip, consider purchasing an America the Beautiful Pass.
Road Trip Planning Steps
Step 1: Picking an End Destination
When I plan a road trip, the first thing I do is choose where I want to go, the farthest place I want to go from home. You cannot fill in the route until you have decided where you will go and end.
Essentially, you need to decide what you really want to do.
Whether it is a city you want to visit, a national park you want to hike, or a mountain you want to climb, step one is deciding where you want to go.
Step 2: Choose Additional Destinations on the Way to Your End Destination
To plan a really great road trip, you cannot just have one destination you want to get to. If you are going to drive a long way and see nothing on the drive, you might as well just fly.
This does not mean you can’t have one or two long driving days where you cover miles, but a great road trip should have things to do and see each day on the way. If you are road-tripping because it is cheaper than flying, that’s one thing, but you should still try to find some things to do on the way.
Step 3: Plot Major Destinations on Google Maps
I love Google Maps, and it is legitimately one of my favorite websites. Once you have decided on the major destinations you want to visit, plot them all on Google Maps. Google maps is a great resource for planning road trips.
I’ll just plot in all of the places I want to go to see where each one is, and Google shows you the best route to connect all of your destinations. While it is not immediately clear, there is a way to add more than one destination on your Google Maps.
You can have up to 10 destinations plotted on Google Maps. Just move them around in the order to create the best route between them.
Step 4: Connect the Dots: Perfecting the Route
Just finding a way to get from point A to point B is not the end goal of a road trip. Your goal should be to find the most interesting or most fun way of getting from point A to point B.
Google Maps will allow you to grab and drag the blue highlighted route onto a different road, changing your route. Look for additional destinations close to the most direct route.
You may see other local, state, or national parks. Those will appear green on Google Maps. You may realize your route passes a city or town that you were interested in seeing.
Finally, try to avoid highways. Yes interstates are the fastest and most efficient way to cover ground, but if you are taking a road trip, try to see some of the countryside. Most of the best experiences to be found lie off the major highways.
Local fruit stands, small downtowns, picnic areas, and great food all will be found away from the freeways more often than not. To be honest, I don’t always do this, especially when I’m crossing the Great Plains (sorry Nebraska), but I do recommend avoiding highways where your route and timeline allows.
Step 5: Preparation
Awesome! You have a great road trip planned and ready to go! A great plan is where you need to start, but to actually have an awesome experience you need to prepare for the trip.
Where are you going to stay? Do you need to book in advance? If so, how far in advance? Do you need special permits where you are going?
These are all critically important questions, and if you go to make campground reservations and find that all the sites are taken, you can end up very sad. I have experienced this the hard way trying to camp in busy national parks.
Many campgrounds in popular parks like Yosemite or Yellowstone can fill up the day reservations become available, 6 months in advance. If you aren’t prepared, you might have to totally change the heart of your trip
Don’t be rude; always following basic etiquette when on trail!
Finding Stops Along the Way
You might be wondering, “I know where I want to go, but how do I find things to do on the way?” This is a good question, and it can be what takes a solid road trip and turns it into an amazing one with some truly memorable moments.
I would say finding cool things along your route is more an art than a science, but there are a few ways you can do it.
One option is to use one of the many road trip apps that are out there. Apps can be a great resource, and some will allow you to plug in your route and find attractions along your route.
One app that I have on my phone is Roadtrippers. You can search an area for things to do, or you can put in your route and it will find you things to see and do along your drive. There are many apps out there; it is a matter of finding one that works for you,
Another way to find stops along the way is to go back to Google Maps and take a closer look at the route you are planning to drive. If you notice you are driving through a certain city, you can google things to do in that city.
Tripadvisor is a good starting point for researching things to do in different cities. You will also notice that parks and natural areas will be a different color on Google Maps. If you notice that you are driving through a green area, try to find the name of that area and see if there are any good hikes, swimming holes, or picnic spots.
Resources for Finding Things to do:
Lodging: Plan in Advance
The first thing to do when considering lodging is to decide what type of lodging you want to stay in. Will you be camping? Sleeping in your car or RV? Doing hotels each night? Renting an Airbnb or condo for a week?
Once you have determined what type(s) of lodging you are interested in, you need to figure out where you want to stay each night. When you have your Google Maps page open with all of your destinations on it, look for towns close to those destinations, or on the way to the next one.
If you want to sleep indoors, those will be the places to look for hotels or other rentals. If you are planning on camping, you may be able to find a site close to your hiking or other outdoor activity.
If you are going to camp, make sure you book in advance. Many campgrounds in popular areas will fill up the day booking opens, so you will likely need to book ahead.
Many national park campgrounds open reservations 6 months ahead of time, and they can fill up the day reservations go on sale. Be sure to factor this in if you want to camp on your road trip.
Resources for Lodging:
Recreation.gov – Camping, Cabins, RVs, Permits, Passes & More
Break it Up by Day
Now that you have decided what you want to do and what type of lodging you want to stay in, it is time to break down your trip and decide what you are doing each day.
I like to use a spreadsheet to do this.
I usually create a spreadsheet with each day of the week across the top, and then I essentially create a calendar. Any calendar app or tool would also work fine, but I like the customizability of a spreadsheet.
In your calendar or spreadsheet, start by determining which day you will leave home and arrive home. This is your frame, and each item will need to fit within your frame. I usually start by adding in the top things I want to do. Once I have my priorities planned out, I can see how much time I will have for my secondary ideas and unplanned stops.
This is also your opportunity to plan out where you will be staying and how much you will be driving. Try not to drive too much each day, and set manageable goals for yourself.
Actually write down your expected driving time each day alongside what you want to do. If you have written down 8 hours of driving alongside a hike or other activity that will take half a day, realize that might be overly optimistic.
Tools
There are many tools and resources that can aid you in planning your road trip. Some have already been mentioned, and there is no way I can list all of the things you can use to plan your trip. But here are a few things I use when planning road trips. Hopefully they can work as a starting point for you.
- Google Sheets
- Trip Advisor
- Roadtrippers App
- Google Maps
- Other Travel Blogs
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors.
Packing List
What you pack will depend on your likes and preferences along with the activities you plan on doing. If you are hiking or doing something else in the woods, make sure you have appropriate gear to have a safe and successful outing. That being said, there are a few things everyone should take on a road trip that you might forget about!
- Inflated spare tire and tire change kit
- Jumper cables
- Cooler
- Phone dash holder
- Breathable clothing
- Sunglasses
- Sunscreen
- Rain gear
- Car charges
- Bug spray
- Refillable water bottles
Weather/Timing
While it may sound great on paper, there are some destinations that just won’t be at their best at certain times each year. I have previously made plans that sounded great, but I had not done enough research on my destination.
I wanted to take a road trip to hike in the Pacific Northwest in June one year, but once I started looking closely, I realized that most hiking trails would still be covered in feet of snow.
The timing of your trip will determine which places are at their best and when. Realize that many mountain roads do not open until sometime into June or July. In high elevations, you can get snow at any time of the year. I recently got snowed on for two straight days in July while camping in Stanley Idaho.
While you could visit Yellowstone in January, it might be well below zero, and while you could visit the south in August, it might be 100 degrees and humid. Each destination has a peak season, an off season, and shoulder seasons. While its not always best to visit a place during peak season, there usually is a reason that time of year gets the most visitors.
Vehicle Prep
I am not a mechanic, but I can say that you need to make sure your vehicle is in good working order and is ready to cover hundreds or thousands of miles. From experience, I can say that tires are crucially important. Take it from me, its no fun to have to call AAA after a tire blows out in rural Utah (I was fortunate to have AAA).
Make sure your oil is fresh and you have enough of it. While you can find places for an oil change in most towns with more than 1,000 people, its definitely not ideal to have to go to an unknown place for an oil change.
On a recent trip, while adding oil, I had a workshop overfill my car and ended up spilling oil all over my engine, and down the paint on the side. I was not thrilled, so take it from me, get your oil changed beforehand.
This is not a complete list of car maintenance bullet points, but again, I am not a mechanic. You should speak to a mechanic before you take your vehicle on a long trip.
You may have also noticed that I mentioned a couple of things that I have directly experienced. Take it from me, car trouble on a long trip is not fun.
Biggest Mistakes
As someone who has taken a number of road trips, I think I can safely say I have made a number of mistakes in my time, but I have also learned from those mistakes. Hopefully you can avoid some of the mistakes I made!
- Driving too much too quickly. In my opinion, the best way to do a road trip is to space out the driving. It’s one thing to have a day or two of long drives, but you should try to avoid having everyday be a really long day of highway driving. I especially recommend avoiding 23 hour long drives! (yes I have done that, alone).
- Not having my vehicle prepared. The easiest way to ruin your trip is to have major car trouble. Simple preventative maintenance and basic upkeep will avoid major issues, but always keep up with your vehicle’s recommended maintenance schedule, and get it looked over before long trips.
- Getting stuck in rush hour traffic. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but if you can, try to plan around rush hour traffic. Entering the Chicago area at the beginning of rush hour and sitting in stop and go traffic for over two hours isn’t fun, I can promise you. Try to leave the Bay Area at 4 pm on a Friday likewise is not enjoyable. Sometimes there just isn’t a way around it, but factor in traffic when you make your plans.
Considering hiking in bear country? Be sure you are prepared to be bear safe.
Road Trip Apps
Here’s a list of popular apps that are frequently recommended for road trips. I have not used all of these, but they may be something that works well for you.
For more resources on great road trip apps, visit the following sites:
10 Best Road Trip Apps to Help You Plan Your Next Journey | Travel + Leisure
9 Travel Apps for a Great American Road Trip
The Best (Free) Road Trip Apps | Outside Online
COVID Considerations
Hopefully the COVID pandemic will be over soon, but until then, be sure to travel responsibly if you are going to travel. Be aware and respectful of local laws and guidelines around mask wearing, dining, shopping, and travel.
Remember that you are a traveller potentially spreading the virus, and many of the small communities you travel through likely don’t have the health care facilities to deal with a major outbreak.
We are huge fans of road trips at Top Down Lifestyle, and if you haven’t noticed, our name is inspired by the road trips we have taken. While we believe this article is a great resource, there are tons of other awesome articles to read and pages to visit to help your road trip planning, and ensure that you have an awesome experience on the road!
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