In Brief
What are the best summer road trips in the USA?
The best summer road trips in the USA are the drives that are snowbound, closed or simply worse for the rest of the year. Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier and the Beartooth Highway into Yellowstone top the list because their high sections are typically open only from late May or early July into October. The Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur is open end to end again after reopening in January 2026, and the cool northern routes, Maine's Route 1, Alaska's Seward Highway and Lake Superior's North Shore, are where a road trip in summer stays comfortable. For families, the Black Hills keep every driving day short.
Key takeaways
- High passes: Going-to-the-Sun Road has typically been fully open by early July, and the Beartooth Highway typically runs from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend to mid-October.
- Coolest summer road trips: the Seward Highway, Maine's Midcoast and Lake Superior's North Shore, where cold water keeps the air mild.
- Best family road trip: the Black Hills loop, with bison, Mount Rushmore and no long stints at the wheel.
- Plan around: Big Sur's summer fog, afternoon storms in the mountains, and Sturgis rally week in the Black Hills in early to mid August.
When the high roads open for summer 2027
Several of these drives are seasonal, and the opening date decides the trip more than the forecast does. These are the typical windows the park and highway agencies publish. Snow sets the real 2027 dates, so confirm each one with the agency before you book rooms you cannot cancel.
| Road | Typical window | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Beartooth Highway (US 212) | Late May to mid-October | Yellowstone's road page gives the typical season as the Friday of Memorial Day weekend to mid-October. In 2026 a storm pushed the Wyoming side back a day, to 23 May. If the pattern holds, the 2027 target is Friday 28 May. |
| Going-to-the-Sun Road (Logan Pass) | Early July to the third Monday of October | The lower sections are open all year. The full road has typically been open by early July, but there is no set date, because plowing the alpine section depends on the winter's snow. |
| Needles Highway (SD 87) | 1 April or later, until the first snow | Closed to vehicles from the season's first snowfall until 1 April at the earliest. In summer it is open, but the Needles Eye Tunnel is only 8 feet wide. |
| Exit Glacier Road, Seward | Late spring to autumn | Closed to cars through the winter and much of the spring. Summer is the season it is reliably open. |
| Highway 1 through Big Sur | Open since 14 January 2026 | Carmel to Cambria reopened after the Regent's Slide repairs, the first uninterrupted access in almost three years. Winter storms can close sections again, so check Caltrans before you go. |
| Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina | Open in sections | As of October 2026, milepost 344.2 to 355.3, from NC 80 to Mount Mitchell State Park, was still closed after Hurricane Helene. The Asheville section was open. The Park Service updates closures daily. |
Sources: the nps.gov road and news pages for Yellowstone, Glacier, Kenai Fjords and the Blue Ridge Parkway, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks for Custer State Park, and the Governor of California's office for Highway 1. The windows are typical patterns, not promises.
Summer road trip ideas at a glance
Every destination compared - jump to the one that fits your group, budget and dates.
| Destination | Why it wins | Best window | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Going-to-the-Sun Road | The summer-only crossing of the Continental Divide | Mid-July to early September, once the whole road is open. | $$$ |
| Pacific Coast Highway & Big Sur | The coast road is open end to end again | June to September; late August and September tend to be clearer than June. | $$$ |
| Beartooth Highway | Nearly 11,000 feet on the back road into Yellowstone | July and August for the warmest days; the season typically runs late May to mid-October. | $$ |
| Maine Coast on Route 1 | The classic New England summer road trip | Late June to early September; July and August are warmest and busiest. | $$$ |
| Seward Highway | Glaciers, belugas and a road that ends on the fjords | June to August, for the longest days; avoid the Fourth of July unless you are coming for the Mount Marathon race. | $$$ |
| Black Hills & Needles Highway | The best family road trip: short drives, bison and Mount Rushmore | June, July and late August; avoid Sturgis rally week in August. | $ |
| Blue Ridge Parkway | The mountain escape from Southern summer heat | June to September; drive in the morning, before the afternoon storms build. | $$ |
| Lake Superior North Shore | A cool coast road on Lake Superior | July and August, when the lake air is warmest; June can bring fog and black flies. | $$ |
| Vermont Route 100 | Green mountains and covered bridges, without the foliage crowds | Late June to August; from mid-September the foliage crowds and prices arrive. | $$ |
| Million Dollar Highway | Cliff-edge driving over an 11,000-foot pass | July to early September; cross the pass before noon. | $$ |
The best summer road trips in the USA, ranked
Price band is a typical nightly hotel rate: $ budget · $$ mid-range · $$$ high-end. Booking links open Trip.com.
Going-to-the-Sun RoadUSA
$$$ · High-endThe summer-only crossing of the Continental Divide
Fifty miles across Glacier National Park, over Logan Pass, with waterfalls running down the rock walls beside the road and the historic red tour buses working the switchbacks. It is the purest summer road trip in the country, because the alpine section has typically been snowbound until around the start of July and shuts again in October. The catch is crowding and vehicle size: the Logan Pass parking lot usually fills by sunrise, and anything over 21 feet long, 8 feet wide including mirrors or 10 feet tall is banned between Avalanche Creek and Rising Sun, which rules out most RVs.
- Best window
- Best window: Mid-July to early September, once the whole road is open.
Where to stay: Whitefish for the widest choice of beds and a walkable downtown, under an hour from the West Entrance. West Glacier and Apgar put you at the gate for a dawn start, and St. Mary on the east side suits a sunrise run up to Logan Pass.
Do it cheap
A motel in Columbia Falls or Kalispell, both on the way between Whitefish and the park. You give up an evening in town and gain a shorter run to the gate at a lower rate.
Worth paying for
One of the historic lodges inside the park, which puts you on the road before the day traffic arrives. Rooms are few and sell out long before summer.
Pacific Coast Highway & Big SurUSA
$$$ · High-endThe coast road is open end to end again
Highway 1 between Carmel and Cambria reopened on 14 January 2026, giving uninterrupted access along the Big Sur coast for the first time in almost three years. This is the most dramatic stretch of the whole Pacific Coast Highway: Bixby Creek Bridge, McWay Falls dropping onto its beach, and cliff-top turnouts for miles. The honest drawback is fog: summer mornings on this coast are often grey, because the same inland heat that bakes the rest of California pulls the marine layer in, so keep a spare day for the clear views.
- Best window
- Best window: June to September; late August and September tend to be clearer than June.
Where to stay: Monterey for the aquarium, Cannery Row and the most beds. Carmel-by-the-Sea for a quieter village right at the start of the Big Sur drive, and the lodges and campgrounds inside Big Sur itself for waking up on the coast.
Do it cheap
A motel in Seaside or Marina, a short drive north of Monterey, and an early start south. Rates on the Monterey Peninsula climb sharply on summer weekends.
Worth paying for
A cliff-top lodge in Big Sur, where the room is the view. They are small and few, so book early, and avoid Monterey Car Week in mid-August, when the whole Peninsula fills.
Beartooth HighwayUSA
$$ · Mid-rangeNearly 11,000 feet on the back road into Yellowstone
Sixty-eight miles from Red Lodge, Montana, over the Beartooth Plateau to Cooke City and Yellowstone's Northeast Entrance, climbing to nearly 11,000 feet past alpine lakes and snowbanks that linger into summer. It is the most dramatic way into Yellowstone, and it drops you straight into the Lamar Valley, the park's best wildlife country. The drawback is weather: this is a high alpine road, snow can fall in any month, and Yellowstone warns that closures can come without notice, so keep a flexible day in the plan.
- Best window
- Best window: July and August for the warmest days; the season typically runs late May to mid-October.
Where to stay: Red Lodge for a historic main street and the most rooms and restaurants. Cooke City and Silver Gate at the far end put you minutes from the Northeast Entrance for a dawn start in the Lamar Valley.
Do it cheap
A motel on the edge of Red Lodge, then cross the pass early, before the afternoon storms build over the plateau.
Worth paying for
A cabin in Silver Gate or Cooke City at the Yellowstone end, so the evening wildlife hours in the Lamar Valley are minutes away instead of a long drive back over the pass.
Maine Coast on Route 1USA
$$$ · High-endThe classic New England summer road trip
The Midcoast stretch of Route 1, from Brunswick through Bath, Wiscasset and Rockland to Camden, strings together harbor towns, lighthouses and lobster pounds, with the road up Mount Battie for the view over Camden Harbor and the windjammers moored below. This is the New England summer road trip at its most classic, and the sea breeze keeps it cooler than the cities to the south. The drawback is traffic: Route 1 is the main street of every town it passes, and July and August weekends back up at the bottlenecks, Wiscasset above all.
- Best window
- Best window: Late June to early September; July and August are warmest and busiest.
Where to stay: Camden for the harbor and the most walkable town. Rockland for galleries and a working waterfront, and Boothbay Harbor, on a peninsula south of Route 1, for boat trips.
Do it cheap
Rockland or Thomaston, a short drive from Camden at lower rates. You lose the harbor view and keep the same coast.
Worth paying for
A harbor-view inn in Camden, within walking distance of the windjammers, the restaurants and the trail up Mount Battie.
Seward HighwayUSA
$$$ · High-endGlaciers, belugas and a road that ends on the fjords
The highway runs 127 miles from Anchorage to Seward, and the first 50 follow Turnagain Arm under the Chugach Mountains, where Dall sheep stand on the rock cuts and beluga whales and bore tides show up in the inlet. Seward at the end is the base for Kenai Fjords National Park, which charges no entrance fee: Exit Glacier is a short drive from town, and boat tours leave the harbor for the tidewater glaciers. The drawbacks are price and pace, because Alaska in summer is expensive, and drivers braking hard for wildlife along Turnagain Arm make that stretch slower and riskier than it looks.
- Best window
- Best window: June to August, for the longest days; avoid the Fourth of July unless you are coming for the Mount Marathon race.
Where to stay: Downtown Seward and the small-boat harbor for the fjord cruise departures and the SeaLife Center. Girdwood, on Turnagain Arm, makes a good mountain-resort night on the way down from Anchorage.
Do it cheap
A cabin or B&B outside the center, on the road toward Exit Glacier, rather than a harbor-front hotel. Seward is small, so book early: the cheapest rooms go first.
Worth paying for
A harbor-front room in Seward the night before an early fjord cruise, so you can walk to the dock.
Plan itBest time to visit Alaska
Black Hills & Needles HighwayUSA
$ · BudgetThe best family road trip: short drives, bison and Mount Rushmore
This loop packs a week of driving into short days: the 14-mile Needles Highway threads granite spires and a tunnel 8 feet wide, the 17-mile Iron Mountain Road frames Mount Rushmore in its tunnels and loops over pigtail bridges, and the Wildlife Loop Road crosses the range of Custer State Park's roughly 1,350 free-roaming bison. That mix, with no long stints at the wheel, is why this is the best family road trip on the list. The drawbacks: Custer State Park charges a per-vehicle entrance license, the tunnels rule out big RVs, and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally fills rooms across the region in early to mid August.
- Best window
- Best window: June, July and late August; avoid Sturgis rally week in August.
Where to stay: Custer for the nearest beds to Custer State Park and the Needles Highway. Keystone for Mount Rushmore and the Iron Mountain Road, and Rapid City for the most hotels and the airport.
Do it cheap
A motel in Custer or Hill City with breakfast included. Both scenic roads are a short drive away, and the money goes on the park license instead.
Worth paying for
A lodge inside Custer State Park, so you wake up in the park and reach the Wildlife Loop at first light, the best hour for bison.
Blue Ridge ParkwayUSA
$$ · Mid-rangeThe mountain escape from Southern summer heat
Four hundred and sixty-nine miles of two-lane road along the crest of the Appalachians through Virginia and North Carolina, with no billboards, no commercial trucks and an overlook every few miles. The high North Carolina section around Asheville runs noticeably cooler than the lowland cities, and the Linn Cove Viaduct, wrapped around the side of Grandfather Mountain, is the classic stop. Two honest drawbacks: the parkway is still recovering from Hurricane Helene, and as of October 2026 the stretch from NC 80 to Mount Mitchell State Park was still closed, and summer afternoons bring thunderstorms and fog that can blank out the views.
- Best window
- Best window: June to September; drive in the morning, before the afternoon storms build.
Where to stay: Asheville for food, breweries and the parkway on the edge of town. Blowing Rock and Boone further north for cooler mountain-town nights close to the Linn Cove Viaduct.
Do it cheap
A hotel outside downtown Asheville, near the interstate, which puts you on the parkway in minutes at a lower rate than the center.
Worth paying for
A mountain inn with a porch facing the ridges, where an evening watching the light fade is the reason to pay more.
Lake Superior North ShoreUSA
$$ · Mid-rangeA cool coast road on Lake Superior
The North Shore Scenic Drive follows Highway 61 for 154 miles from Duluth to the Canadian border at Grand Portage, past Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, Palisade Head and the harbor town of Grand Marais. Lake Superior's cold water keeps the shore cooler than inland Minnesota on summer days, which makes this one of the best cool summer road trips in the Midwest. The drawbacks: the same cold water makes swimming a dare rather than a plan, and Duluth fills on summer weekends, above all the weekend of Grandma's Marathon in June.
- Best window
- Best window: July and August, when the lake air is warmest; June can bring fog and black flies.
Where to stay: Canal Park in Duluth for the lift bridge and the lakewalk. Two Harbors as the gateway to the state parks, and Grand Marais for the harbor and the art colony at the far end.
Do it cheap
A hotel up the hill in Duluth or in Two Harbors instead of lakefront Canal Park, then make the drive north early the next morning.
Worth paying for
A lakefront room in Canal Park or a lodge on the shore near Lutsen, with Superior right outside the window.
Plan itMidwest family vacations
Vermont Route 100USA
$$ · Mid-rangeGreen mountains and covered bridges, without the foliage crowds
Route 100 runs north to south through the Green Mountains, past dairy farms, general stores and swimming holes, through villages like Weston, Warren and Waitsfield to Stowe, with Moss Glen Falls in Granville right beside the road. It is best known as a foliage drive, which is exactly why summer works: the same road, green instead of red, with lighter traffic and lower rates than at the peak of foliage season. The drawback is pace: it is a slow two-lane road through every village, and the sights are small ones, so this is a trip for wandering rather than for headline stops.
- Best window
- Best window: Late June to August; from mid-September the foliage crowds and prices arrive.
Where to stay: Stowe for the widest choice of inns and the side trip over Smugglers' Notch, a narrow pass road that is closed in winter. The Mad River Valley around Waitsfield and Warren for farm stays, and Ludlow and Weston in the south for village greens.
Do it cheap
An inn along the Mountain Road in Stowe on weeknights, or a farm stay in the Mad River Valley. Weeknight rates in summer are usually well below the October peak.
Worth paying for
A mountain resort in Stowe with a pool and the summer gondola nearby, which turns the ski hill into hiking and long views.
Million Dollar HighwayUSA
$$ · Mid-rangeCliff-edge driving over an 11,000-foot pass
The 25-mile stretch of US 550 from Ouray to Silverton climbs through the Uncompahgre Gorge and over Red Mountain Pass at more than 11,000 feet, on a road with sheer drops and no guardrails in places. Summer is the season it is free of snow and ice, and it pairs with an evening in Ouray's hot springs pool and a ride on the narrow-gauge railroad between Silverton and Durango. The honest drawback is that it is not for nervous drivers: the curves are tight and the drops are long, and July and August afternoons often bring thunderstorms to the San Juan Mountains, so drive it in the morning.
- Best window
- Best window: July to early September; cross the pass before noon.
Where to stay: Ouray for the hot springs and a historic main street at the foot of the pass. Silverton at the far end for the old mining-town feel and the train, and Durango for the most beds and restaurants.
Do it cheap
A motel in Ridgway, about ten miles north of Ouray, where rates are usually lower and the drive south starts in minutes.
Worth paying for
A room with its own hot-spring soaking tub in Ouray, the right way to finish a day on the pass.
How to choose between road trips for summer
Match the route to the month
The high passes and the coasts peak at different times. Going-to-the-Sun Road and the Beartooth Highway are at their best from mid-July to late August, when the snow is off the top and the wildflowers are out. The coastal and northern drives work from June, but each has its own catch: Big Sur's fog is thickest early in the summer, and the North Shore and Seward can be cool and damp in June. If you only have one week, late July and August are when every road on this list is most likely to be open end to end.
Base yourself, then drive out
A new bed every night sounds like the point of a road trip and usually is not, especially with children. Most of these routes are short enough to drive in a day from one or two bases: Whitefish for Glacier, Red Lodge and then Cooke City for the Beartooth, Custer for the Black Hills, Ouray for the San Juans. Two or three nights in each base means fewer check-ins, a chance to repeat the best stretch in better light, and a kitchen or a pool to come back to.
Plan around the heat and the afternoon storms
Every route here was chosen because it stays comfortable in summer, and that is not true of every famous American drive. Desert routes such as the Arizona and California stretches of Route 66 regularly run past 100°F in July, and a road trip in summer there is a matter of air conditioning and early starts. In the mountains the hazard is different: thunderstorms build on most July and August afternoons over the Rockies, the San Juans and the Blue Ridge, so drive the exposed passes in the morning and keep the afternoon for towns, lakes and hot springs.
Check the rules the spring before you go
Park and road rules change from year to year. Glacier used vehicle reservations for Going-to-the-Sun Road in recent summers, dropped them for 2026 and announced a ticketed Logan Pass shuttle pilot in February instead. Custer State Park sells an entrance license per vehicle, Kenai Fjords charges no entrance fee, and Glacier and the Needles Highway both have size limits that rule out big RVs. Before you book a summer 2027 road trip, read the official nps.gov, state park or highway department page for each road in early spring, when the new season's rules are usually announced.
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Photo credits (10)
Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their respective licences.
- Going-to-the-Sun Road: Royalbroil - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Pacific Coast Highway & Big Sur: Unknown author, U.S. National Archives (NARA 7721428) - Public domain · source
- Beartooth Highway: Acroterion - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Maine Coast on Route 1: Smuconlaw - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Seward Highway: Frank K. from Anchorage, Alaska, USA - CC BY 2.0 · source
- Black Hills & Needles Highway: Vladsinger - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Blue Ridge Parkway: Maria newengland - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Lake Superior North Shore: Dusty J - CC BY 2.0 · source
- Vermont Route 100: Jessamyn - Public domain · source
- Million Dollar Highway: Reinhard Schön - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source