What a road trip day looks like

A good driving day is shorter than you expect. Most people enjoy four to five hours behind the wheel, about 200 to 250 miles on two-lane roads, split by a stop every 90 minutes or so. The rest of the day goes to the things you pulled over for: a short hike, a small-town main street, a swim, a meal somewhere that is not a chain. Evenings are for checking tomorrow's road, topping off the tank and deciding how far you feel like going. The planning is light on purpose. You fix where you sleep and one or two things you refuse to miss, and leave the hours between them open.

A Route 66 shield painted on the asphalt of a desert highway, with a white roadside motel and cafe behind it under a blue sky

Kinds of road trip

Five ways to spend a tank of gas

Scenic byway weekendOne designated scenic road, driven slowly over a day or two. The easiest first trip, with pullouts and signs already in place.

Start here

Look up the scenic byways in your state, pick one under 150 miles long, and drive it end to end this Saturday with a lunch stop in the middle.

America's Byways

National park loopA circuit linking two or three parks, where the roads inside the parks are part of the show. Summer dates need booking months ahead.

Start here

Find the two or three park sites within a day's drive of home and link them into a loop. Check each park's page for timed entry or road closures before you fix the dates.

Find a Park (National Park Service)

Car CampingYou sleep in the back of the car or beside it, which cuts the biggest cost of a trip and lets you stay close to trailheads and far from towns.

Start here

Fold the back seats down and measure the flat length, then spend one night in the car at a campground close to home before you rely on it far away.

BLM camping rules

Winter DrivingSki towns, hot springs and snow-covered parks, reached on roads that may need a scraper, a shovel and a slower plan.

Start here

Pick a mountain or snow-country town three hours away, check the pass forecast the night before, and leave early enough to arrive in daylight.

NHTSA winter driving tips

Historic highwayFollowing an old numbered route for its neon signs, diners and ghost towns. Best done in sections over several trips.

Start here

Choose one historic route and plan a four-day stretch of it, not the whole thing. Cap each day at 250 miles so the old motels and diners along it get your time.

Route 66 itinerary (National Park Service)

Open a card to see what to do first. Car Camping and Winter Driving each end in a button that adds that trip's gear to the kit. The other three need nothing beyond the base kit.

Where sleeping in the car is allowed

BLM camping rules Where free dispersed camping is allowed on public land in the West, and the 14-day stay limit.

Is your car ready?

A black sedan pulled onto the gravel shoulder of a desert road below striped tan and rust hills — Pulled onto the shoulder of a desert road

Any reliable car works.

Paved byways and park roads need no four-wheel drive and no extra ground clearance.

Tires first

Set all four to the pressure printed on the sticker inside the driver's door (not the number on the tire), and do it cold, before driving. Check the spare too, since most are flat when needed.

Tread

Push a quarter into a groove with the head pointing down. If you can see the top of the head, the tire is near worn out and will be poor in rain.

Fluids

Check the oil level on the dipstick, the coolant against the tank's marks, and fill the washer fluid. If an oil change falls due during the trip, do it before you leave.

Walk around with the lights on

Headlights, brake lights and turn signals. A dead bulb is a cheap fix at home and a traffic stop on the road.

Find the jack, the lug wrench and the locking wheel key before you go, and look up open recalls for your car.

Renting is fine for a first long trip.

It keeps miles off your own car, and a one-way rental lets you fly home from the far end.

Before every driving day

Glance at the tires, clean the windshield inside and out, and reset the trip odometer when you fill up.

Check your own car against the federal guides

Plan your first trip

Seen from the back seat, a passenger holding a folded paper map as a two-lane desert road runs toward distant mountains through the windshield — A paper map in the passenger seat on a two-lane desert road

Do this before you lose signal

Download offline maps Official steps for saving a map area to your phone so navigation works with no signal. Free.

Skills that make the drive better

Reading a map for the good road

On a paper atlas, scenic routes are marked with dots or green shading, and a road that follows a river or a ridge is nearly always better than the straight one beside it.

Pacing a day

On two-lane roads you average about 45 mph once stops are counted, so divide the miles by 45, not by the speed limit.

Fuel range

Learn how many miles your car covers on a tank, and treat any sign that says no services for 50 miles or more as an order to fill up.

Packing by reach

The things you need while moving (water, snacks, layers, chargers) ride in the cabin, and the things you need on arrival go in last so they come out first.

Sharing the driving

Swap drivers at every fuel stop, and let the passenger handle navigation, music and the search for lunch.

What trips beginners up

What to expect

Expect small towns to close early. Kitchens often stop serving by 8 p.m., and rural gas stations may be unstaffed at night.
Expect dead zones. Streaming music, live traffic and searching for the nearest gas station all stop working at the same moment.
Expect at least one stop to be closed, crowded or dull. A loose plan absorbs that. A tight one falls apart.

Habits to drop

Drop the urge to cover distance. Eight-hour days leave you with a memory of the windshield and little else.
Stop driving into the night to make up time. Deer are most active at dusk, and you miss the scenery you came for.
Stop eating every meal at the highway exit. A cooler lunch at a pullout is cheaper, faster and has a better view.
Don't book every night of a long trip before you leave. Fix the first and last, and the busy places in between.

Safety on the road

Tired driving is the main risk. If you catch yourself drifting or missing signs, pull into a rest area and sleep 20 minutes. Loud music and open windows do not work.
If the car breaks down, get it fully onto the shoulder, switch on the hazard lights, and set warning triangles behind it, the farthest about 100 feet back on a two-lane road and farther on a highway. Wait away from traffic, behind the guardrail if there is one.
Check the forecast along the route each morning, not only at the destination. Never drive into water crossing a road: a foot of moving water can float a car.
In remote country, carry a gallon of drinking water per person and a blanket, and stay with the car if you are stranded. A car is far easier to spot than a person walking.
Set the route before you move, and let the passenger touch the phone. Most states ban handheld phone use while driving.
Keep valuables out of sight and take them with you at trailheads. Parked cars with visible bags are the usual target.

A snow-covered peak and snow-laden spruce trees seen through a car windshield, the dashboard and mirror out of focus in front — Snow-covered trees and a peak through the windshield

Check before each driving day

Where to find routes

The federal scenic byways list is the best free starting point: every road on it was nominated for its scenery or history, and each state has several. A route-planning app shows what sits along your line, and a map of odd roadside places supplies the stop you would never have searched for. State tourism offices mail free highway maps on request, and the staff at any visitor center will tell you which road the locals drive for fun. For fuel budgeting, a gas price app shows where the cheap stations are before you reach the expensive ones.

Free places to find a route

About the kit

Gas, food and a bed are the real costs of a road trip, and none of them are on this list. The kit is the small set of things that keep a driving day smooth and a breakdown short. The essentials keep your navigation in view and charged, your tires at the right pressure and a first aid kit within reach, for about the price of one tank of gas. The recommended lines are the self-rescue gear: a jump starter and an inflator handle the two most common roadside problems without waiting for a tow, and triangles and a light make a nighttime stop safe. The cooler and atlas pay for themselves in skipped restaurant meals and avoided wrong turns. Car Camping and Winter Driving add only what those trips need, so leave them off until you plan one.

The open cargo area of a white SUV with four suitcases stood side by side inside

Load the trunk

Every line, with its options side by side

Compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the cart. Clicking a card selects it there, and clicking the selected card again takes that line out. The phone mount, charger, tire gauge, first aid kit, jump starter, inflator, triangles, headlamp, cooler and atlas start in the kit. The mattress and window screens join when you switch on Car Camping, and the snow brush and shovel with Winter Driving. The trunk organizer stays out until you add it.

Item 01

Phone car mount

Essential · Navigation and power

Your phone is the map, and it has to sit where you can read a turn at a glance without holding it. Holding a phone while driving is illegal in most states.

budget

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Road Tripping

What a road trip day looks like

Kinds of road trip

Is your car ready?

Plan your first trip

Skills that make the drive better

What trips beginners up

Safety on the road

Where to find routes

About the kit

Load the trunk

Phone car mount

USB-C car charger

Tire pressure gauge

Car first aid kit

Portable jump starter

Portable tire inflator

Roadside warning triangles

LED headlamp

Hard-sided cooler

Road atlas

SUV air mattress

Car window bug screens

Snow brush and ice scraper

Folding snow shovel

Trunk organizer