Five Awesome End-of-Summer Road Trips

Portland to Mount Rainier

Portland, Oregon is a great starting point for your next road trip. The city is built for active families so there are plenty of things to offer, including a variety of free activities. When you leave Portland, you can head east and make your way over to Maryhill, Washington, where you should make time to visit the Stonehenge replica and see the first paved road in the northwest. When it’s time to leave, head to Mount Rainier National Park where you can see some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States. Take a walk through the giant trees (some are over 25 feet in circumference) before visiting all of the lava flows and volcanic rock formations that the park has to offer.

Utah to the Grand Canyon

Packed full of outdoor adventure, this trip covers six national parks so get ready to cross all of them off your list! Start in Moab, Utah, and make time to visit Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park before heading over to Four Corners, where you can stand in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico at once. When you leave, plan to visit Grand Canyon National Park before making a stop at Lake Powell in Page, Arizona. Take time to visit Kanab, a popular site for the filming of many western movies, before moving along to Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park. Finish your trip by visiting Capital Reef National Park where you can see a geologic wrinkle on Earth that extends for almost 100 miles.  

Florida’s Presidential Trail

Florida is known for good seafood and beautiful beaches, but it’s also home to a great deal of presidential history. This road trip starts in Pensacola, where then-General Andrew Jackson accepted the territory of Florida from Spain, and runs all the way to the Little White House in Key West, where President Harry Truman spent his winters. You should plan to stop for dinner at The Cellar, inside the former winter home of President Warren Harding; visit the Presidents Hall of Fame in Clermont; and stop by the Kennedy Space Center in Titusville. 

Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway

This 512-mile loop running through Utah and Colorado offers some of the best dinosaur attractions in the world. There are opportunities to see dinosaur bones, reconstructed skeletons, fleshed-out recreations, fossils, footprints, and more. Make plans to visit Dinosaur National Monument on the Colorado-Utah border; Dinosaur Journey Museum in Fruita, Colorado; and Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway is a popular destination for paleontologists and is sure to be a hit for the dinosaur fan in your life.

Asheville to Nashville

The Biltmore is America’s largest home and the perfect place to start your road trip. Take a self-guided audio tour through the Biltmore and picture what it was like to live on the 8,000-acre estate. When leaving Asheville, take a drive through Smoky Mountain National Park and enjoy the smoky blue mountains that made East Tennessee famous. Make time to stop in the Gatlinburg area for some family fun including Dolly Parton’s amusement park, Dollywood, an Elvis Presley museum, mountain coasters, and more. From Gatlinburg, head west toward Nashville. Once you make it to Music City, visit the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry, and the Parthenon replica. Wrap up your trip by listening to some live music on lower Broadway and trying some hot chicken before you leave.    

Before you hit the road on any trip, it’s important to make sure your vehicle is ready for the road! Check out our summer maintenance checklist to get your car ready to go and visit your local Acceptance Agent to make sure you have the insurance and roadside assistance to make your road trip worry-free!