
This task becomes easier once you hit the Pennsylvania Turnpike, America’s first long-distance superhighway. Three-and-a-half days (also known as the “Cannonball Jog”)ĭay one - New York, New York to Indianapolis, Indiana via I-78/I-76/I-70 (709 miles): You’ll be spending a lot of today’s drive in Pennsylvania, and my advice for you is to drive through it as fast as you can, making as few stops as possible. Let’s get to it! Redondo Beach | Rhonda Roth/Shutterstock Before you leave, you should get a car (duh), a national park pass, a toll pass, a Rand McNally road atlas, a tent, and, if you are a sociopath, a tin whistle with which to drive your companions insane. I’m going to try to not repeat segments or destinations, so that you could conceivably drive all three routes and be delighted anew on each trip. We’ll use those cities as our starting and stopping points for each itinerary. Some ground rules to start: The classic cross-country road trip route, established in the 1970s during the legendary Cannonball Run races, starts at New York City’s Red Ball Garage and ends at the Portofino Hotel and Marina in Redondo Beach, California, about 7 miles south of Los Angeles International Airport. I like to walk through nature every three or four days and then see the rest of the country through a car window. I prefer road food to haute cuisine, national parks to museums, the Southwest to the Deep South. I like to drink cheap beer at dive bars and then pass out in hotels. While I like to think there’s something here for most everyone, I readily admit that I devised these as the sorts of road trips that I’d like to take.

I can personally vouch for most of the routes, sights, and destinations I recommend below.

I am a frequent traveler and driving enthusiast who spends a good portion of each year on the road. I’ve assembled three ideal itineraries for three separate road trips from New York to California, clocking in at three-and-a-half, seven, and 14 days, respectively.

It’s time to start planning a good old-fashioned coast-to-coast road trip. Well, as the song says, summer’s here, and the time is right.
#National park road trip planner windows#
It’s something that everyone should do at least once in their life - preferably in the summer, when the days are long and warm and you can roll down your car windows at top speed without risking pneumonia. The overland cross-country journey is ingrained in the American spirit.
