2026 Road Trip Plans

[JayhawkCO]

I think I started the 2025 thread around this time last year. Might as well spin it up as we create plans.

Only one planned so far:

Flying into Paris and going to be driving from there to visit Normandy and Brittany, so I'll be driving on some Autoroutes as well as departmental highways. We're staying right outside of Caen in Ver-sur-Mer, so should get some clinches around the area.

[CoreySamson]

I'm trying to cook up something sorta massive for spring break of senior year. Currently the trip has St. Louis, Pittsburgh, DC, and Nashville on the docket. I'm also planning on taking a day trip or weekend to Wichita as well.

[Max Rockatansky]

My wife and are likely going to Capitol Reef National Park in early April for our wedding anniversary.  I'll probably knock out seeing my brother in St. George (he recently moved there) and maybe other stuff around Moab.

[JayhawkCO]

My wife and are likely going to Capitol Reef National Park in early April for our wedding anniversary.  I'll probably knock out seeing my brother in St. George (he recently moved there) and maybe other stuff around Moab.

Eat at George's Corner in St. George. Pretty tasty.

[pderocco]

I'm considering retiring pretty soon, so I should have lots of time for road trips in 2026 and beyond. I don't know what order I'm going to do them in, but my vague trip ideas include:

• I-25 trip. I've driven very little of this, and could combine it with driving a lot of the nearby US routes, filling in some gaps in I-90 from Billings MT to Buffalo WY, and a couple small pieces around Rapid City SD, driving the 3dis around Denver (clinching all Interstates in the western 11 states), and doing all of Historic US-66 in NM.
• PacNW east/west US routes. This would involve filling in gaps in US-2, US-12, US-20, and US-26 in WA, OR, ID, and MT, and driving a lot of state routes along the way, hopefully including WA-20.
• Fly-and-drive from MN to MA. This would clinch I-94, and fill in eastern gaps in I-90. I could also clinch I-86 and I-88 in NY, and extend my coverage of US-6 and US-20 from their eastern ends perhaps as far as Cleveland. While in New England, I could maybe clinch US-1 (north of NY), US-2, US-5, US-7, I-89, and I-91.
• Fly-and-drive from FL to MA. This could clinch I-40, I-87, I-95, US-9, US-9W, and whatever other nice roads I could find in the northeast.[/i]
  

Shorter trips might include more Utah exploration, including Skyline Drive in the Wasatch Mountains, and some of the 4wd roads in Canyonlands. Or US-550 in NM and CO, with a couple of high mountain passes. But these will have to wait for the snow to melt.

[hbelkins]

None of my proposed trips for this year came to pass. I've only taken one out-of-state trip this year, so I'm not going to predict anything for next year.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Only thing I'm certain of, for 2026, at the moment, is a trip from Central Ohio to Baton Rouge.
I just haven't decided if it'll be in February or April.

[dgolub]

I have a business trip to Chicago on the schedule for next summer.  I'm thinking to drive out there and then take an indirect route back through Wisconsin and both peninsulas of Michigan.  A southern route through Kentucky is also a possibility, although I'm leaning toward the northern route at this point.

[epzik8]

I have ones to New York City and Akron, Ohio in the works.

[TBKS1]

I have several drives into Texas and Louisiana planned for next year as part of my highway photo project, only thing is I don't know what time period next year they'll take place. I don't plan on ever attending any future road meets so I have nothing there planned either.

[paulthemapguy]

Floating some ideas for next year. Some will come to pass, and some will not. We'll see what happens.

1. Northeastern Clinchathon in May. This would be a two-week trip gobbling up tons of Interstate and US Highway clinches, including I-70, I-83, I-78, I-87, US2, I-95 in Maine, I-89, US7, I-91, I-93, then I-90.

2. Trip to Banff and surrounding areas in Alberta. We would probably fly to Calgary and rent a car. Either this or Trip #1 will happen-- not both.

3. US36 clinch east of me, with a clinch of US22 west of Cadiz. This would be a long weekend.

4. US36 clinch west of me, with a clinch of US50 east of Grand Junction to go back east toward home.

5. Early July trip will probably be to routesnap (1 photo of each route in the state) half of South Dakota. I haven't decided if it should be the west half or the east half.

Trips 3 and 5 should be easier to commit to; there is only potential to complete two of the trips out of the remaining three-- 1, 2, and 4.

[JayhawkCO]

I tentatively have another international trip planned for May/June where I'll visit Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and possibly Afghanistan. I'm not sure how much of my travel will be via road at this point, but almost assuredly a drive from Samarkand, Uzbekistan to Dushanbe, Tajikistan is in the cards. If the political climate is stable enough, I would also travel via road to and from Dushanbe to Kunduz, Afghanistan. We shall see.

[kphoger]

a drive from Samarkand, Uzbekistan to Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Duuuuuuude!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZtXXC3fNeXvKy6XP8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Co83YJBLXXmSt7oa7
https://maps.app.goo.gl/wcFyLoBk8CGL3W8A9

[JayhawkCO]

a drive from Samarkand, Uzbekistan to Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Duuuuuuude!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZtXXC3fNeXvKy6XP8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Co83YJBLXXmSt7oa7
https://maps.app.goo.gl/wcFyLoBk8CGL3W8A9

Yeah. It's pretty stunning there from all appearances. I would also love to do the Pamir Highway sometime, but I'm focusing a little more on Uzbekistan this trip. If you ever watch the YouTube channel Itchy Boots, she just completed about three weeks in Afghanistan and Tajikistan and it was some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen.

[Quillz]

Will be doing my second Death Valley trip this weekend. Was given Saturday off due to lack of work, so now I've got a three-day weekend. Death Valley will be much cooler than last time I was there (60 F vs. 114 F) and should be clear weather, no rain. All the roads in and out look open, including CA-178 across Walker Pass which I like taking.

Last time I was there in the summer, it was much too hot to do anything more than just a few car stops. Couldn't do any trails or anything else, save for the crater near the north end. This time have plans to do a few of the trails, and see the entire southern half of the park which I skipped last time.

Staying in Ridgecrest, CA. Relatively cheap and close by. Compared to last time, when I stayed in Mammoth Lakes. Planning to do the Panamint Highway the first time up, Trona is a cool little place to visit. On the way back, will probably do CA-190 because the Towne Pass descent is always fun. The second day I'm there, will probably end up doing CA-127 even though it's otherwise out of my way.

No idea if Scotty's Castle is open yet, I will do it if it is. Although I was able to visit it once before, back in 2013 when I did my only other proper trip there.

[Max Rockatansky]

Scotty's Castle isn't fully opening up any time soon.  There are tours that the Park Service is hosting:

https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/scottys-castle-death-valley-closed-21257468.php

https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/historyculture/flood-recovery-tours.htm

[jlam]

I've only booked one road trip thus far, and calling it a road trip is a bit of a stretch. I'll be taking the California Zephyr out to Chicago and staying there for about a week before flying back. I'll attend a Cubs game and take a tour of Wrigley Field while I'm there. I might drive up to Milwaukee and over to Gary as well, but I haven't cemented those plans yet.

I might stay a day in La Junta to clinch a few counties and tour Bent's Old Fort over spring break, but again, no plans yet.

[D-Dey65]

My mother wants a road trip to the New York Tri-State Area this Spring, so she can see some relatives and friends before she dies. I want another one later on in 2026 for myself. If she does die whenever she does, I won't have any other choice but to take the trip up because I'm going to take her urn to the same cemetery where my father is buried.


In the meantime, I still want a day trip to West St. Augustine, as well as one to Folkston, Georgia, Florida's Big Bend, the southernmost Florida's Turnpike Service Plazas and the remaining I-95 rest areas that haven't been covered on Wikimedia Commons.

[pderocco]

Scotty's Castle isn't fully opening up any time soon.  There are tours that the Park Service is hosting:

https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/scottys-castle-death-valley-closed-21257468.php

https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/historyculture/flood-recovery-tours.htm

I doubt the walking tours are worth the trouble, because they're just around the grounds. The real beauty of the place is the interior of the building. It's quite luxurious. When I toured it years ago, my only question was whether that luxury could make up for living in Death Valley.

[Quillz]

Yes, luckily I saw the whole place back in 2013 or so, including the famous pipe organ. Like Hearst Castle, it's basically a place you only really need to visit once since it doesn't change much, so no big deal if it's still closed. Still have to head in that direction since it's near the crater.

[Quillz]

Just got back from the Moon!






Nah, just kidding. It was actually Badwater Basin at night:



My Death Valley trip was fun, but unfortunately, a lot of the park was closed. Only the main attraction area (Furnace Creek) was open. The North Highway was closed, including access to the crater. Everything south of Badwater was closed. But because the weather was a lot cooler, could do more than last time. This time spent a lot of time on the Mesquite Dunes. Did the Golden Canyon hike, which ended up being a bit harrowing because I was confused about where to go for about a half-hour, due to very poor signage, and the way back ended up having a near vertical drop down Gower Gulch that I ended up doing in darkness because I spent too much time trying to find the proper trail.

I stayed in the Ridgecrest-China Lake area, so the drive was quite nice, especially when you drop dramatically into Panamint Valley. I feel for a road trip blog, covering the entire Searles Valley-Trona area could be interesting, becuase it's a very unique part of the state, looks like it's been hit hard economically given how many closed down businesses there are there.

As always, the drive over Towne Pass is a lot of fun. I plan to go back in March, it will still be tolerable enough for hiking (around 80 F), and hopefully more of the park will be open. I might consider staying in the park next time, I didn't know Stovepipe Wells has places you can rent.

[NWI_Irish96]

Nothing more than day trips planned for me until I get a job and some income.

[pderocco]

Just got back from the Moon!

Don't forget to enter it into TravelMapping. That's an important clinch.

If you're into wildflowers, the southern entrance to Death Valley from Shoshone often has lots of variety around the start of spring. It goes up over 3000 feet, so it's not deathly hot.

[Max Rockatansky]

Westbound Towne Pass remains the only place where I have ever warped a brake rotor on.  My old 2014 Sonic just plain couldn't handle that descent even in 2nd and 3rd gear.  The left front rotor got too hot and I had to get it machined when I got home. 

[epzik8]

I'm officially going forward with plans for a Northern California trip this spring which, though it will require me to fly out from the east coast, will involve a few hundred miles of driving between San Francisco and Ashland/Medford, OR.