2026 Road Trip Plans

[vdeane]

Here's my current plans so far, let's see if they fall apart because I mentioned it!

I guess I'm not the only one with that curse.  There's a reason why I don't post in these threads!

[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.

In spite of a bad case of travel hiccups, I'll be traveling up to Syracuse for a music festival in June.

[Rothman]

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.

In spite of a bad case of travel hiccups, I'll be traveling up to Syracuse for a music festival in June.

Blues/Jazz Fest?  Unfortunately, I'll be in Utah that weekend.

[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.

In spite of a bad case of travel hiccups, I'll be traveling up to Syracuse for a music festival in June.

Blues/Jazz Fest?  Unfortunately, I'll be in Utah that weekend.

Yep. 2026 New York Blues Festival

[jmacswimmer]

Here's my current plans so far, let's see if they fall apart because I mentioned it!

I guess I'm not the only one with that curse.  There's a reason why I don't post in these threads!

I also held off posting my first big 2026 trip for similar reasons, but now that it's been successfully completed:

We did a big Minnesota-and-Dakotas roadtrip, starting & ending at MSP airport, to cover NPS sites in the western Dakotas.

-First headed west across North Dakota on I-94, with stops in Fargo & Bismarck, to hit Theodore Roosevelt National Park
-Continued down into South Dakota via US 85, with stops at the Geographic Center of the Nation Monument in Belle Fourche and a small detour into Wyoming to Devils Tower National Monument
-Covered the Black Hills: Spearfish Canyon, Lead-Deadwood, Jewel Cave National Monument, Mt Rushmore National Memorial, Custer State Park (including Needles Highway & Iron Mountain Rd), Badlands National Park, and Wind Cave National Park
-Headed back east across South Dakota on I-90 with stops in Wall (drug store), Pierre, Mitchell (corn palace), and Sioux Falls
-Finally picking up I-35 north at Albert Lea to complete the loop and check out the Twin Cities area at the end, including Mall of America, museums/zoos, and a stop by the I-35W bridge collapse memorial

[pderocco]

Here's my current plans so far, let's see if they fall apart because I mentioned it!

I guess I'm not the only one with that curse.  There's a reason why I don't post in these threads!

I also held off posting my first big 2026 trip for similar reasons, but now that it's been successfully completed:

We did a big Minnesota-and-Dakotas roadtrip, starting & ending at MSP airport, to cover NPS sites in the western Dakotas.

-First headed west across North Dakota on I-94, with stops in Fargo & Bismarck, to hit Theodore Roosevelt National Park
-Continued down into South Dakota via US 85, with stops at the Geographic Center of the Nation Monument in Belle Fourche and a small detour into Wyoming to Devils Tower National Monument
-Covered the Black Hills: Spearfish Canyon, Lead-Deadwood, Jewel Cave National Monument, Mt Rushmore National Memorial, Custer State Park (including Needles Highway & Iron Mountain Rd), Badlands National Park, and Wind Cave National Park
-Headed back east across South Dakota on I-90 with stops in Wall (drug store), Pierre, Mitchell (corn palace), and Sioux Falls
-Finally picking up I-35 north at Albert Lea to complete the loop and check out the Twin Cities area at the end, including Mall of America, museums/zoos, and a stop by the I-35W bridge collapse memorial

I might be doing a big loop that passes through the Black Hills this summer. I'll add the Geographic Center and Devils Tower to my itinerary. Thanks for the tips.

[gonealookin]

-Covered the Black Hills: Spearfish Canyon, Lead-Deadwood, Jewel Cave National Monument, Mt Rushmore National Memorial, Custer State Park (including Needles Highway & Iron Mountain Rd), Badlands National Park, and Wind Cave National Park

I might be doing a big loop that passes through the Black Hills this summer. I'll add the Geographic Center and Devils Tower to my itinerary. Thanks for the tips.

I wanted to go through the Black Hills on my planned trip, which will take me as far east as Omaha and then back, but the dates would unavoidably be during Sturgis 2026 (August 7-16).  I decided the Black Hills are best left for some other time.

[jmacswimmer]

I might be doing a big loop that passes through the Black Hills this summer. I'll add the Geographic Center and Devils Tower to my itinerary. Thanks for the tips.

FWIW (and I didn't know this prior to visiting), the Belle Fourche location factors in Hawaii & Alaska once they were officially admitted as states. The previous center point (and still the center point for the contiguous 48) is near Lebanon KS, as one of the other visitors told us.

And depending how technical you want to get, the monument in Belle Fourche is about 20 miles south of the actual center point which appears to be accessible off a gravel old alignment of US 85 - we didn't go to that and just went to the monument in town.

[Rothman]

I might be doing a big loop that passes through the Black Hills this summer. I'll add the Geographic Center and Devils Tower to my itinerary. Thanks for the tips.

FWIW (and I didn't know this prior to visiting), the Belle Fourche location factors in Hawaii & Alaska once they were officially admitted as states. The previous center point (and still the center point for the contiguous 48) is near Lebanon KS, as one of the other visitors told us.

And depending how technical you want to get, the monument in Belle Fourche is about 20 miles south of the actual center point which appears to be accessible off a gravel old alignment of US 85 - we didn't go to that and just went to the monument in town.

The point in Lebanon, KS isn't even in the correct spot, since a farmer didn't want an attraction on his land.

[NWI_Irish96]

I might be doing a big loop that passes through the Black Hills this summer. I'll add the Geographic Center and Devils Tower to my itinerary. Thanks for the tips.

FWIW (and I didn't know this prior to visiting), the Belle Fourche location factors in Hawaii & Alaska once they were officially admitted as states. The previous center point (and still the center point for the contiguous 48) is near Lebanon KS, as one of the other visitors told us.

And depending how technical you want to get, the monument in Belle Fourche is about 20 miles south of the actual center point which appears to be accessible off a gravel old alignment of US 85 - we didn't go to that and just went to the monument in town.

I didn't know this prior to visiting either. I was wandering up and down US 85 north of town looking for the spot. I found what looked like it used to be something. I went back into town and asked someone about it. They told me that they moved it into town due to a rash of snakebites at the actual site.

[kphoger]

a rash of snakebites

Pruritic urticaria?

[pderocco]

I'm flying to Providence RI Monday morning to start a road trip that may last a few weeks. I'll hang around Massachusetts for much of the first week, but I'm going to explore more of the parts of New England I ignored growing up there, and then heading west across upstate NY and northern PA, maybe going as far west as Minnesota before returning, obviously taking different routes each way.

Likely clinches: I-86 (eastern), I-88, I-89, I-91, I-94, I-96, and some related 3dis. US-2 (eastern), US-5, US-7, US-201, US-302. Maybe US-4.

Gap filling but not clinching yet: US-6 and US-20 east of Cleveland or perhaps further west. I-90 east of South Dakota. Maybe US-1 in New England. I could clinch I-90 in a later Northwest trip this year.

Counties: Last unvisited counties in VT, CT, and MA, clinching New England.

River crossings: The rest of the Connecticut River crossings, which is about half of them. I'll probably add a few more Hudson River crossings too.

Now we'll see if my eyes are bigger than my stomach.

[pderocco]

Finished my Northeast trip after a week hanging around southeast MA and RI, and ten days driving around 4500 miles. I didn't go all the way to Minnesota, just to Cleveland.

The first week, during which I was staying with friends in Attleboro MA saw a number of state highway clinches in MA and RI, but the only notable one was clinching US-1 from Providence RI to East Lyme CT, including the several 1A alternate. I also clinched I-395 between East Lyme and Worcester MA. The list of clinches is at the end.

The main road trip took ten days:

6/8: Clinched a bunch of little state highways in northeast MA, then went up into ME and drove the entire length of US-201 up to the Canadian border and back down to Augusta ME. I thought this would be boring (corridor of trees, and all that), but it was surprisingly nice, especially along the Kennebec River and Wyman Lake. It features the Million Dollar Birdhouse Wall: https://maps.app.goo.gl/QFecZjwtojVVgULCA

6/9: Drove down to Portland ME, and then drove the full length of US-302 to Montpelier VT. Drove to St Johnsbury on US-2, then backtracked and continued to Burlington VT, at which point I had clinched US-2. This was less interesting but pleasant.

6/10: Drove I-89 from Burlington to the Canadian border, clinching it, then drove US-7 all the way down to Bennington VT. That goes through some nice quaint towns. I jogged east to drive the southern 25 miles or so of VT-100, clinching it, which is a nice back road that runs almost up to the Canadian border. Drove down MA-8 to Lee, then drove the part of US-20 I hadn't been on between there and Palmer, clinching it in MA. That included a Historic US-20 route, which only has one sign proclaiming it. It also included the 3dis in that area. I stayed in West Springfield.

6/11: I drove up US-5 all the way to the Canadian border, taking quick side trips to cross bridges over the Connecticut River. I then sped down I-91 back to Brattleboro VT, where I stayed.

6/12: Drove down I-91 to New Haven CT, clinching it and its 3dis around Hartford. Took side trips over all remaining Connecticut River bridges, including a few bridges and two ferries near CT-9, then worked my way back up US-5 to Springfield, clinching it. Took a side trip down US-202 to the MA/CT border, clinching it in MA, then took the Pike to Lee MA, and stayed there.

6/13: Took US-7 down to Norwalk CT, clinching it. Worked my way up to where US-6 crosses the Hudson, and started across NY and into PA, going all the way to Mansfield PA. That included a piece of the NY-17 freeway, which I drove again a few days later in the other direction.

6/14: Drove from Mansfield PA up to Watkins Glen NY, then to Ithaca, then to Bainbridge where I picked up I-88 and drove it to Binghamton, clinching it. Drove I-86 all the way to its west end. What a crappy road. There were miles of very rough pavement, and even more miles of violent bumps every fifty feet. I was surprised that they had two reassurance signs next to each other for both routes. What's the point? West of Binghamton, there is no NY-17 that isn't also I-86. Maybe it's time to 86 17. (Memo to DOJ: Not threatening Andrew Johnson, I promise.) This is where it got interesting, because in the western part of the state we were hit by the most amazing cloudburst, with ferocious winds. The traffic slowed to a crawl, and I immediately saw an exit and took it, fearful of a multi-car pileup, which I don't think materialized. After it settled down, I continued on my way, but the area had some of the blackest clouds I had ever seen, and they were scooting across the sky quite fast. Things eased up as I continued down I-90 to Painesville OH.

6/15: From Painesville, I picked up a piece of US-20 I had never been on, taking it to the square in the center of Cleveland, where I switched to US-6 and drove back. There was a long concurrency between the two roads, which was one of the worst urban roads I had ever been on, two lanes in each direction with a turn lane down the middle, and huge deep potholes about every block in the right lane in both directions. Finally, US-6 turned east and got nice and rural, but there were several places where it was closed. Two closures were construction related to tiny bridges or culverts, but one was a tree that had split in half in the previous evening's storm and blocked the road. I saw a couple other large downed trees in yards. I took US-6 to Union City, clinching it in NY, then clinching US-6N to get back to another piece of US-20 I hadn't been on from the OH/PA border up to the Buffalo NY area. There I clinched a couple 2dis, including the highest numbered Interstate I-990, and took the Niagara Scenic Parkway to the falls around sunset. Unfortunately, most of the good viewing spots were fenced off for construction, but the sky was beautiful, along with the lights from the Canadian side.

6/16: Clinched the rest of the Niagara Scenic Parkway, and then drove along the lake including clinching the Lake Ontario State Parkway into Rochester. Clinched NY-490. NY-590, and I-590, then drove down I-490 and lesser roads to Bloomfield NY, and drove the entire length of US-20A back west to US-20. Then followed US-20 all the way east to I-81, with stops in Canandaigua, Geneva and Cayuga, clinching US-20 in NY. Drove to Syracuse, enjoying their charming I-81, although it seemed a little rough around the edges.

6/17: Back down I-81 to Binghamton NY, filling in a big gap, then taking I-86/NY-17 east all the way to I-87. I was surprised that, in the miles before I-84, the road was fully signed as I-86 as well as NY-17. Is this in defiance of AASHTO? In GSV, I can see the End I-86 sign at I-84, but in historic imagery it had been covered with cloth, some years ago the cloth started to fall off, and now it's gone completely. (https://maps.app.goo.gl/gjw9mF5AHPVptjDz7) I did a loop up around Mohonk, picking up the western end of US-44, and drove that all the way back to RI, clinching it. That was the end of my trip.

Clinched Interstates: I-86, I-88, I-89, I-91, I-189 (VT), I-290 (NY), I-291 (CT), I-291 (MA), I-384 (CT), I-391 (MA), I-395 (CT/MA), I-590 (NY), I-990 (NY). I've now driven all the Interstates in New England.

Clinched US routes: US-2 (eastern), US-5, US-7, US-44, US-201, US-302 (including all alternates). I've now driven all the US routes in New England except parts of US-1, US-4, and US-202.

Clinched US-20 in MA/NY/PA, now driven it from Boston to Cleveland. Clinched US-6 in NY/PA, now driven it from Provincetown to Cleveland.

Visited the last three counties I hadn't been to in New England. Also reduced the number of unvisited counties in NY from 10 to 4.

I won't bother listing the two dozen or so short state routes I clinched in various states.

Drove all remaining public car crossings of the Connecticut River.

[Rothman]

I-91 to Binghamton...?

New I-81?  That's just old I-481, which is still signed.   BL-81's not done yet.

[pderocco]

I-91 to Binghamton...?

Typo, fixed.

New I-81?  That's just old I-481, which is still signed.   BL-81's not done yet.

I'm just talking about the existing I-81, which was all jammed up due to construction, and even Google Maps gave up trying not to route me over a temporarily closed part of it.

[hbelkins]

A few months ago, I became aware of another town that bears my surname. It's in Arkansas. I had tentatively planned to go visit it this weekend, but didn't due to weather (Thursday), a cat that required a vet visit (Friday), and eventually scrapped the trip for now due to finances. If I do get to go later this year, I might combine that with a clinch of US 412 in Missouri and Arkansas, and US 160 in Missouri.

When I went to the Bentonville area 25 years ago, I only spent one night. This trip would require two nights.

See the separate thread I'm going to create about another possible trip later this summer.

[D-Dey65]

I'm presently trying to see if I can't throw in a little TriRail exploration with my proposed trip to the southernmost Florida's Turnpike Service Plaza photography crusade.

[JayhawkCO]

Oh, I'd be excruciating if need be. My current plan is I-25->US287->WY135 to Riverton and the US26 over to the Tetons. Then coming back, maybe US189->WYO372->1-80->WYO430->CO Moffat County 10A->CO318->US40->CO9->I-70 home.

Not interested in picking up Hot Springs and Washakie Counties?

Well, turns out there are fire restrictions in Fremont County and the fireworks in Lander are cancelled, which is part of the reason we were going to stay in Riverton. Now, we're going to stay in Thermopolis (Hot Springs County) and I'll make a quick twenty minute round trip up to Washakie County to clinch that too. Now I'll only be missing two counties in NE Wyoming I can pick up easily on a Badlands trip.

[gonealookin]

Plans for the 3385-mile August road trip are firmed up.  Exact routes and side trips will change a bit but this is the general notion.

Day 1:  Stateline, NV to Logan, UT.  608 miles.
I-80 and the NV 233/UT 30 routing around the Great Salt Lake.

Day 2:  Logan to Sidney, NE.  535 miles.
US 89, UT 30, US 30, I-80.

Day 3:  Sidney to Omaha.  385 miles.
I-80.  Assuming I get over to Council Bluffs at some point I will have completed all of I-80 west of the Missouri.  I would be missing Council Bluffs to Des Moines to get all the way to the Mississippi.

Days 4-7:  Golf in Elkhorn, NE (suburb of Omaha).

(changed and deleted this part)
Day 8:  Omaha to Chadron, NE.  481 miles.
US 275, US 20.  This will include some detour into South Dakota, probably involving US 83 and US 18.  I have never set foot in South Dakota.  The original destination this day was Rapid City, but as this will be during the Sturgis motorcycle rally I chose to avoid that area.

Day 9:  Chadron to Thermopolis, WY.  316 miles.
US 20 (partly duplexed with US 26).

Update:
I've never set foot in North Dakota either, and with three days available between Omaha and Boise this might be my best chance to do that.  I don't want to be in the bed realizing I have about 10 minutes left before death and be thinking, "Goddammit, I never got to North Dakota."

So, at the expense of 306 extra miles over two days, there's a change for Days 8 and 9:

Day 8:  Omaha to Lemmon, SD.  585 miles.
I-29, US 12.

Day 9:  Lemmon to Thermopolis, WY.  518 miles.
US 12, I-94, MT 47, I-90, US 14, US 20.

That still avoids Sturgis, it isn't entirely on Interstates and still keeps it in my usual 500 to 600 mile daily maximum.

Day 10:  Thermopolis to Boise.  587 miles.
US 26, I-15, I-86, I-84.

Days 11-14:  Golf in Boise.

Day 15:  Boise to Stateline.  473 miles.
US 95, I-80.

[D-Dey65]

Thanks to some mechanical problems, my southernmost Florida's Turnpike Service Plaza photography crusade has been delayed again.

[Max Rockatansky]

Thanks to some mechanical problems, my southernmost Florida's Turnpike Service Plaza photography crusade has been delayed again.

That was the best plaza too (Snapper Creek).  It isn't full service like the others and thus always had less traffic.  It was a super handy stopping spot coming out of the Keys.

[1995hoo]

Our nephew is graduating from high school in late May, so we're using it as a reason to go visit relatives in Florida. We're flying and renting a car and the main thing I'm trying to figure out is a new route between Venice and Pembroke Pines. I'm thinking maybe CR-74 east from Punta Gorda and then down US-27. We've used I-75 many times, as well as US-41, and the travel time via the 74/27 route is not significantly longer per Apple Maps.

I've driven east-west across Florida a few times, between Orlando and the Everglades, and have never found any reason to favor any route over another.  At Lake Okeechobee you're just looking up at a levee all the way.  Nothing wrong with a roadgeek wanting to try something other than an Interstate, but if you find any aspect of it to be worthwhile other than checking off a new route, let me know.

I doubt it'll be anything special. We've passed through Clewiston and South Bay on a previous trip driving from Fort Myers to Pembroke Pines and it wasn't anything fabulous, but it was a break from going the same way every time, plus there were fewer hyperaggressive drivers compared to the Interstate. And on this trip we are going to Fort Myers first (flying into RSW) and then driving up to Venice to visit a friend before visiting my brother-in-law in Broward County, so I don't really want to turn around and go back through Fort Myers again. The reason the stops worked out that way is because of when our nephew's graduation is (a Saturday), coupled with our having tickets to a Springsteen concert here on the Wednesday night just before he graduates. So it wasn't especially practical to fly into Sarasota and visit our friend in Venice first, even though that's the more logical routing overall.

Following up on the above from earlier this year, we took our trip to Florida in late May/early June and I did what is described above for the middle leg: I-75 south from Venice to Punta Gorda, minimal jog east on US-17 to connect to CR-74 (Bermont Road) for its entire length across to FL-29, minimal jog northeast on that road to US-27, and then US-27 all the way down to Sheridan Street in Pembroke Pines.

CR-74 is a very rural two-lane road. I was able to set the cruise control at 65 mph for most of the drive on there (speed limit varied between 45 and 60). There were more dump trucks than one might expect, but on the whole traffic was light and it was a very easy drive. The far eastern end looked more like Texas than Florida. My wife found it exceptionally boring and, after a nap, woke up and started complaining that we were still on that road. I found it more interesting because you pass various ranch-like properties and the sorts of white sandy-looking dirt roads that scream "Old Florida" (prior to the state getting built up)—a road that takes you through an area that calls back to a different era, in other words. Still not a fascinating drive, of course, but a welcome change from the same old I-75, and the lack of aggressive drivers was very nice. I might go that way again if I were by myself, but I doubt I will use that road if my wife is with me.

We had previously been on US-27 from Whidden Corner down to Broward County, so this trip let me fill in the gap I had between FL-29 and Whidden Corner. The bridge up and over the Caloosahatchee in Moore Haven struck me as peculiar because it had long approaches and felt like it was fairly high up (on Street View it doesn't look nearly as high as it felt), but I later found out that in that area apparently it is considered a "canal," as opposed to a "river" like it is in Fort Myers, so I assume the design has something to do with navigability and avoiding a drawbridge. I would tend to assume any boat traffic through there is mostly recreational traffic these days, but who knows about in the past.

[JayhawkCO]

I'm taking my yearly flight to Kansas City for a nerdy boardgaming convention in November. I'm flying out early before it begins, so thinking about doing some county clinching in Missouri and visiting Jeff City, one of the three state capitals I haven't been to. Looking at doing I-435->MO210->MO10->US24->MO129->Local Roads->US63 to Jeff City and then US50 back to Olathe where my in-laws live.

Potentially clinching Ray, Carroll, Chariton, Howard, Randolph, Cole, and Moniteau Counties.

[MikeTheActuary]

Back on the original topic...

I have booked plans to drive from Edmonton to Winnipeg this summer, the first in a sequence of trips I am hoping to take to finish visiting all 13 Canadian provinces and territories, after having gotten my 50th US state a few years ago.   That this trip will make my Canada map on mob-rule less bleak is also a factor in my plans.  (It's been years since I did a respectable county run....)

The trip is, of course, contingent on there not being a gas shortage this year due to the US's "special military operation".  I'm not looking forward to the petrol prices as it is, but it would be unethical for me to take this trip if an actual shortage emerges in the US or Canada.

(I did consider taking the train, but then I'd have to figure out what to do for a day in Edmonton and Winnipeg with a bag in tow...plus I kind of want a couple of days of being able to look out the window in any direction at the prairie, rather than just looking out one side of a train or trying to find a seat in a dome car....)

Knock wood, that trip is just a week and a half out, and is still on.

I also just added plans to drive over to Elgin County, Ontario in early September, to go hunting for some documents to support an application for Canadian citizenship by decent.   The trip will have the happy side-effect of filling in a little bit more of my Canadian map on mob-rule.

[D-Dey65]

Thanks to some mechanical problems, my southernmost Florida's Turnpike Service Plaza photography crusade has been delayed again.

That was the best plaza too (Snapper Creek).  It isn't full service like the others and thus always had less traffic.  It was a super handy stopping spot coming out of the Keys.

Really? Because I thought that was full service with the addition of a Miami-Dade County Fire-Rescue station.

Oh, BTW, the proposed NYC road trip with my mother was postponed to August, but now I'm not even sure it will happen.