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.