7 Best National Park Road Trips

Updated November 11, 2025 02:05PM

There’s few things better in life than a national park road trip. When you make the journey itself part of the destination, whole new worlds open up to be explored and places you never would have thought to travel become your new favorite spots. Whether it’s small town soda fountains that make you feel like you’ve stepped back in time, off-the-beaten path hikes that fill you with a sense of solitude, or new experiences like whitewater rafting, road trips let us slow down and really get a sense of the places we’re passing through.

We’ve rounded up seven of our favorite routes crossing America’s deserts, mountains and forests, but also its cities, small towns and hidden gems along the way. So turn on your favorite playlist and grab the snacks because it’s time to hit the road. These are seven of the best national park road trips in the country.

1. Best of Colorado Road Trip Featuring 4 National Parks

Wander the state that has inspired artists, writers and a national anthem on this mesmerizing Colorado road trip.

Katherine Lee Bates wrote the lyrics to America the Beautiful standing atop Pikes Peak in Colorado. “Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. For purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain.”

The song that has become an American anthem was meant to sum up the country as a whole, but standing atop Pikes Peak, Bates knew what anyone who visits Colorado quickly realizes: here you’ll find some of the best the U.S. has to offer.

Start in Colorado’s capital city of Denver to experience amazing food, craft beer and yoga at one of the country’s favorite music venues. Then, head towards Rocky Mountain National Park to spot elk, stunning peaks and perhaps one of Colorado’s newest residents: grey wolves.

This route continues to Colorado’s three other parks including the sheer, striped walls of Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde’s ancient cliff dwellings and the largest sand dune in North America at Great Sand Dunes. Along the way you’ll discover mountain towns, incredible outdoor recreation and the answer to why this state’s nickname is “Colorful Colorado”.

2. The Most Extreme Road Trip from Las Vegas to Death Valley and Yosemite

We so often find beauty in soft things: a pink sunset, a bouquet of flowers, a sparkling beach. Many of us write off the extremes of the spectrum as harsh places not worth considering, but this Las Vegas to Yosemite road trip leans into to the superlatives.

From the brightest spot on the planet, the Las Vegas Strip, head to Death Valley National Park, which is a land known for its extremes. It’s both home to the lowest point in North America and the record for the world’s hottest temperature.

As you make your way through the Eastern Sierra, stop and visit the oldest living thing on Earth, a bristlecone pine tree, before driving up and over Tioga Pass into the grandeur of Yosemite Valley. Farther south, in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, the world’s tallest trees await.

3. Land of Enchantment Road Trip from New Mexico to the Grand Canyon

From the sparkling expanse of desert that looks like snow at New Mexico’s White Sands National Park to the otherworldly rock formations at Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, it’s not hard to understand why this state is known as the Land of Enchantment.

This route winds from the U.S./Mexico Border in El Paso, Texas through the best of New Mexico from a national park dedicated to caverns that wind deep into the Earth, to space history, an unexpected wine region and everything in between.

Visit national park sites dedicated to caves, sparkling white sands and Ancestral Puebloan and nuclear history alike. From New Mexico, cross into Colorado to see cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park before dipping down into Arizona to see one of the wonders of the world: the Grand Canyon. Along the way you’ll feel nothing short of enchanted.

4. Grand Canyon Plus 5 Utah National Parks Road Trip

Red rock arches silhouetted against a bluebird sky. Mighty rivers winding their way through steep canyons. Aspen leaves quaking in a mountain breeze. This isn’t an imaginary world, it’s Utah, where public lands comprise 70% of the state. It’s a nature lover’s dream with plenty of space to find solitude and soak in the quiet beauty of the desert and mountains. On this route, you’ll explore six national parks along with countless national monuments, state parks and other public lands in between.

This road trip takes you from the capital of Salt Lake City to the red rock country near Moab, where Arches and Canyonlands national parks display some of the most stunning rock formations and incredible whitewater in the West. Continuing south into Arizona, drive through the Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation to learn more about whose homelands you’re recreating on. Visit the Grand Canyon’s less-crowded North Rim before heading back into Utah to explore stunning views in Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks, and natural beauty in Cedar Breaks National Monument. Finally, head north towards Torrey, Utah, to check Capitol Reef, the final of the state’s national parks, off your bucket list. Between the ochre-colored rock, the impossibly blue skies and the snowcapped peaks, you won’t be able to take your eyes off the view.

5. Olympic Peninsula Loop Road Trip

Circle Olympic National Park on this ultimate tour of the Pacific Northwest’s most beautiful peninsula with a stop at Cape Flattery, the northwestern-most point in the continental U.S.

From the hustle and bustle of Seattle, take the ferry to the quiet and wild world of the Olympic Peninsula. Explore a Victorian era seaport in Port Townsend and an incredible local food scene from hard cider to oysters to berries. In Sequim, you’ll feel as if you’ve been transported to the south of France as you frolic through lavender fields, or head out onto the beautiful waters of the Strait of San Juan de Fuca to go whale watching.

Outside of Port Angeles you can access Olympic National Park’s high alpine, wildflower meadows, dense temperate rainforests and serene lakes. Head as far northwest as you can go, literally, to find the last bit of the contiguous United States jutting out into the ocean—Cape Flattery. Along the way, learn about the Makah Tribe whose land you’re passing through.

6. Blue Ridge Parkway Road Trip from Shenandoah to Great Smoky

Known as “America’s Favorite Drive,” the Blue Ridge Parkway stretches from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia through the most beautiful parts of North Carolina, terminating in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

From old-time country stores to a dose of history at Booker T. Washington National Monument, make your way from Virginia into North Carolina. Don’t miss a stop at the highly photogenic Mabry Mill, before listening to authentic Appalachian music at the Blue Ridge Music Center.

There’s a reason the drive itself is a national park site. As you cross stunning bridges, take pit stops to see gushing waterfalls and encounter hillsides awash in rhododendron and azalea blooms, you’ll start to understand why.

Take some time to explore the eclectic, outdoorsy town of Asheville before making your way to your final destination and America’s most popular national park: Great Smoky Mountains.

7. South Dakota’s Black Hills to Yellowstone Road Trip

While public lands tend to conjure images of towering peaks and sandstone arches, tumbling waterfalls and calving glaciers, here on the Great Plains, a different kind of natural beauty abounds. On this road trip from Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone, you’ll discover it.

See abundant wildlife in South Dakota’s Badlands National Park alongside stunning multi-colored rock formations. Don’t miss going underground to explore what lies under the plains at Wind Cave and Jewel Cave. There’s so much history to be explored here from Mount Rushmore National Monument to Crazy Horse Memorial to Minuteman Missile Site.

Drive through the mesmerizing plains, crossing over the Wyoming border, to see a curious rock monolith known as Devils Tower. Whiskey, hot springs and bison await as you make your way to Yellowstone.

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Find Adventure with These 7 Best National Park Road Trips