The Best RV Road Trips in America: Routes That Showcase What RVing Does Best
RV travel is particularly well-suited to specific types of journeys — those where the destination requires moving through scenery that rewards slow travel, where the accommodation landscape favors campground stays over hotels, and where the self-contained nature of the RV provides access to places that would be logistically complicated to visit any other way. Here are the American RV routes that consistently produce the most rewarding experiences for the effort and planning they require.
The Pacific Coast Highway: Oregon and California
US Highway 101 along the Pacific Coast — from Astoria, Oregon, to San Diego, California — is the quintessential American coastal road trip and one that rewards the slow pace and campground logistics of RV travel. The route passes through redwood forests, dramatic sea-stack coastlines, the California wine country, Big Sur (a section that should not be attempted in vehicles over 40 feet due to winding roads and limited pull-outs), and eventually Southern California beach communities. State park campgrounds along the Oregon coast and California coast are the accommodation infrastructure that makes the route practical for RVers — Crescent City, Eureka, Fort Bragg, Morro Bay, and numerous smaller communities have campgrounds within walking or biking distance of the beach.
The National Parks Loop: Utah’s Mighty Five
The five national parks of southern Utah — Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches — are geographically concentrated in a region that allows a complete loop in five to ten days from either Las Vegas or Salt Lake City. The parks are individually extraordinary and collectively produce the most concentrated landscape photography opportunity in the continental United States. Vehicle length restrictions apply: Zion’s park road requires the park’s shuttle system from spring through fall (personal vehicles limited to the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway segment), and most campgrounds have 27 to 35-foot length maximums. RVs under 27 feet have full access; larger units require advance campground research.
