5 Exciting Road Trip Ideas for Fall

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Summer is almost over, and it's been a hot one. We cannot wait for colder weather, but that also means it’s the perfect time to head outdoors. As the heat settles for fall, the leaves turn brown, and the wildlife prepares to hibernate, it’s actually the ideal season to plan a road trip. If you can get time off anyway.

But where would you go? What places should you visit and how should you plan your trip? If you’re at a loss for ideas, don’t fret. We’ve put together a generalized guide to planning your next road trip. These aren’t specific locations to visit — we’ll let you choose those — but they are themes for devising a memorable road trip. If that doesn’t make sense yet, keep reading and you'll see what we mean.

1. Explore Historic Americana

Route 66. Everyone knows it. Everyone has heard about it. But not everyone has had the pleasure to drive the full stretch of road. It’s an excellent road trip idea and one that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. From the quirky roadside attractions and tourist traps to small, beautiful townships and gorgeous scenery, it’s legitimately a trip for the ages.

You don’t necessarily have to travel Route 66 either. You can simply head west and see where the road takes you. You’re sure to have a great experience doing that, as well.

2. Following Your Taste Buds

Food and culinary delights abound, another great way to plan a road trip is to visit renowned restaurants, pit stops and eateries. Heck, you could also go with obscure places to visit; they don’t all have to be Benihanas.

If you want to get more granular, you can focus on a specific dish or dessert, seeking out stops along your entire route. Some examples include pizza, pastries, chocolate cake, burgers, steaks, pasta, seafood, and beyond. You could even opt to hit up food trucks, festivals and side-bars along the way. And if you’re feeling competitive, why not plan a trip around those crazy food challenges where you have to gorge yourself on huge meals?

3. National Park Sightseeing

One of the great things about national parks is they exist everywhere, north to south, east to west. So, if you’re planning a trip that hits some big parks you can really go any direction you want. Utah’s “Mighty Five” parks are always a big hit. If you want to go far out west, California's diverse national parks give you a lot of scenery and biome options.

Or you could just head northeast to New England, which is so beautiful in the fall, it’s like visiting another planet.

4. Creative Inspirations

Favorite movie or book? How about a favorite video game? Fictional worlds and realities won’t help here, but if you know of media that takes place in a world like ours, you’re on the right track. You can follow an inspired trip from media that you’ve watched, read or listened to, visiting all the big stops from the plot points you encountered.

Think popular wine-tasting tours and wineries a la Sideways, a Connecticut to California pseudo race inspired by the Cannonball Run, or venturing into the Pacific Northwest thanks to the Twilight saga. Perhaps you’re more of a Their Eyes Were Watching God fan? Head to Florida and drive down the state. That’s sure to be a colorful trip.

5. Mountainous Scenery to Stretch Your Legs

Maybe you’re more of the outdoorsy-type, or you just like hills and mountains. In that case, planning a trip to visit the local mountain ranges is always an excellent idea. Head through the Rocky Mountains to check out some treacherous terrain. Visit the Grand Canyon for more wondrous sights and experiences. Head to the Cascade Range, Adirondack, Appalachian, or Sierra Nevada areas.

It’s all up to you. You could even go much further south into the South Americas to visit Huascaran, Aconcagua, Incahuasi or Yerupajá. Just bear in mind, some of those more exotic options will have you walking and climbing more than driving.

6.  Don’t Forget Your Supplies

If you are headed out on a road trip, we always advise that you bring along supplies, especially extras that you might not normally consider. Food, first aid equipment, vehicle maintenance gear, including jumpstarters and tire pumps, spare tires, camping gear, spare clothes, portable power stations and solar panels for off-grid electricity. There’s a lot to think about.

We also recommend bringing along an OBD2 scanner or vehicle scanner. That way, if you encounter any diagnostic errors or vehicle problems on the open highway, you can plug in the scanner and see precisely what’s wrong without much extra troubleshooting.

Our top pick is always the Innova 5610, but honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of them, even the basic Innova 1000 that syncs with your phone. If you want some more in-depth information about how they level up your diagnostics and repairs, even if you’re not a mechanic, we have guides for that, too.

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