‘The Roller Coaster Tour’ Is the No. 1 Hidden Gem Road Trip Route in the U.S.

Close your eyes and think about the best road trip you’ve ever been on. Maybe you were with your family. Perhaps it was with a few friends, a partner, a loyal dog, or just you and the road ahead. Perhaps the window was rolled down, and a warm breeze flowed through your hair. And we just know your favorite song was playing on the radio. Want to have that feeling again? Then it’s time to start planning your next road trip, only this time, Journeyscape, a curated travel company, thinks you should take the road less traveled. 

In November, Journeyscape released its list of the best “hidden gem” road trip routes that crisscross the United States—and it named The Roller Coaster Tour the No. 1 hidden gem road trip in the U.S. 

The team searched Hertz to find its U.S.-based road trips to create its list. It took the routes provided by the car rental service and then saw the number of stops along each route, the number of days each takes to drive, the number of states they pass through, and the total distance for every journey. Then, it used Tripadvisor to evaluate each route based on its number of landmarks, restaurants (including restaurants with four stars or higher), and the number of hotels (including hotels with four stars or higher) to rest at each night. 

Next, it added a starting point and destination figures to give each road trip a total count for each factor and divided the number of hotels with parking by the total number of hotels to find the percentage of hotels with parking for each road trip. It repeated this calculation to find the percentage of hotels rated 4-star or higher and the percentage of restaurants rated 4-star or higher. Finally, it used all the factors above to give each road trip route a score out of 10.

“The No. 1 ranked road trip in America is the almost 3,000-mile-long Roller Coaster Tour, a once-in-a-lifetime trip for thrill seekers wanting to ride some of the best coasters in the world,” Journeyscape explained. The trip, Hertz added, takes you to 13 of the nation’s best rides across 10 states, including the Hades 360 at Mount Olympus in Wisconsin, Millennium Force at Cedar Point in Ohio, Fury 325 at Carowinds in North Carolina, and El Toro at Six Flags in New Jersey. 

“Even if roller coasters are not your thing, this road trip has much more and would be a scenic trip for everyone,” Journeyscape added. “It traverses the Great Lakes of Michigan and Erie before heading down through the Midwest and back up to finish on the East Coast.” 

This, however, is far from the only route you can explore. Journeyscape also highlighted the  Magical Lighthouses of Maine route as a fantastic short drive between York and Lubec, Maine, the Ghost Towns of the West trail from Bodie, California to Chloride, Arizona as a food-filled ride, and the Appalachian Trail, between Suches, Georgia to Monson Maine as the ideal route for those looking to hit as many states as they can in one go.

Ready to see more possibilities? Check out all the routes at journeyscape.com.