Cross-Country Road Trip: Pacific Ocean to Atlantic Ocean

One loop, two oceans

This is the big one: a full loop of America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and back. Head west from Boston on Interstate 70, explore Colorado and Utah, reach the Pacific in Los Angeles, drive up the California coast to San Francisco, then come home to Boston on Interstate 80.

Going west and coming back on different interstates means you see two completely different Americas, and almost never drive the same road twice.

Boston to the Mississippi River

Leave Boston through Rhode Island and Connecticut, pass New York City and cross New Jersey into Pennsylvania. From there, Interstate 70 carries you west through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri, on the Mississippi River.

As I wrote in why Utah is my favorite state, until you reach the Mississippi River the landscape looks pretty much the same: the same kind of roads, towns and cornfields mile after mile.

Kansas: the landscape starts to change

Once you get to Kansas, you start to see the landscape changing. Kansas is vast wheat fields, stretching to the horizon on both sides of Interstate 70.

Colorado: wheat fields, then the Rocky Mountains

When you enter Colorado, you still see vast wheat fields, and then the Rocky Mountains rise in front of you. It is really cool to drive west early in the morning, with the sun rising behind you in the east and lighting up the Rockies ahead.

Up to here, the drive is pretty much straight. Colorado and Utah are different: this is where the trip turns from driving into exploring.

South to Alamosa and the sand dunes

Leave Interstate 70 and drive south through Colorado to Alamosa, in the San Luis Valley. From there you can visit Great Sand Dunes National Park, where the tallest sand dunes in North America sit right below snowy mountain peaks.

Through the Rockies to Estes Park

From Alamosa, drive north all the way to Estes Park, right through the heart of the Rockies on US Route 285. Estes Park is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, so take a day for its high mountain roads, alpine lakes and wildlife.

Central City: Colorado’s gold rush

From Rocky Mountain National Park, drive south to Central City. In the 1860s this little mountain town was at the center of one of the richest gold mining areas in the country. You can still visit the old gold mine area and walk its historic streets.

Back on Interstate 70, past the home of carbon dating

Once you get back on Interstate 70, keep driving west toward Utah. On the way you pass Parachute, which used to be called Grand Valley. It is the birthplace of Willard Libby, the American scientist who invented radiocarbon dating and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for it in 1960.

Along the Colorado River to Moab

Before you reach Green River, Utah, get off Interstate 70 near Cisco and take Utah State Route 128. It runs right alongside the Colorado River, between red rock walls, all the way to Moab. From Moab, visit Arches National Park.

Then make the full trip of my best road trip, from Arches to Zion: Canyonlands, Green River, Hanksville, Capitol Reef, Utah State Route 12 and Bryce Canyon, ending at Zion National Park. Then drive on to St. George, near Zion.

St. George to Las Vegas and Los Angeles

From St. George, take Interstate 15 south. It crosses a corner of Arizona through the Virgin River Gorge and brings you to Las Vegas.

If you want, take a side trip from Las Vegas to Hoover Dam, about 35 miles away, shown dashed on the map. Then continue on Interstate 15 all the way to Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean.

Los Angeles: Disneyland and Universal Studios

In Los Angeles, you can add a day or two for Disneyland in Anaheim and Universal Studios Hollywood.

Highway 1 up the California coast

From Los Angeles, take California State Route 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, north along the west coast of California. It passes Malibu, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Carmel, Monterey and Santa Cruz, with the ocean right beside you. Parts of the road through Big Sur sometimes close after landslides, so check with Caltrans before you go.

Close to Santa Cruz, leave the coast and cross the mountains to San Jose.

San Jose, Silicon Valley and San Francisco

Explore San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area. You can drive past the offices of companies you use every day: Netflix in Los Gatos, Apple in Cupertino, Google in Mountain View and Meta, the company behind Facebook, in Menlo Park.

Then head up to the city of San Francisco and finish the westbound half of the trip at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Heading home: Lake Tahoe and Reno

For the drive back east, instead of returning the way you came on Interstate 70, take Interstate 80. First drive to Lake Tahoe, then go a bit north to the city of Reno, Nevada.

Interstate 80 to Salt Lake City and Park City

From Reno, get on Interstate 80 and drive across the Nevada desert and the Bonneville Salt Flats all the way to Salt Lake City. Then continue to Park City, Utah, in the mountains just east of the city.

Across the plains and back to the Great Lakes

From Park City, Interstate 80 crosses Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa, then Illinois. Through Indiana and Ohio the road runs close to the Michigan border, and then follows the shore of Lake Erie toward Buffalo, New York.

Niagara Falls, Syracuse and back to Boston

From Buffalo, visit Niagara Falls at Niagara Falls State Park. Then drive east across New York through Syracuse and on to Boston, back on the Atlantic coast where it all began.