8 RV Road Trips That Will Get You Off The Beaten Path

There’s no better way to road trip your way from adventure to adventure than in an RV. And as RV trips go, it’s hard to beat those we’ve gathered here. Looking for the ultimate summer getaway? Load up your rig and hit the road through these lesser-traveled landscapes.  

Colorado Hot Springs Loop

Distance: Approx. 860 miles if you start and end in Denver
Time: Take at least 5-6 days for the full loop

Colorado is rife with geothermal activity that heats up mineral springs around the Rockies for some of the most scenic soaking you’ll ever enjoy. The Historic Colorado Hot Springs Loop officially connects 19 soaking spas, but there are many other unlisted gems worth a detour. From Aspen, for example, you can take a 16-mile out-and-back hike to the wild Conundrum Hot Springs (secure permits in advance). Near Great Sand Dunes National Park, the rustic and clothing-optional Valley View Hot Springs allows all-night soaking (RVs welcome, though hook-ups are unavailable). Follow the route clockwise starting off south from Denver, and the roads will only get prettier as you go along. Plan overnights in the ubiquitous National Forest lands around Buena Vista, Pagosa Springs, Ridgway, Glenwood Springs, and Steamboat Springs.

Moab/Bears Ears Loop

Distance: Approx. 475 miles if starting and ending in Moab
Time: Take at least 4 days

Utah is best known for the national parks stretching across its southern edge, but just beyond those crowds you’ll find empty roads and quiet lands with stunning rock formations that defy belief. In the southeastern corner of the state, in the Bears Ears region, you can spend a lifetime learning about the Indigenous peoples who have long lived in and cared for these landscapes. From Moab, head south toward Bears Ears, where large swathes of BLM land stretch across Cedar Mesa. Camp at Natural Bridges National Monument, where you can hike past cliff dwellings built by Ancestral Pueblo people. Spend a night in nearby Valley of the Gods, on BLM land, where a 17-mile unpaved road offers striking red desert views without a crowd in sight. Continue onward to Monument Valley, on the Navajo Nation, which offers prime RV campsites, and visit the mind-boggling river bends of Goosenecks State Park—a recently-certified Dark Sky park—along the way. If you have time, swing through Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado on the home stretch. There, Ancestral Pueblo people built thousands of cliff dwellings over hundreds of years, some of which you can tour today with park rangers.

New York to Provincetown

Distance: Approx. 700 miles, starting in New York
Time: Take at least 4 days

The Litchfield Hills are a sight you’d sooner expect from the gentle mountains of Appalachia than this tucked-away corner of northwestern Connecticut. On this route from the big city out to the very tip of Cape Cod, you’ll roll through some of southern New England’s best yet lesser-known gems. Start with a night at Lake Waramaug State Park in Connecticut and rent an e-bike from Covered Bridge Electric Bike in West Cornwall if you fancy a postcard-perfect journey up and down the same rolling hills the Appalachian Trail passes through. Then head southeast through the timelessly charming seaside town of Mystic for sunset views at Rhode Island’s Napatree Point Conservation Area. You’ll find easy camping at Burlingame State Park. Slowly venture along the Old King’s Highway (Route 6A) through beach town after beach town on Cape Cod before visiting the impossibly picturesque Cape Cod National Seashore (find private campgrounds nearby). Spend at least a day in the refreshingly colorful, artsy, open-minded and ultra-LGBTQ-friendly community of Provincetown before heading back west to home base.

Check out the other road trips from Outside here.