Memorial Day weekend is an excellent time for a road trip. Typically, the weather is nice enough at this time that you’ll be able to enjoy some roadside stops without facing oppressive heat or cold. In general, this holiday is a great time to explore the incredible wilderness, quirky roadside stops, and complex history that defines America—and what better way to do that than hitting the highway?

Road trips and America are practically synonymous, after all, and while of course a three-day weekend obviously isn’t enough to take a full-on cross-country jaunt, you can clock some serious driving hours in this time while still leaving enough room to explore some historical and natural attractions along the way. 

Here are four great Memorial Day weekend drives across America. Each offers a blend of opportunities to reflect on America’s past, present, and future while soaking in the nation’s staggering natural beauty and cultural richness.

1. Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina and Virginia
2. Pacific Coast Highway, California
3. Route 66
4. Texas Hill Country

Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina and Virginia

If you’re anywhere near the Appalachian Mountains, a drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway might just be what the doctor ordered when it comes to your Memorial Day driving plans.

This 469-mile route links Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park and North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and is sometimes referred to as “America’s Favorite Drive,” making it ideal for a patriotic escapade. 

The route is almost entirely free from traffic lights and stop signs. It’ll take you past rhododendron fields—which tend to bloom in May—as well as fairy-tale meadows and dense woods brimming with lore and history. 

There are plenty of opportunities to get out and hike, bike, and explore along the way here. You’ll also pass by craft shops, wineries, cute towns, and charming cities like Blowing Rock and Asheville, North Carolina, which provide ample choices in terms of dining, shopping, and lodging. Camping opportunities are also plentiful along the route.

Many towns in this area host special Memorial Day weekend festivals and gatherings. These range from the Honoring the Fallen Observance in Bedford, Virginia to Blue Ridge, Georgia’s Spring Arts in the Park, a huge arts festival with over 200 exhibitions.

The whole drive can technically be done in a day, albeit a very long one, but three or more days will allow you to stretch it out while stopping to enjoy all the nature, culture, history, and everything in between.

Pacific Coast Highway, California

The drive up California’s Pacific Coast Highway is nothing short of breathtaking. Stretching 655 miles from Mendocino County to Orange County, this route will take you on an extremely scenic journey through everything from quaint beach towns to stunning mountains and everything in between. 

You might start your journey among the towering redwoods of Muir Woods in Marin County. From there, you could journey to Half Moon Bay, a charming town just south of San Francisco. Below that, the towns of Monterey and Carmel-By-the-Sea offer oceanside fun and plenty of opportunities to put your feet in the sand.

After that, you won’t want to miss Big Sur, a ruggedly gorgeous stretch of coastline known for its towering cliffs, winding highways, and ocean views. Here, hiking opportunities to hidden beaches abound, as do glorious viewpoints perfect for snapping photos.

You could then stop and watch the seals at Elephant Seal Vista Point before heading on down all the way to Los Angeles, where a stroll down Santa Monica Beach will make for a festive end to your journey. 

The whole drive from Half Moon Bay to Santa Monica Beach takes about six hours, but three days is about the minimum you’d want to be able to truly soak in the dramatic beauty of this landscape, which is, by many accounts, one of the most beautiful in the entire world. Expect some traffic and crowdedness when visiting on Memorial Day, though, which might add on some extra hours. 

Route 66

Few routes are more synonymous with archetypal Americana than Route 66, a stretch of highway that begins in Chicago, Illinois, and ends at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles. Between that is a hallucinatory array of diners, neon signs, ghost towns, and natural wonders that rise out of the desert landscapes like apparitions. 

Built in the 1920s, the so-called “Mother Road” was a major migration route during the Great Depression. It became the United States’ first fully paved highway in 1938, partly thanks to the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps. The road has inspired writers, musicians, and vacationers for decades, and today, it still offers plenty of entertainment for anyone looking to indulge in some nostalgia and some great diner food.

You won’t be able to cover the whole thing in three days—you’d want to slot something closer to two weeks for that—but any selection of Route 66 is sure to offer a smorgasbord of history and culture. 

One particularly jam-packed section of the road that could be good for a quick Memorial Day weekend jaunt is the section between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, you can start your trip at the vintage 66 Diner to get in the Route 66 spirit. From there, you could pass by Madrid, New Mexico, a former ghost town that has since been resurrected into a charming arts community.

The next day, you could pay a visit to the Petrified Forest National Park, where you can see fossilized trees that date back 250 million years. From there, you could drive to the Grand Canyon, which—with its maximum width of 18 miles and its maximum depth of over a mile—is certainly one of the most iconic and unforgettable features in all of the American landscape. 

Afterwards, you can take in some history at Arizona’s Route 66 Museum in Kingman and explore Oatman, a tourist-friendly ghost town that contains more burros than people. Finally, you might end your journey with some fun and entertainment in Las Vegas, or continue on towards Joshua Tree and the California coastline. 

Along the way, there are countless other attractions to be seen. Route 66 is also celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026, and centennial events abound along the route, so be sure to check the websites of any places you’re planning on visiting and be prepared for crowds and surprises.

Texas Hill Country

Between Fort Worth and Fredericksburg, Texas, there’s a whole lot to do and see that can easily make for an incredibly memorable Memorial Day weekend drive. 

Fredericksburg has plenty of Memorial Day weekend events, from the Annual Jaycees’ Fredericksburg Crawfish Festival—where you can feast on Cajun food while enjoying live music all weekend long—to a somber wreath-laying ceremony at the National Museum of the Pacific War. In between, you can visit wildflower farms, wineries, and plenty of historical sites. 

From there, you could take a number of different routes to get to Fort Worth. For some more metropolitan adventures, you could stop off at Waco and Austin, which both offer infinite activities that could keep you busy for days—just expect some extra traffic around Memorial Day. 

You could also choose a more winding route and stop off at natural sights like the Longhorn Cavern State Park in Burnet, or explore dinosaur tracks in Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose. It’s technically only about a five-hour drive from Fort Worth to Fredericksburg, but you could easily spend weeks on this route. 

Fort Worth also offers countless ways to spend a Memorial Day weekend. From festivals and rodeo championships to botanical gardens and symphonies, you won’t be bored for a moment here. 

Read More: