by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 6:00 AM ET, Sat May 25, 2019
Road trips are an iconic way to explore the United States with multiple legendary routes crisscrossing the country and showcasing its finest scenery.
But with so many options, how is one to know which are objectively the best?
A new study from Geotab attempts to answer that question by using data analysis to rank America's favorite road trips.
The study identified 50 popular road trips and used TripAdvisor data to rate each road's itinerary in terms of attractions, accommodation and places to eat. It also analyzed official traffic data to rate each route based on how busy the roads typically are and conducted a survey to rate how long the trips take to drive.
Here's are some of the study's key highlights and takeaways:
-Monument Valley Trailswas crowned America's ultimate road trip coming in first place with an overall score of 92 out of 100
-Iconic and legendary Route 66 fails to live up to its status, coming in 44 out of 50
-Three routes in the Rocky Mountains rank among the top 10. They are Yellowstone and the Tetons, Mesa Verde and San Juan Mountains and Colorado's Rockies
-Three Southwestroutes also place in the top 10 (Monument Valley Trails, Grand Canyon Road Trip, Bryce & Zion National Parks)
The Top 10 highest ranking routes, according to the Geotab study, are Monument Valley Trails (score of 92); Yellowstone and the Tetons (score of 90.6 out of 100); Mesa Verde and San Juan Mountains (score of 89.9); Along the Missouri River; Blue Ridge Parkway (88); Oregon's Pacific Coast (score of 88); Colorado Rockies (score of 87.9); Grand Canyon Road Trip (score of 87.7); Hells Canyon Scenic Byway (score of 87.4); and Bryce & Zion National Parks (score of 87.3).
Of the 50 road trips reviewed in the study, the average time it takes to complete a journey is five days, with the longest being a tie between Route 66 and The Best of California (both 14 days). Meanwhile, the shortest journeys featured are Lake Champlain Byway and Maryland's Historic National Road, both of which take two days to complete.
Traffic can make or break a road trip. The route that was noted as the best for traffic levels is Monument Valley Trails, while somewhat unsurprisingly,Disneyland and Orange County was named as the worst road trip in terms of traffic.
Travelers looking for the best accommodation to stay in throughout their road trip should head to The All-American Acadia Byway or the Blue Ridge Parkway, which both score highest for accommodation offerings. And although The Blues Cruise is an ideal trip for music lovers, it placed last of all 50 routes for accommodation along the route.
Routes in Californiaranked relatively poorly compared to others that were reviewed. Of the six California route trips featured, the highest ranking was the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway, which placed 32nd out of 50.
"Road trips are a quintessentially American way of traveling. With so much different scenery accessible via the country's sprawling infrastructure network, U.S. road trips are a vacation in and of themselves," said Maria Sotra, vice president of marketing for Geotab. "There are countless references to road trips in literature, film, and music, and this has given certain stretches of road legendary status."
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