Hit the Highway for a Post-Holiday Road Trip

Winter can be cold in many parts of the U.S. That’s why Claire Ramsdell, who writes the travel blog The Detour Effect, likes to seek out less-snowy spots for road-tripping in late December and January.

Like Texas. You can pack in a lot over the course of a week driving the roughly 292-mile route between El Paso and Big Bend National Park in the west, Ramsdell says. Here, more than 150 miles of desert and mountain hiking trails await under some of the darkest night skies in the lower 48 states.

Stops along the way include the trendy Marfa (where Ramsdell recommends camping out or booking into one of the vintage trailers at El Cosmico) and the mining ghost town of Terlingua.

From El Paso, she suggests a detour into southeastern New Mexico for some spectacular sites — and more trekking opportunities. East of El Paso on the border with New Mexico, the Guadalupe Mountains and Guadalupe Mountains National Park beckon for camping, backpacking and hiking on both sides of the state line. From there, cross into New Mexico to explore over 100 caves at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. North of El Paso near Las Cruces, New Mexico, you can lace up for some of the most gorgeous and underrated hiking trails in the Organ Mountains.

Fewer crowds and milder weather than summer make a road trip through Cajun Louisiana and along Mississippi and Alabama’s Gulf Coast particularly appealing come wintertime, says Andrew Collins, author of Ultimate Road Trips: USA & Canada.

In Lafayette, the heart of Louisiana’s Cajun country, you can learn about how Acadians from Canada became Louisiana’s Cajuns in music, food and artistic heritage displays at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Collins says. Explore the wetlands of Barataria Preserve here, too, which are home to alligators and more than 200 bird species.

From there, travel east along U.S. 90 (instead of taking Interstate 10) for a more interesting route to New Orleans, where you can enjoy the city’s amazing restaurants, music clubs and perennially festive vibe.

Continue driving eastward to the charming towns of Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian in Mississippi, where fresh seafood is served with Gulf Coast views. If the casino resorts of Gulfport and Biloxi aren’t your thing, opt to stay in the more quaint town of Ocean Springs instead, home to indie restaurants and boutiques, the charming Beatnik boutique hotel and the Davis Bayou area of Gulf Islands National Seashore, with its wooded campground and scenic trails for wildlife strolls and bike rides.

Southern Alabama and spots like Dauphin Island, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach make for a sweet finish on some of the Gulf of Mexico’s most beautiful stretches of sand.

Leave the big city behind to unwind along Georgia and Florida’s chilled out (and comparatively balmy) coastlines. As you drive from Savannah, Georgia, south to Florida’s Space Coast around Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach, you’ll encounter history, gorgeous beaches and maybe a rocket launch or two.

Savannah lures with its gorgeous city parks and old oak trees swaying with Spanish moss, Low Country cuisine and sunny strolls along the Riverwalk. South of Savannah, you can detour to Jekyll Island’s beautiful campground and nearby Driftwood Beach or pony up for a swankier stay at the historic Jekyll Island Club Resort, which dates to the late-19th century (rent bikes to pedal the island’s 25 miles of paved cycling trails).

Once you cross into Florida (and if you’re still feeling the holiday spirit), detour to St. Augustine to see Nights of Lights, which runs through the end of January and bathes the historic old town in festive twinkling beauty.

When you arrive in Cocoa Beach along the Space Coast, make oceanfront hotel Beach Place Guest Houses your base, tucked just behind the town’s prettiest stretch of dunes. The hotel has a fire pit, a talking African parrot, thatched roof palapa and a wild oceanfront setting that might make you feel like you’ve teleported to Central America for a spell. Take in rocket launches from nearby Cape Canaveral (check the launch schedule here).

You can also take surf lessons, enjoy tiki bars and venture on historic tours out to Cape Canaveral’s southern tip to see The Canaveral Lighthouse, an active navigational aid owned by the United States Space Force.

What’s the best road trip you’ve taken? Tell us about it.