SHOCK! Beautiful California Nearly Last in ‘Best & Worst States for 2026 Summer Road Trips’

A picture is worth a thousand words. Sadly, the picture above shows California – beautiful California – near the bottom of the country for WalletHub’s Best Road-Trip Destinations for Summer.

You read that right. Even I am stunned. I love road trips. When I was a kid, my dad would teach at a naval War College somewhere in the country as part of his Naval Reserve duty. We always drove to whichever state he was activated to – Rhode Island, Florida, Maryland, and sometimes in California.

A cross-country road trip can be tedious with little kids, and it certainly was with my gaseous little brother, but the trips were always eventful and full of sightseeing opportunities.

To this day I still love a road trip, although they are usually confined to the West Coast.

So I was floored to see that California ranks 50th in costs for a roadtrip, 43rd in safety, and 1st in activities.

California’s highest ranking in costs is largely because of the state’s highest-in-the-country gas prices.

Oh! And the high costs for car repairs in California comes in at 48th. Ouch.

California even failed the high cost of camping, coming in at 48th!

So embarrassing – California even fails at car thefts, landing at 46th!

California showed well in % of Total Area Designated as National Parkland:

And number #2 for scenic byways… not number #1? Even Oregon beat California.

Minnesota was awarded the best state for summer road trips, for these reasons:

• it has the fourth-highest spending per capita on parks and recreation.
• Minnesota has the fourth-most fairs and festivals per capita during the summer, so there’s always something unique to check out.
• Driving in Minnesota is very safe, too. The state has the second-fewest vehicle fatalities per million miles traveled, along with the fourth-best bridge quality in the country and the ninth-lowest prevalence of speeding.
• To top things off, taking a road trip isn’t overly expensive in Minnesota. The state has the 12th-lowest camping costs, and 11th-lowest 3-star hotel cost during mid-July. Its car repair costs also rank as the 13th-lowest in the nation.

“While deciding to travel is easy, choosing the right destination — and staying within budget — can be more challenging,” WalletHub says. “Gas prices remain a concern, with the national average still above $4.50 per gallon.”

Sorry WalletHub, we are under $4.00 per gallon. They must have written their article a few weeks ago. The national average cost for a gallon of regular gas today, June 23, 2026 is $3.93, according to AAA.

And California’s average… $5.56 per gallon is the highest price per gallon in the country. Many will likely skip the RV trip to Big Sur this year.