Minnesota named best state for summer road trips in 2025

Special Olympics Minnesota Summer Games

The Special Olympics Minnesota Summer Games began on June 10, with FOX 9’s Leon Purvis onsite speaking with coaches and athletes during the opening ceremony.

(FOX 9) - A new list ranking the best road trip destinations for the summer has Minnesota as its top spot – beating out longtime favorites such as Florida and California.

Minnesota named best road-trip destination

What we know:

Known nationally for its 10,000 lakes, Minnesota is a haven for those who love the outdoors, placing it the highest among its composite scores that weighed cost, safety and activities.

According to WalletHub, Minnesota has the fourth-highest spending per capita on parks and recreation, and has the third-most fairs and festivals per capita during the summer.

Spending the night under the stars shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg either – the state has the 12th-lowest camping costs, despite Superior National Forest proposing future rate increases.

Getting where you’re going will run below the national average as well, with gas costing roughly $3.10 per gallon compared to the national average of $3.22, according to AAA.

Other states ranked

Dig deeper:

During the window of warmth that are the summer months, nearly 75% of American adults plan to take some sort of road-trip, with around 33% planning to travel more than 250 miles from home, according to WalletHub data.

The list ranks New York second for summer road-trips due to having an extremely large number of attractions – also being second among most National Historic Landmarks per capita.

Somewhat surprisingly, Ohio ranked third, with the research citing the number of available attractions, especially things like zoos, botanical gardens and amusement parks. Ohio also has the second-highest number of fairs and festivals in the country during the summer months, according to WalletHub.