If you’re like me, the lure of the open road is matched only by the allure of vintage roadside motels, which beckon with their hints of a bygone age when the cross-country road trip was the epitome of glamor, freedom, and open-ended adventure. Throw in a retro neon sign, preferably featuring a starburst or flashing arrow, and there’s just no passing by.
I’m not the only one rekindling my love affair with these humble low-slung establishments, which were typically planned for car-loading convenience with outdoor-facing entries and pull-up-to-the-door parking. Across the country, new owners are reimagining these properties with a younger generation of road-trippers in mind, building on historic roots with quirky décor, upscale amenities, and, in many cases, a connection to nature and the outdoors.
Here are eight of our carefully chosen motels reinvented for the adventurous road-tripper.
Circle of Destination Motel, Escalante, Utah
Escalante’s classic Circle D Motel, newly rechristened Circle of Destination, takes advantage of its location on Utah’s spectacular Highway 12 scenic byway to create an inviting home base for rugged adventure.
The salmon-pink adobe exterior features a long veranda where guests congregate at sunset to swap stories of their day’s adventures and tips about driving conditions on the park’s many unpaved roads. The spacious rooms have refrigerators, microwaves, and a generous dog-friendly policy, while extra-large suites feature a full kitchen and sitting area and sleep up to six. Bookcases are thoughtfully stocked with maps and hiking guides for Grand Staircase National Monument and surrounding area.
A rock-walled fireplace, beamed ceiling, and terracotta-colored walls give the motel’s Destination Café the feel of a Santa Fe pueblo, and an enclosed outdoor patio provides prime seating to soak in the high desert views. The southwestern theme continues in the menu, which features egg burritos and wraps, cheesy spinach quiche, baked goods, sandwiches, and salads for lunch.
The Adventure Potential:
Perched on the western edge of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, almost within the park itself, the town of Escalante is fast becoming the base camp of choice for hikers, mountain bikers, and canyoneers who come to explore the park’s myriad slot canyons secreted off Hole in the Rock Road just north of town.
Drive Highway 12 through nonstop views of candy-striped canyon country to two of the monument’s signature hikes: the 6-mile trail to 126-foot Lower Calf Creek Falls and otherworldly Devil’s Garden, a wonderland of hoodoos, arches, and other chiseled rock formations. Speaking of hoodoos, Bryce Canyon National Park and Kodachrome Basin State Park are both less than 50 miles away. It’s only a little further to Capitol Reef National Park, and Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, with its 1.5-million-year-old crystallized logs, is 10 minutes from town.
Price: Rooms from $126.
Jubilee Railroad Wilderness Lodge, Dunsmuir, California
A departure from the traditional motor lodge, but with a similarly hipster vintage vibe, Jubilee Railroad Wilderness Lodge (formerly Railroad Park Resort) dates back to the 1960s, when its original owners assembled a collection of vintage train cars— most of them a caboose—and turned each one into a fully outfitted rolling cabana.
Purchased in early 2024 from the original owners, and manned by an enthusiastic collective of young, eco-minded outdoor enthusiasts, the resort’s new incarnation is exemplified by The Dining Car, a string of rail cars anchored by an 1812 pullman club car, which glows with oxidized copper, burnished wood, and velvety craftsman-inspired wallpaper.
The bar, newly outfitted with a hand-milled Douglas fir bar top, features live music most nights of the week and serves localized takes on classic cocktails like a fig black walnut old- fashioned and blackberry mint mojito made with wild berries.
Our caboose, one of several dog-friendly options, had beds for four and a full kitchenette; others featured their own outdoor picnic areas. Behind the resort, an expansive campground features RV and tent sites generously spaced within a dense pine forest.
The Adventure Potential:
Shadowed by the spiky silhouette of the Castle Crags and sandwiched between the Shasta-Trinity wilderness and the mystical glacier-topped pyramid of Mount Shasta, this northernmost area of California has long been favored by serious hikers and mountaineers and remained relatively off the radar for the hordes that throng Tahoe and the central Sierra Nevada.
Kayakers, paddle boarders, boaters, and fishing enthusiasts favor Lake Siskiyou, those who prefer river swimming head for the waterfalls and swimming holes of the McCloud and northernmost Sacramento rivers, and Lassen Volcanic National Park and the new Satitlá Highlands National Monument are both within day- trip distance.
Price: Cabins and rail cars from $145, campsites from $38.
Camptown Catskills, Leeds, New York
A 1930s motor lodge turned boutique resort, Camptown Catskills, builds on its regional history with a modern design rich in colorful plaids, plush wools, and crackling fires. High-end touches in the 24 lodge rooms included heated bathroom floors and Frette linens, and snacks are plentiful, along with craft beers, local wines, and locally made artisanal snacks (including the editor’s favorite BjornQorn popcorn from Hudson Valley).
The 26 log cabins retain the warmth of their vintage knotty pine but add plush king or queen beds, fireplaces, full kitchenettes, and porches with rocking or Adirondack chairs. The 22-acre property features a heated saltwater pool with cocktails, beer, and south-of-the-border-inspired bites on offer at Bar Piscina.
Tip: Try the alambres, a combination of savory grilled meats and vegetables similar to fajitas but finely chopped and easy to scoop up on tortillas. Restaurant Casa Susanna sources from Hudson Valley farms and purveyors in Jalisco-inspired specialties like grilled Nopal salad with smoked queso fresco and mole tamales with duck confit. This is no average roadside grub with its twice James Beard-nominated Chef.
The Adventure Potential:
Just across the Rip Van Winkle bridge from the village of Hudson, Camptown is within day-trip distance of just about any Catskills highlight. Don’t miss Kaaterskill Falls, which cascades 260 feet over terraced limestone, the challenging climb up Devil’s Path, or the views from Giant Ledge. Paddlers can choose between lakes such as Dolan and North-South or the Hudson itself.
Price: Rooms from $249, cabins from $449. A few of the property’s original micro cabins book for $189.
Pacific Motel, Cayucos, California
A block from the beach at the northernmost end of Morro Strand Beach, Pacific Motel feels like it’s straight from a 1960s surf movie with its swaying palms, overlarge striped umbrellas, and lobby shop featuring swimwear and beach bags in colors that would feature well in a Barbie Dream House. Bright primary-color patio furniture, ping pong tables, fire pits, and retro touches like Tivoli radios turned Bluetooth speakers make for a fun stay. All rooms feature Parachute linens, and stand-alone bungalows feature gas fireplaces.
The Adventure Potential:
Walk the 3-mile length of Morro Strand, which starts just south of Cayucos, watch for whales from the Estero bluffs, or head for the Piedras Blancas Rookery, where elephant seals congregate from fall through spring to mate, give birth, and raise their pups. A fleet of bikes stands waiting for riders to cruise the area’s paved bike paths, while the Morro Bay Bike Park has trails and jumps for all skill levels.
Price: Rooms from $169.
Mellow Moon Lodge, Del Norte, Colorado
Located at the western edge of the San Luis Valley, in a landscape so otherworldly that it’s home to a UFO Watchtower, Mellow Moon Lodge maintains the essence of its wild west heritage, lightened with Scandinavian-inspired décor. The onsite Lunar Lounge serves up ethically sourced local coffee and quick morning fare like overnight oats and breakfast burritos, then switches to craft cocktails and local craft brews to top off an active day.
The Adventure Potential:
One look at the dust-crusted bikes propped outside the majority of rooms, as well as the free bikes on offer to all guests, and it’s clear that mountain biking is a big draw here, in particular the Del Norte Trail System with its wide range of trails from rolling to ragged.
The largest sand dunes in North America, left behind by the retreat of an ancient sea, can be found in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, where you can choose to climb dunes as high as 750 feet or careen down them on a sandboard. It’s a fact little known to non-Coloradans that some of the state’s most coveted 14ers rise from the San Luis Valley, in particular the daunting Crestone Needle and Blanca Peak, and the slightly more accessible Culebra Peak.
Price: Rooms from $162.
LOGE Camp, Bend, Oregon
In-room hammocks, picnic-ready Yeti coolers, ski lockers, and an outdoor kitchen ready for grilling± it’s extras like these that make it clear LOGE Camp Bend takes its outdoors-oriented mission seriously. Formerly the simple and outworn Entrada Lodge, the property has become something akin to a grown-up summer camp, albeit one fresh with reclaimed wood, geometric wool rugs, and plank tables and curvy chairs that could hail from an Icelandic cabin.
Outdoors, expansive common areas feature plenty of seating and gathering options, the pool offers plenty of loungers, and fairy lights dangle over a broad deck where a long gas firepit allows plenty of marshmallow-toasting access.
The Adventure Potential:
Located on the outskirts of Bend en route to the Cascade Lake and the prime ski and mountain bike resorts of Mt. Bachelor, LOGE Camp is all about the mountains. The Deschutes River Trail departs straight from the property, as do connector trails leading to popular mountain biking trail networks. And staff are happy to point you towards plenty more hiking, biking, and snowshoeing options, including the route to Tumalo Falls. The motel concierge rents paddleboards, snowshoes, XC skis, and sleds onsite, and you can book shuttle service to Mt. Bachelor or rent bikes through Cog Wild Tours, which has a partnership onsite.
Price: Rooms from $121.
The Billy Motel, Davis, West Virginia
With its sunny yellow siding, fire hydrant-red doors, and moon landing-era logo, The Billy Motel beckons weary travelers off the Appalachian Highway and into an arty oasis where flames dance in the lounge’s cider cone fireplace and the bar features curved banquettes of gold Naugahyde, teal walls, and red-and-black linoleum floors. The menu at the motel’s restaurant, ISH Kitchen, circles the globe from Mediterranean shawarma to Japanese ramen to a Vietnamese dish of marinated ground beef wrapped in kaffir lime leaves.
The Adventure Potential:
At the edge of the Monongahella National Forest with Blackwater Falls State Park just minutes outside town, the tiny former timber town of Davis is known for its Kodachrome extravaganza of fall color, with prime viewing spots being Pendleton Overlook and Spruce Knob. The 4,000-foot peaks that ring the town support two ski resorts, Canaan Valley and Timberline, which lure powder enthusiasts in winter and welcome mountain bikers with miles of zig-zagging singletrack the rest of the year. In recent years, Canaan Valley has added fat tire biking, keeping cyclists on two wheels year-round.
Price: Rooms from $110.
Saugatuck Retro Resort Motel, Saugatuck, Michigan
Flamboyant midcentury design with a Jetsons futuristic flourish takes the Saugatuck Retro Resort (formerly the Saugatuck Motel) from its 1953 roots to a perennial party spot complete with fire pits, hammocks, horseshoes, shuffleboard, and the requisite kidney-shaped pool. While the décor favors blinking neon signs and vintage photos evoking Michigan’s status as the Motor State, lush landscaping and shady groves lend a feeling of seclusion.
The Adventure Potential:
With 12 miles of Lake Michigan coastline, including the sun-seekers’ havens of Oval and Douglas Beach, Lake Michigan takes central stage for swimmers and beach walkers, while paddlers turn inland up the Kalamazoo River and its wildlife-rich protected estuaries. Wade’s Bayou offers a sheltered put-in. Road bikers favor the 24-mile Beeline Trail along the river connecting Saugatuck-Douglas with Holland or the Kal-Haven Trail State Park, where a 34-mile route connects South Haven and Kalamazoo.
Price: Rooms from $169.
The post The Best Roadside Motels Across the U.S. for Adventure Seekers appeared first on Outside Online.
