America’s early coast-to-coast automobile dream, from Times Square to San Francisco.
Why take this road?
Promoted beginning in 1913, the Lincoln Highway helped convince Americans that long-distance automobile travel—and better roads—were possible. Its story survives in markers, bridges, town streets, and alignments later absorbed into numbered highways.
Signature chapters of the journey
- Times Square origins and New Jersey approaches
- Pennsylvania mountain and roadside architecture
- Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois town corridors
- Iowa bridges and early concrete sections
- Nebraska and Wyoming plains
- Utah and Nevada desert challenges
- Sierra crossings and San Francisco’s Lincoln Park
Roadside memory
Concrete Lincoln markers, old garages, tourist camps, diners, hand-painted route signs, and tiny bypassed towns preserve the first-generation road-trip atmosphere.
RV planning note
The historic route changed over time and may include unpaved, private, abandoned, or unsuitable sections. Follow current association maps and never assume a historic alignment is RV-safe.
Before departure: verify current closures, construction, wildfire or weather conditions, campground availability, vehicle restrictions, tolls, ferry rules, and attraction hours with the responsible agencies and operators.
Why Lincoln Highway earns more than a quick pass
The scenery and character
The route moves from dense northeastern history through Appalachian crossings, Midwestern farm country, prairie, high plains, desert, and Sierra approaches. Its scenic appeal is the long transition between regions and the traces of earlier road-building left in each one.
The historical lens
The Lincoln Highway helped make coast-to-coast automobile travel imaginable before the national highway system matured. Markers, concrete sections, garages, tourist camps, and town streets preserve the optimism and improvisation of early motoring.
Good reasons to choose it
- Road-history travelers who enjoy markers, maps, local archives, and old alignments.
- People who like comparing the original route with modern highways and bypasses.
- Travelers looking for a multi-state theme that links ordinary places rather than only major attractions.
How to make it memorable
- Use local Lincoln Highway association resources to identify surviving alignments and markers.
- Plan a few anchor stops, then leave room for unplanned small-town discoveries.
- Do not assume a historic alignment is open, paved, or suitable for an RV; verify each segment.