NC ranked tops for road trips

WalletHub, a website known for providing basic financial guidance, has ranked the best states for road trips, and North Carolina came in at number 1. Virginia ranked number 4, but no other Smoky Mountain region state made the top 20.

“With road warriors in mind, WalletHub compared the 50 U.S. states based on 33 key metrics to find the most fun, scenic and wallet-friendly road-trip destinations — plus those that’ll have travelers pulling a quick U-turn. Our data set ranges from the number of attractions to road conditions to costs,” the site notes on its website.

Methodology for the ranking “compared the 50 states across three key dimensions: 1) costs, 2) safety and 3) activities.”

The site “then determined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample.”

SML contributor Marla Hardee Milling, author of the upcoming book North Carolina Day Trips By Theme, said she’s not surprised by the ranking. “From the mountains to the coast, there’s so much to do in North Carolina it's incredible.”

Much of the appeal is intrinsic, she said. “We’re planted in this remarkably beautiful part of the country. Within a day you can be within the mountains and on the coast. North Carolina has basically everything; it’s just a complete draw.”

Metrics used by WalletHub to rank the states include cost of gasoline, number and cost of toll roads, interstate congestion, quality of bridges, lowest price for camping, lowest price for three-star hotel rooms, and size of national parks, botanical gardens and zoos, and amusement parks, as well as 24 other rated elements.

“North Carolina Day Trips By Theme” hits stores in early August, Milling said, but is available for pre-order on Amazon, She will talk about the new book in an appearance at Malaprops, an Asheville bookstore, on Sunday, August 18. Her talk begins at 3 p.m.