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10 Best Road Trip Apps (All Free!) | KOA Camping Blog

Summer is here and it’s time to hit the road! We’ve collected eight handy apps that make traveling to your KOA destination even easier and more enjoyable. First, load up the KOA app to locate and reserve your campsite, then stock your phone with these apps to help get to your destination with least hassle and most fun!

Best Free Road Trip Apps

1. INRIX

This top-rated traffic app lets you know about (and share) road alerts, traffic jams, accidents and police activity along the highways. Heading near a city during rush hour? This app will show the best route. Wondering what the road ahead looks like following a rainstorm? Have your co-pilot find out with this handy app.

2. Gas Buddy

We haven’t stopped using this app since we loaded it! Find the cheapest gas in your area, anywhere in the US and Canada. The app sorts stations by distance and compares prices for regular, midrange, premium or diesel fuel at every gas station near your location.

3. iExit

This handy app lets you know what’s available at upcoming exits when you’re on the highway. Using your phone’s GPS, it gives you updated info as you travel down the road. Need to get supplies at Wal-Mart? Find the closest restroom? Locate the nearest barbecue joint? This app will give you the answers. Search for gas, rest stops, restaurants, stores, playgrounds, truck/rv parking, Wi-Fi, even Redbox.

4. Road Ninja

Like iExit, this app lets you know what’s on tap beyond every exit sign along your route. While it may not cover as many categories as iExit, it’s super easy to navigate and includes more detail, including in-depth business and restaurant reviews and photos.

5. Roadtrippers

It’s both a great trip planner and a resource for cool local stuff once you’re on the road. You can plan a trip on their RV-friendly website then sync it to your phone for to easily navigate your route. The app is stocked with reviews and comprehensive info from local experts and travel writers, offering a large database of tourist attractions and offbeat places, plus clear directions on how to get there. We’ve even learned about amazing places we didn’t know about in our own town.

6. Field Trip

This innovative app runs in the background of your smartphone, coordinating with your GPS and offering alerts whenever you are passing by a cool or interesting local attraction. You can tailor it to your interests whether it’s historic sites, good restaurants, fun shops or cool & unique spots. Note: this app can offer some great gems, but it’s also a battery hog, so use it as much as you want when you’re near the charger, but you may want to turn it off when you’re far afield.

7. HISTORY Here

Get the facts on history hidden along your route including amazing architecture, museums, archeology, battlefields, monuments and famous homes. Created by the HISTORY Channel, this app offers photos, video and dynamic maps that bring history to life wherever you may be traveling.

8. TV Food Maps

So much fun! Use this app to locate restaurants along your route that have been featured in your favorite Food Network and Travel Channel shows like Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, Man v. Food and No Reservations. Two bonus apps for foodies: Urbanspoon and Yelp are great restaurant review apps to have on hand when visiting a new city or town.

9.KOA Camping App

Plan the perfect trip from the road (or at home) with our very own camping app. The KOA Camping App allows you to search each of our over 500 KOA locations by city, state, attraction or your location. With detailed campground descriptions, amenities, hot deals and directions, you’ll be able to find the perfect campground in no time. Plus, if you’re a KOA Rewards holder you’ll be able to store and quickly access your information to quickly book campsites and save.

Make the most of the KOA Camping app by enrolling as a KOA Rewards Program member and reap rewards from free stays to partner discounts and more.

Explore KOA Rewards

10. National Parks Passport

Whether your road trip is centered around national parks or not, the digital passport app is a fun gadget to bring along for the ride. Beyond the 61 national parks across the country, the app contains information and photos for the more than 400 units managed by the National Park Service, including monuments, seashores, rivers and forests. With so many destinations, you can rest assured that any road trip would encounter at least one of these along the route, and the app lets you use it as a kind of digital journal, writing about your visit and filling in with your own photos. If you’ve got a physical National Parks Passport book as well, the app will tell you where you can get that stamped too.