Road Trip Trivia Questions

60 road trip trivia questions with answers about US highways, road signs, landmarks and cars. Tap to reveal each answer, or read them aloud.

What shape is a stop sign?

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Tap the card or swipe for the next question. Arrow keys work too.

Tap Show answer under a card to reveal it, then swipe for the next question. Read aloud reads the question only, so the reader can ask it without giving the answer away. The deck keeps your place if you close the page at a gas station.

How to play trivia in the car

One passenger holds the phone and asks. Everyone else answers out loud, and the first correct answer scores a point. The driver can play fully: every question is answered by voice, and none needs a look at the screen.

For a car with kids and adults, give kids the first shot at each question and let adults answer only after five seconds. It keeps a 10-year-old in the game against a parent who knows state capitals.

What’s in this deck

Sixty questions in four groups, mixed together so the easy and hard ones alternate:

Road signs and highways. Why stop signs have eight sides, what a pennant-shaped sign means, how Interstate numbers work. These have a bonus: you can check the answer on the next sign you pass.
Landmarks and national parks. Mount Rushmore, the Gateway Arch, Old Faithful, Four Corners.
States and geography. Capitals, the Great Lakes, the only state with a one-syllable name, which state plates say “Famous Potatoes.”
Cars. The Model T, Route 66, what a tachometer measures.

Questions you can check out the window

Road trip trivia works best when the road proves the answer. After the Interstate numbering questions, look at the next highway shield: an even number should run east–west. After the mile marker question, watch the green markers on the shoulder count up or down. Kids remember the answer they checked themselves far longer than one read off a phone.

Keep it going for hours

Play ten questions, then switch games for a while. Shuffle before each round so the same questions don’t always open. When someone gets a question wrong twice on the same trip, it goes on their “rematch” list for the ride home.

For team play, two rules, and a version for big age gaps, see how to play road trip trivia. If the car wants a looser game after a round of facts, try the geography game, which uses the same knowledge at a slower pace.

All 60 questions and answers

What shape is a stop sign?
Answer
An octagon: eight sides.
What color is a yield sign's border?
Answer
Red, around a white center. The sign is a triangle pointing down.
What two colors are on an Interstate highway shield?
Answer
Red and blue, with white numbers.
Do even-numbered Interstates usually run north–south or east–west?
Answer
East–west. Odd numbers usually run north–south.
Heading north or east on an Interstate, do the mile markers usually go up or down?
Answer
Up. Most states start counting at zero at their southern or western border.
On most Interstates, where do exit numbers come from?
Answer
The nearest mile marker. Exit 112 is close to mile 112.
A three-digit Interstate starting with an even digit, like I-495, is usually what kind of road?
Answer
A loop or bypass that connects back to the main Interstate at both ends.
A three-digit Interstate starting with an odd digit, like I-395, is usually what kind of road?
Answer
A spur that branches off the main Interstate, often into a city.
What color are the big direction signs that show exits and cities on US highways?
Answer
Green.
What do brown highway signs usually point to?
Answer
Parks, historic sites and other recreation or culture spots.
What do blue highway signs usually tell you about?
Answer
Services for drivers: gas, food, lodging and rest areas.
What color are signs in a road work zone?
Answer
Orange.
What shape is the yellow sign warning that a railroad crossing is ahead?
Answer
A circle, with an X and the letters RR.
What does a yellow pennant-shaped sign on the left side of the road mean?
Answer
No passing zone.
What color is a standard speed limit sign?
Answer
White, with black letters.
What does HOV stand for on a highway lane sign?
Answer
High-occupancy vehicle: a lane for cars carrying more than one person.
What does a flashing yellow traffic light mean?
Answer
Slow down and go ahead with caution.
On which side of the road do cars drive in the United States?
Answer
The right side.
What does MPG stand for?
Answer
Miles per gallon.
What does RV stand for?
Answer
Recreational vehicle.
What does a car's odometer measure?
Answer
The total distance the car has traveled.
What does a car's tachometer measure?
Answer
How fast the engine is turning, in revolutions per minute (RPM).
Which car company makes the Mustang?
Answer
Ford.
Which car brand makes the Corvette?
Answer
Chevrolet.
The Volkswagen Beetle was made by a car company from which country?
Answer
Germany.
In what year did Henry Ford introduce the Model T?
Answer
1908.
Which US city is nicknamed the Motor City?
Answer
Detroit, Michigan.
Route 66 ran between which two cities?
Answer
Chicago, Illinois, and Santa Monica, California.
Which famous highway did John Steinbeck call 'the mother road'?
Answer
Route 66, in The Grapes of Wrath.
Which Interstate runs all the way from Seattle to Boston?
Answer
I-90.
In which state is Mount Rushmore?
Answer
South Dakota.
Which four presidents are carved into Mount Rushmore?
Answer
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
Which river carved the Grand Canyon?
Answer
The Colorado River.
In which state is the Grand Canyon?
Answer
Arizona.
Which national park, established in 1872, was the first in the United States?
Answer
Yellowstone.
In which national park will you find the geyser Old Faithful?
Answer
Yellowstone.
In which national park are Half Dome and El Capitan?
Answer
Yosemite, in California.
Which two states share Great Smoky Mountains National Park?
Answer
Tennessee and North Carolina.
In which city is the Gateway Arch?
Answer
St. Louis, Missouri.
In which city is the Golden Gate Bridge?
Answer
San Francisco, California.
In which city is the Space Needle?
Answer
Seattle, Washington.
In which city is the Alamo?
Answer
San Antonio, Texas.
In which city can you see the Liberty Bell?
Answer
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Which country gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States?
Answer
France.
The Hoover Dam sits on the border of which two states?
Answer
Nevada and Arizona.
Which four states meet at Four Corners?
Answer
Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
Which two countries share a land border with the United States?
Answer
Canada and Mexico.
Which US state can you not drive to from the other states?
Answer
Hawaii. You can drive to Alaska through Canada.
Which state was the last to join the United States?
Answer
Hawaii, in 1959.
How many Great Lakes are there?
Answer
Five: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario.
Which Great Lake is entirely inside the United States?
Answer
Lake Michigan.
Niagara Falls sits on the border between which US state and which country?
Answer
New York and Canada.
In which state does the Mississippi River begin?
Answer
Minnesota, at Lake Itasca.
Which state is shaped like a mitten?
Answer
Michigan.
Which is the only state whose name has just one syllable?
Answer
Maine.
Three states have names with only four letters. Name them.
Answer
Iowa, Ohio and Utah.
Which state's license plates say 'Famous Potatoes'?
Answer
Idaho.
Which state's license plates say 'Land of Lincoln'?
Answer
Illinois.
What is the capital of Texas?
Answer
Austin.
What is the capital of California?
Answer
Sacramento.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions are in the road trip trivia deck?

Sixty, all with answers, about US road signs, Interstates, landmarks, national parks, states and cars. They're mixed from easy to hard, and Shuffle gives you a new order each round.

Are these trivia questions OK for kids?

They're written for ages 8 and up, and adults get plenty wrong too. Younger kids do best with the road sign questions, because they can look out the window for the answer.

How do I see the answer?

Tap Show answer under the card. The answer hides again when you move to the next question, so nobody sees it early by accident.