It’s the great American road trip.
A Michigan researcher has mapped out the fastest route to drive across the country, hitting all major 50 landmarks before coming full circle, using a calculated algorithm he initially designed to quickly find Waldo.
It would take about nine days of driving, or 224 total hours, to complete the 13,699-mile journey, according to Randy Olson’s calculations.
Ambitious travelers waste no time seeing the sights — which include the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the White House and the Statue of Liberty — due to the “near-perfect” solution which was computed in less than a minute, the computer science graduate research assistant at Michigan State University said.
“It’s grand by design,” Olson, 28, told the Daily News. “It has a combination of major sites that Americans want to see at some point in their lives.”
The data genius previously used the algorithm to design a foolproof strategy to find the famously hidden Waldo in the series of children’s books.
He also mapped out an epic trip around Europe.
“It’s a huge trip. It really captures a lot of people’s imagination,” Olson said. “It’s something we all want to get out and do.”
The journey around the U.S. would realistically take about three months, Olson said. But motorists could start their trip at any landmark, so long as they stay the route.
Here’s a list of the landmarks in order:
Grand Canyon, AZ
Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
Craters of the Moon National Monument, ID
Yellowstone National Park, WY
Pikes Peak, CO
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM
The Alamo, TX
The Platt Historic District, OK
Toltec Mounds, AR
Elvis Presley’s Graceland, TN
Vicksburg National Military Park, MS
French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
USS Alabama, AL
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL
Okefenokee Swamp Park, GA
Fort Sumter National Monument, SC
Lost World Caverns, WV
Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center, NC
Mount Vernon, VA
White House, Washington, DC
Colonial Annapolis Historic District, MD
New Castle Historic District, Delaware
Cape May Historic District, NJ
Liberty Bell, PA
Statue of Liberty, NY
The Mark Twain House & Museum, CT
The Breakers, RI
USS Constitution, MA
Acadia National Park, ME
Mount Washington Hotel, NH
Shelburne Farms, VT
Fox Theater, Detroit, MI
Spring Grove Cemetery, OH
Mammoth Cave National Park, KY
West Baden Springs Hotel, IN
Abraham Lincoln’s Home, IL
Gateway Arch, MO
C. W. Parker Carousel Museum, KS
Terrace Hill Governor’s Mansion, IA
Taliesin, WI
Fort Snelling, MN
Ashfall Fossil Bed, NE
Mount Rushmore, SD
Fort Union Trading Post, ND
Glacier National Park, MT
Hanford Site, WA
Columbia River Highway, OR
San Francisco Cable Cars, CA
San Andreas Fault, CA
Hoover Dam, NV
