Trip builder

Lake Erie Southern Shore Road Trip

6 days, 9 stops and about 7 h 5 min behind the wheel. Change anything below; the link always holds the latest version.

Total driving7 h 5 min
Distance342 mi (550 km)
Days6
Stops9
Island ferries40 min included
Longest dayDay 3, 2 h 15 min
Best order Even out the days
Add a day Add a place Directions & downloads

  1. Day 1

    Around Sandusky

    No driving

    1. 01

      Trip starts here

      Sandusky Town · OH · Lake Erie
      Later Remove
    Overnight in or near Sandusky Remove day 1 (stops join the next day)

  2. Day 2

    Sandusky to Put-in-Bay

    1 h 7 min driving32 mi (52 km)

    1. 02

      27 min · 19 mi (30 km) from Sandusky

      Marblehead Lighthouse Lighthouse · OH · Lake Erie
      Earlier Later Remove
    2. 03

      40 min · 13 mi (21 km) from Marblehead Lighthouse, including about 20 min of ferry

      Put-in-Bay Town · OH · Lake Erie

      Miller Ferry carries cars and walk-on passengers to South Bass Island in about 20 minutes; Jet Express sails from Port Clinton and Sandusky.

      Earlier Later Remove
    Directions in Google Maps Overnight in or near Put-in-Bay Remove day 2 (stops join the day before)

  3. Day 3

    Put-in-Bay to Headlands Beach State Park

    2 h 15 min driving109 mi (176 km)

    1. 04

      1 h 40 min · 80 mi (128 km) from Put-in-Bay, including about 20 min of ferry

      Cleveland Town · OH · Lake Erie
      Earlier Later Remove
    2. 05

      34 min · 30 mi (48 km) from Cleveland

      Headlands Beach State Park Park & beach · OH · Lake Erie
      Earlier Later Remove
    Directions in Google Maps Overnight in or near Headlands Beach State Park Remove day 3 (stops join the day before)

  4. Day 4

    Headlands Beach State Park to Presque Isle State Park

    1 h 37 min driving90 mi (145 km)

    1. 06

      1 h 21 min · 83 mi (133 km) from Headlands Beach State Park

      Erie Town · PA · Lake Erie
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    2. 07

      16 min · 7.5 mi (12 km) from Erie

      Presque Isle State Park Park & beach · PA · Lake Erie
      Earlier Later Remove
    Directions in Google Maps Overnight in or near Presque Isle State Park Remove day 4 (stops join the day before)

  5. Day 5

    Presque Isle State Park to Buffalo

    2 h 10 min driving110 mi (177 km)

    1. 08

      1 h 14 min · 61 mi (98 km) from Presque Isle State Park

      Dunkirk Lighthouse Lighthouse · NY · Lake Erie
      Earlier Later Remove
    2. 09

      54 min · 49 mi (79 km) from Dunkirk Lighthouse

      Buffalo Town · NY · Lake Erie
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    Directions in Google Maps Overnight in or near Buffalo Remove day 5 (stops join the day before)

  6. Day 6

    A free day

    No driving

    No stops planned: a day to linger, hike or wait out the weather. Add a place to this day with the form, or remove the day.

    Remove day 6

Your route

Your trip on the map.

Loading the map. The links and itinerary below are always available.

Lines join your stops in visiting order; they are not roads. Use the directions links for turn-by-turn routes.

Black-and-white basemap by OpenStreetMap. Great Lakes highlighted in color. Hold Ctrl (or Command) while scrolling to zoom. Use two fingers on touch screens.

Lake outlines: Natural Earth (public domain). Town centers: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Not for navigation.

Good to know

How the trip builder works.

How are the drive times calculated?
Drive times and distances come from OpenStreetMap road data routed with OSRM, calibrated against typical published travel times. They assume ordinary traffic and include island ferry crossings where a stop needs one. Allow extra time for summer weekends, construction and border crossings.
Can I save or share my trip?
Yes. The whole trip lives in the page address, so bookmarking or sharing the link saves everything: stops, days, start date and starting point. Nothing is stored on our servers and no account is needed.
Can I take my trip into Google Maps or a GPS?
Every day has a Google Maps directions link (long days are split into parts, because Google Maps allows nine stops per link). You can also download a calendar file with one event per day, or a GPX file for GPS units and apps such as OsmAnd and Gaia GPS.
What does “Best order” do?
It reorders your stops to shorten the total drive, keeping your starting point fixed and finishing back home if you chose a round trip, then spreads the stops over the same number of days so each day's driving is as even as possible.

Drive times and distances: OSRM routing over OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), calibrated to typical travel times. Times are estimates for planning, not navigation. Check road, border and ferry conditions before you travel.

More planning tools: circle tour planner, ferry or drive calculator, northern lights forecast, water temperatures and the ship watcher.