You are absolutely right. I read (actually listened) to a "On the Road" a couple of years ago and it was a hymn to American landscape, as you suggest. It is the perfectly book to listen to when traveling cross country by car. Kerowac was an acerbic critic of socialism and statism (as was Burroughs).
Everyone should travel across country by car at least once in their lives. They should be made to stop in small diners and cafes off the interstates and talk with people. I did it the first time many decades ago and the images are as fresh in my mind as if it were last month. It will also fill you with overwhelming love for the country and its people. The perjorative terms "fly over states" and "elites" would vanish from our national vocabulary.