My daughter was able to “tag-along” a few college visits by Sophomore year, joining other friends whose parents wanted to show them “their” colleges, all within a few hours driving range.
Later she and a few friends went to Boston and then to Virginia - touring about 4 colleges each per trip. Again, that was good because she got to see a bigger variety of schools that she otherwise might not have investigated.
Those 3 “scouting” trips were actually helpful, because she started to develop some sense which type of setting she cared for, and which one less so. I believe, out of all those early visits, she ended up applying to 2.
By Junior year, she had narrowed down things a bit, and we went on two trips to tour 5 NE LACs over the course of an extended weekend, and another weekend to tour D.C. and area schools. Those trips yielded 4 candidates.
At this point, nothing more would have been gained by any more travelling. She felt confident enough to apply to a bunch more, based on the online information available.
Once the acceptances came in, she went to the accepted-students days of her 3 top choices, some of which she had never seen, or were just a “blur” in her memory.