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I am interested in hearing about road trip itineraries that people have done or have planned.
I'm mostly interested in outdoor activities.
Here's my current itinerary for my trip to the Arkansas Ozarks in a few weeks.
Day 1 - Depart Marietta Georgia. Stop at the overlook at Alabama's highest point, Cheaha Mountain, only
30 minutes off the interstate. Visit downtown Little Rock and go on pedestrian bridge over
Arkansas River. Spend the night at hotel in Russelville, 1 hour northwest of Little Rock.
Day 2 - Get up early and drive 50 minutes north to Pedestal Rocks scenic area for a sunrise hike on a trail
with unique rock formations and views. From there, drive 40 minutes to the Arkansas Grand
Canyon overlook in Jasper and eat breakfast at Cliff House restaurant. Drive 30 minutes to
Ponca and canoe the Buffalo River (scenic river with rock cliffs along it) from Ponca to Kyle's Landing, a 10 mile trip.
About halfway down the river, take a 1 mile round trip side hike to Hemmed In Hollow, the tallest waterfall
between the Rockies and the Appalachians. From the float trip takeout (the outfitters will shuttle
our car to the takeout), drive 30 minutes to Lost Valley trail. Lost Valley has waterfalls, caves, a
natural bridge, and a gigantic cliff shelter called Cobb Cave where Indians used to chill. If there is
enough daylight left, we may also hike to Hawksbill Crag aka Whitaker's Point. After hiking, drive
1 hour north to the Victorian village of Eureka Springs and stay overnight in a hotel.
Day 3 - Check out Eureka Springs to include some of the springs, history museum, and the historic 1896
Crescent Hotel located up on a hill. Take side trips to nearby Onyx Cave for self guided tour,
cliffside hiking on the War Eagle Trail at Whitaker Springs State Park, and see big cats and bears at
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refugee. This is mostly a day to relax.
Day 4 - Drive 90 minutes south (this drive includes part of the Pig Trail Scenic Byway) to the
Turner Bend Store on the Mulberry River in Ozark. The Mulberry is supposedly the most
continuous whitewater in Arkansas. Raft 12 miles from the High Bend put-in back to the
Turner Bend store. Drive about a hour which includes a 6 mile treacherous gravel/dirt stretch
to White Rock Mountain and hike the 2 mile trail around the edge of the cliffs.
Drive 1 hour south to the town of Ozark near the interstate to spend the night in a hotel.
Day 5 - Drive 45 minutes south to Mount Magazine State Park with the state's highest point and scenic
overlooks. This is in the Ouachita National Forest, not the Ozarks. Drive 1 hour east to Petit
Jean State Park with has overlooks including one of the Arkansas River, waterfalls and I think
some caves. May also stop at Mount Nebo State Park in this area with overlook trails. After
Petit Jean stop, get on interstate nearby for 3 hour drive to Memphis. Visit the overlook &
eat at restaurant in the pyramid with Bass Pro Shops in downtown Memphis. Visit the
riverfront and spend the night in downtown hotel.
Day 6 - Return to Marietta GA. Possibly stop in Chattanooga downtown or Lookout Mountain.
I always try to come up with some kinds of activities along the route of a trip. It seems like a waste to me to just drive to your destination and not take advantage of the journey.
It's interesting to look for things to do in low-population areas. When I moved to Reno, I did a trip across the state to Elko along I-80, and tried to find something in each county along the way (Nevada has big, mostly empty counties).
Lyon County: Out of Town Park, Fernley
Churchill County: Ghost town of Jessup --- abandoned this because the road was too bad (hilly, supposed to be gravel but had big rocks everywhere) but the experience of trying to drive out was still interesting
Pershing County: Thunder Mountain, Imlay --- experimental art installation; County courthouse, Lovelock --- cool round building
Humboldt County: Humboldt Museum, Winnemucca
Lander County: "Armpit of America" billboard, Battle Mountain --- the town was described this way by some magazine article in the '80s, so they adopted it as a moniker and did a promotion with Axe deodorant
Eureka County: Geothermal power plant, Beowawe
Elko County: Star Hotel, a Basque restaurant, Elko; Northeast Nevada Museum, Elko
I am interested in hearing about road trip itineraries that people have done or have planned.
Here's my current itinerary for my trip to the Arkansas Ozarks in a few weeks.
If you are a scuba diver I suggest you dive at Lake Ouachita. Rent a boat and camp on an island and enjoy the clear water, There are nice quartz crystals in the rocks along the bottom and some large fish that will swim with you. The Little Red River offers some good trout fly fishing below Greers Ferry Lake. (All Arkansas)
Personally, I don't like to have my trip planned out as much as you. I live in New Mexico and just set my planned destination for the night and wander that direction with my camera and a good map. I enjoy history and have taken the Santa Fe and Oregon trail road trips. I usually build in a couple of extra hours on my daily drive time just to stop and explore places. I would probably never do your first-day trip in one day.
I want to pack a lot in because I don't want to spend another night in a hotel and I most likely won't return to Arkansas again given the distance.
It is a 24 hour round trip from Greenville SC for me plus a good number of hours driving around the Ozarks. I'm gonna get my money's worth.
None of this is set in stone. It is only a plan that looks doable.
Since your home town is in the foothills on the south side of the Smokies, I assume you often travel those mountains and vistas.
It's 741 miles between your home town and Russellville, AL which would be about an 11 hour drive. Gets pretty boring in North Mississippi and Eastern Arkansas until you hit the mountains.
The prettiest part of Arkansas is really up on the AR/MO state line with Lake Norfolk, Bull Shoals Lake and Greers Ferry Lake. I think you'll find the Ozarks to be okay, but they're just hills--not mountains--versus the Smokies.
Arkansas has some great trout fishing like the White River south of Mountain Home. There are also some great trout resorts with accommodations there too. What I like about that region is the absolutely fantastic people. And you might even find some of the same "Youin's" southern accent they speak in East Tennessee and Western NC.
There's nothing like the buffalo river with rock cliffs that you can float in the blue ridge that I know. Maybe parts of the Cumberland river in Kentucky. There's no huge rock bluff overhang like on lost valley trail in blue ridge that I know
The buffalo was the first river designated a National River by the government.
The prettiest part of Arkansas is really up on the AR/MO state line with Lake Norfolk, Bull Shoals Lake and Greers Ferry Lake. I think you'll find the Ozarks to be okay, but they're just hills--not mountains--versus the Smokies.
Arkansas has some great trout fishing like the White River south of Mountain Home. There are also some great trout resorts with accommodations there too. What I like about that region is the absolutely fantastic people. And you might even find some of the same "Youin's" southern accent they speak in East Tennessee and Western NC.
Eureka Springs is very close to the Missouri border and Greers Ferry Lake is more centrally located in the state. I probably would take a boat shuttle out to the little mountain island on that lake and hike up to the scenic overlook if it was closer to the Buffalo.
I'm going to be staying in a cabin at Devils Fork State Park on Lake Jocassee in SC for a week at some point this year, so there's no need to do lake oriented stuff on the Arky trip.
This is something I haven’t done-but I have planned it-I’m
a teacher in the Tampa Bay Area of FL for reference.. this is something I would probably do on part of fall or spring break, and avoid eating all our time... but still see stuff.
Day 1: Leave in afternoon after school. Something not unusual for us to do on breaks. Drive up to Tifton roughly, then turn in for the night.
Day 2: Breakfast/Coffee in morning, then head to Radium Springs/Gardens (one of 7 wonders of GA). Then go to Columbus. Grab to go lunch somewhere downtown and have picnic on riverfront near the downtown rapids. After that, drive on to Warm Springs, see the FDR White House and another 7 Wonder. Last, go to Cartersville and see the Etowah Indian Mounds.
Day 3: Go up to Cheaha State Park, see Alabama’s highest point. Maybe find another hike or cave or two to do in this area, spend rest of daylight relaxing in the mountains , then drive to Birmingham in the evening
Day 4: Spend day going to a couple hikes in/near Birmingham and also visiting some of the historic, etc. sites that are in the vicinity. Basically another full day around town-Birmingham fascinates me as it has industrial aesthetic and a topography similar to Pittsburgh.
Day 5: Leave out from Birmingham in morning. On way south, stop at a few places; Cahawba (historical capital/ghost town), Moundville, and the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Get down to Pensacola. Go down to Fort Pickens and see the beach (Gulf Islands Seashore) at end of Florida Trail. Spend evening in DT Pensacola walking and seeing some historical sites (Such as Plaza Ferdinand VII, where Florida was ceded from Spain in 1821). Maybe see a game at their waterfront minor league park, one of the highest rated ones.
Day 6: Drive back to Tampa area but take whole day to do so. Stop in Destin, Topsail Hill (Sand dunes) and Seaside along the coast. Make rest of way back with a potential stop at Devil’s Millhopper, or the Ellaville Ghost Town along the Suwannee River.
I could see this being a 7, 8 or 9 day trip too, depending on how much time I have, if I wanted to add more time in these places.. or potentially add Nashville/Chattanooga, or their surrounding nature such as The University of the South or Natchez Trace Pkwy on to my list of things to see.
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