The Natonal Park Service (NPS) administers the Natchez Trace Parkway, a two-lane All-American Road that extends 444 miles from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. The trace started as a game trail that was utilized as an American Indian footpath. Some of the mound builder sites protected here were inhabited when Hernando de Soto led the first Europeans into this area in 1540. The Natchez Trace was heavily used in the 1800s by “Kaintuck” flatboatmen returning from New Orleans who left the Mississippi River from Natchez, Mississippi and continued on foot north to Kentucky and beyond. Today you can still follow portions of the sunken trail worn down by travelers for centuries. The parkway began as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) project during the Great Depression and the final two segments were completed in 2005.
Highlights
Rocky Springs, Owens Creek Waterfall, Emerald Mound, Mount Locust, Chickasaw Village, Meriwether Lewis Monument and Gravesite, Cypress Swamp Walk, Witch Dance Horse Trail, Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
Must-Do Activity
Near Tupelo, the Parkway Visitor Center at Milepost 266 is a must-do stop to learn the history of the trace, and it also serves as the NPS contact station for tiny Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site and Tupelo National Battlefield. There are numerous roadside informational pullouts and trailheads along the route, so use the NPS app or pick up an official “unigrid” map. You can easily spend days exploring, but at a minimum we recommend you check out Emerald Mound, Mount Locust, Cypress Swamp, and Meriwether Lewis Monument and Grave Site.
Best Trail
Our favorite trail is the Cypress Swamp Walk at Milepost 122, where a boardwalk crosses a scenic tupelo-baldcypress swamp. The Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (click here for our blog post) does not follow the entire 444-mile parkway, but exists in five segments totaling 67 miles in length. There are also 15 miles of equestrian trails at Witch Dance (Milepost 233.2) in Tombigbee National Forest.
Photographic Opportunity
Not far from Natchez National Historical Park, Emerald Mound (a short detour at Milepost 10.3) is the second-largest American Indian ceremonial mound in the U.S. It stands 35 feet tall and 770 by 435 feet at its base.
The entire 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway is paved from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee with commercial traffic prohibited and a maximum speed limit of 50 miles per hour. There is a detour from Milepost 181 to 204 due to ongoing construction. Watch for bicycles and white-tailed deer on the road.
Camping
There are three free NPS campgrounds (at Milepost 54, 193.1, and 385.9) along the route, as well as those in sites like Mississippi’s Tishomingo State Park. The three NPS campgrounds have water and bathrooms (but no RV hookups), plus there are also five bike-only campsites along the route. Jeff Busby Campground closed in June 2025 for repairs.
Central Maine is an ecological transition zone between boreal and broadleaf deciduous forests that provides habitat for Canada lynx, black bear, moose, and beaver. The waters are home to brook trout and Atlantic salmon, which are being reestablished with cooperation between government agencies and the Penobscot and other Wabanaki Nations. The official northern terminus of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Katahdin means “greatest mountain” in the Penobscot language and is the name of the 5,269-foot peak outside National Monument boundaries in neighboring Baxter State Park. This undeveloped landscape was purchased by the businesswoman Roxanne Quimby beginning in 2001 with the plan to turn it into a National Park. It was donated to the National Park Service to mark the centennial of its creation and, despite some controversy, was established by President Barack Obama.
Opened in 2025 near the south entrance, the Tekαkαpimək Contact Station is seasonally open Friday through Sunday in a building inspired by Wabanaki culture. The National Park Service no longer works out of the Patten Lumbermen’s Museum (but it is still worth a visit). The 17-mile-long Katahdin Loop Road in the southern section of the National Monument is the most developed with picnic areas, vault toilets, and overlooks. The unpaved loop road is accessed from the east by miles of unpaved road and has no access to Baxter State Park. About 30 miles of the International Appalachian Trail runs through Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument with lean-tos dispersed along the route. Other than hiking, visitors enjoy stargazing, birding, leaf peeping in the fall, canoeing the East Branch of the Penobscot River with portages around its many waterfalls. In the winter, there are opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling.
Best Trail
From the Haskell Gate at the end of New River Road, it is 3.5 miles out-and-back to Stair Falls on the East Branch of the Penobscot River. The first part follows an old road and the International Appalachian Trail before branching north at a signed junction to access the water and is also open to bicycles. The only trailhead accessed from a paved road is the 13.6-mile Seboeis Riverside Trail that starts outside the National Monument off Grand Lake Road.
Photographic Opportunity
One of the best views of Katahdin is from the top of Barnard Mountain, accessed by a two-mile one-way hike with 725 feet of elevation gain.
Every road within the National Monument is unpaved, so watch for potholes and logging trucks. The north and south entrances have gates that close seasonally.
Camping
Reservations are required to car camp at designated sites within Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument and can be made online at Recreation.gov.
Best time of year: Summer for the state fair and access to the northern lakes
We recently published our guidebook 50 States of Great: Road Trip Guide to America, so we decided to start a new type of blog post where we create a travel itinerary for all 50 states, in addition to our usual National Forest and National Park entries. After starting with Kansas, Georgia, Idaho, and Rhode Island, we decided to do a state that is part Midwest and part North Woods. We made an ambitious seven-day plan starting in the southern Minnesota, with plenty of options to extend the trip.
Located in the small town of Austin, this free museum is full of interactive exhibits and photo opportunities, but the best part is that it does not take itself too seriously. Even if you do not like to eat the canned “spiced ham” product, you will come to appreciate its significance to World War II history and pop culture, as well as its amazing gift shop with more branded products than you can imagine.
Niagara Cave is a privately-owned show cave named for its 60-foot-tall underground waterfall that is only viewable on guided tours. Not far away, Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park contains the state’s longest cave (47 degrees year round) which also offers guided tours.
If you come into the state from the southwest corner, consider a stop at a spot that people have come for 2,000 years to mine the red quartzite rock (also known as catlinite). The soft sedimentary stone is relatively easy to carve into smoking pipes and effigies. April through October, you can watch American Indian carvers at the National Park Service (NPS) museum demonstrate how to sculpt this soft yet durable stone into hollow pipes and other beautiful ornaments, some of which you can buy in the gift shop.
Fans of the author’s “Little House” series of books will want to see a replica of the Ingalls’ home in Walnut Grove and some of the family’s historic heirlooms.
Indoor shopping malls are still thriving in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul) metropolitan area, perhaps due to the cold and snowy winter weather. The most famous is the Mall of America with its indoor amusement park and 520 stores, making it the largest mall in the western hemisphere (and eleventh largest in the world).
This park follows 72 miles of the great river’s course through Minnesota, from busy metropolitan sections in the Twin Cities to secluded stretches of water where it reaches its confluence with the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway. In downtown Minneapolis, Minnehaha Regional Park contains its namesake falls celebrated in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha. Nearby, St. Anthony Falls is the only true waterfall along the entire length of the Mississippi River, now controlled by a lock and dam.
Optional stop at University of Minnesota Golden Gophers’ football game
We saw wild turkeys wandering around this beautiful campus that sits on a bluff east of the Mississippi River. Nobody seems to be exactly sure what a golden gopher is (possibly a thirteen-lined ground squirrel), but their mascot Goldie is the cutest in all of college football. Huntington Bank Stadium has one of the best pregame areas with plenty of photo ops and a pep rally held outside the hockey arena, plus we got free Culver’s custard, a clear bag giveaway, and Mystic Lake casino provided free towels and “spinny video thing.” The football team typically schedules their home opener on the Thursday before Labor Day during the Minnesota State Fair.
You will need all day to visit America’s best state fair that is held annually the 12 days before Labor Day, welcoming more than two-million visitors annually. The fair has the standard carnival rides, butter sculptures, farm animals, and artwork, as well as stages where musicians, comedians, and magicians perform throughout the day. Some of the unique food offerings include hotdish-on-a-stick, poutine, fried cheese curds, pronto pup, fried pickles, pork chop-on-a-stick, and fried buckeyes (chocolate and peanut butter candy). Since it started in 1979, Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar has been overfilling buckets of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies for customers, making up to 200,000 cookies an hour. To wash all that down, you might want to visit one of the stands offering all-you-can-drink milk.
If you are still hungry after the Minnesota State Fair then you probably didn’t do it right, but we will make one of our rare restaurant recommendations for this unique spot in downtown Minneapolis with interesting décor and really good food (try the poutine or walleye bites).
Day 4
Paul Bunyan Expressway
The legendary giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan is a big deal in Minnesota and he has statues honoring him in many towns along the Paul Bunyan Expressway. The 18-foot-tall statues in Bemidji were originally built in 1937 to honor these larger-than-life heroes and continue to be an essential roadside attraction. In Brainerd, Paul Bunyan Land is an entire amusement park built around a 26-foot-tall talking statue of Paul and 19-foot Babe, the latter refurbished after it blew over in a 2006 windstorm.
The Lost 40 is 144 acres of old-growth red and white pine forest that was never logged due to a surveying error that mapped the area as part of Coddington Lake in 1882. The oldest tree here is more than 250 years old and can be seen on an easy one-mile loop trail with interpretive signs. The trailhead is located east of Blackduck on well-signed back roads that are also popular for snowshoeing in the winter. Nearby, Camp Rabideau is perhaps the best preserved Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp left from the 1930s, with free guided tours in the summer.
Lake Itasca is considered the headwaters of the Mississippi River and is located just west of Highway 71 at the beginning of the 2,069-mile-long Great River Road that goes all the way to Louisiana.
Day 5
Roadside Sculptures
Driving north on Highway 71, there is seemingly another great roadside attraction located every few miles. We saw the statues of Uncle Dan Campbell in Big Falls, Jack Pine Savage in Littlefork, the world’s largest crow in Belgrade, and a giant black duck in the town of Blackduck. Right outside Voyageurs National Park, which surrounds Lake Kabetogama, was our favorite—a giant walleye with a saddle for riding. If Kabetogama seems like a mouthful, rest assured that everyone, including park rangers, simply calls it “Lake Kab.”
The park is famous for its manmade destinations, including Kettle Falls Hotel, Hoist Bay Resort, and the unique sculptures at Ellsworth Rock Gardens. Try to get out on one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes via a ranger-led tour or take your own boat to one of the shoreline campsites inaccessible by car (permit required). Reservations can be made for the ranger-guided North Canoe Voyage that lets passengers paddle a 26-foot canoe, just like the French-Canadian “voyageurs” of old.
Day 6
Kawishiwi Falls in Ely
The little town of Ely is the gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (see below), but even if you are just passing through be sure to make the short hike to Kawishiwi Falls below the dam on Garden Lake.
Gray wolves (called timber wolves regionally) reside in the North Woods and while a few lucky travelers might hear them howling, your best bet to see one is at the Wolf Center. It also has a section dedicated to Sigurd Olson, a talented local author and naturalist.
French-Canadian voyageurs had to walk their canoes and goods along an eight-mile-long portage to bypass the rapids on the Pigeon River. In 1784, the end of the trail on the edge of Lake Superior became the site of the North West Company headquarters where they held an annual rendezvous, where today visitors can walk around the reconstructed buildings and talk with the costumed reenactors during the summer.
Optional stop at Two Harbors
North of Duluth, the North Shore Scenic Drive passes through the town of Two Harbors where there is a giant rooster at Weldon’s Gifts and a huge statue of Pierre the Voyageur outside the Earthwood Inn. If you press the speaker button at the statue’s base, Pierre will tell you all about the history of the region, but he never explains why he is not wearing any pants.
In addition to encompassing the state’s highest mountain, Superior National Forest also offers scenic drives on the Gunflint Trail (County Road 12), Fernberg Road (State Route 169), and Echo Trail (County Road 116). Vermilion Gorge Trail is an easy 1.5-mile one-way hike to a narrow canyon cut through Canadian Shield rock in the small community of Crane Lake (on the east side of Voyageurs National Park). Not far away down a dirt road, a short trail leads to Vermilion Falls where the same river cuts a narrow channel through the rock.
Permits for the peak season can be hard to come by for the world’s premiere destination for backcountry canoeing, so plan ahead. This one-million-acre preserve has more than 1,000 lakes with over 1,500 miles of canoe routes and 2,200 designated backcountry campsites. In addition to its famous water routes with numerous portages, a few overland trails exist like the 12-mile Angleworm Trail and the 39-mile Kekekebic Trail, an official part of the North Country National Scenic Trail.
Best time of year: Summer for beaches, music festivals, and WaterFire in Providence
We recently published our guidebook 50 States of Great: Road Trip Guide to America, so we decided to start a new type of blog post where we create a travel itinerary for all 50 states, in addition to our usual National Forest and National Park entries. After starting with Kansas, Georgia, and Idaho, we decided to do a New England state. Despite it being the smallest of all 50 states, we were able to make a five-day plan starting in northern Rhode Island, with some options to extend the trip.
Day 1
Providence
Until 2020, the state’s full legal name was Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, but the legislature felt that had slavery connotations so they shortened it to Rhode Island. At the head of Narragansett Bay, the capital city of Providence holds a summerlong event called WaterFire, where on weekend nights 86 wood-filled braziers blaze around the confluence of the Woonasquatucket and Moshassuck Rivers.
Dedicated to the man who left the Puritan-led Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636 to found a city based on religious freedom, this 4.5-acre park in downtown Providence houses a small National Park Service (NPS) visitor center. A short, but steep walk takes you to a large statue of Roger Williams that offers a great overlook of the city.
Optional stop at Roger Williams Park
Not to be confused with Roger Williams National Memorial, this large park is home to a zoo. Providence also has two famous historic homes: the Sullivan-Dorr House and John Brown House.
Day 2
Blackstone River State Park
A scenic drive follows Highway 122 to this park, which has a free museum inside the historic Kelly House and a section of the canal that once followed the river. It also has 3.5 miles of the 24-mile (of a planned 48) paved bikeway along the canal towpath.
Blackstone River State Park is part of this park, which commemorates the industrial revolution that changed the landscape of America during the 1800s, as well as the immigration of factory workers that changed its face. The NPS works with a partnership of government agencies, non-profits, and businesses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The National Historical Park’s centerpiece is the nation’s first successful water-powered cotton-spinning factory:
Old Slater Mill National Historical Landmark
Located at a short, 180-foot-long dam on the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, free NPS ranger-guided tours are offered at this site. Check out the bus station across the street for more interpretive displays and information. By 1880, this “hardest working river” was one of the most polluted in the country, but it has recovered so that canoeists can now safely float portions of its 46-mile length.
Optional stop at Jerimoth Hill
It is a short, flat walk from a pullout on Highway 101 to the highest point in the state near the border with Connecticut.
Day 3
Shannock
This small village is situated on the Pawcatuck River, which has fueled grist mills, sawmills, woolen mills, cotton mills, and silk mills throughout its history. Today, the curved shape of ten-foot-tall Horseshoe Falls Dam and fishway makes it unique and very picturesque.
One of many red-brick coastal fortifications built in the U.S. after the War of 1812, visitors must purchase a ticket for a guided tour to explore inside the fort. It hosts the famous Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival on successive summer weekends in August, as well as the Great Chowder Cook-Off and Classic Yacht Regatta every Labor Day weekend. During the Newport Winter Festival, ice carving and sand sculpture competitions are held here.
In North Kingston, the A-shaped Chapel in the Pines and a three-dimensional statue of the Seabee logo are photogenic spots at this collection of Quonset Huts that honors the military engineers of World War II.
Day 4
Newport
Primarily built during the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, there are 11 houses open for tours that were the summer “cottages” of affluent families with recognizable last names like Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Morgan, Astor, and Rockefeller.
Cliff Walk National Recreation Trail
Only 3.5 miles long, there are multiple public access points to this pathway that follows the shoreline through the backyards of some of the most expensive houses in Newport. If you can only do part of the trail, make sure it includes the scenic area around the 40 Steps, a granite staircase located at the end of Narragansett Avenue.
The nation’s oldest standing synagogue was originally built in 1763, although its congregation dates back to a century earlier when they came to Newport seeking religious freedom. There is an admission fee for the 30-minute tour to see the ornate interior of the synagogue, and, next door, the Loeb Visitor Center opened in 2009 with an excellent museum upstairs.
Newport Tower/Old Stone Mill
A 28-foot-tall tower in Touro Park has been variously attributed to the Vikings, the Knights Templar, Chinese sailors, Portuguese explorers, or the English astronomer John Dee. We first learned about it from reading the side of a U-Haul trailer. Although there is no information about it at the site, the nearby Newport Tower Museum provides plenty of speculation on its mysterious origins. The most likely explanation is that it was built by Rhode Island’s first Governor, Benedict Arnold (great-grandfather of the infamous Revolutionary War General), as the base for a windmill.
The Ocean State has 384 miles of Atlantic shoreline, much of it in Narragansett Bay, where harbor seals, hooded seals, gray seals, and harp seals can be seen on a guided cruise.
Walk the beach of a barrier island in Ninigret Conservation Area, or park inland at the Kettle Pond Visitor Center to hike trails through the woods on these 900 acres set aside in 1970 as a National Wildlife Refuge.
Sitting on 153 acres at the southern tip of Conanicut Island, this park at the entrance to Narragansett Bay is famous for its 1856 lighthouse, but even more so for its sunsets. The assistant keeper’s house now contains the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum where you will learn about the construction of Beaver Tail Fort during the American Revolution and Fort Burnside during World War II.
Located not on the beach but inland in the town of Narragansett, this campground is near Roger Wheeler State Beach, Salty Brine State Beach, and Scarborough State Beach, as well as the Block Island Ferry Dock at Point Judith. It is extremely popular in the summer, so reservations are recommended.
This commune on the coast in Charleston has a small store selling handmade artwork and decorations, mostly with a beach theme.
Day 6+ optional ferry to Block Island
Pick up a ferry in Newport or Point Judith to spend a few nights on scenic Block Island (where we hope to visit someday). There are few cars allowed on the island, so everyone is encouraged to bicycle or walk its 28 miles of nature trails. More than 47% of the island is preserved from development, including Rodman’s Hollow and Mohegan Bluffs Scenic Natural Areas.
Located at the northern end of the 6,000-acre island situated 12 miles off mainland Rhode Island, the refuge is an important stop for migratory birds since its many ponds contain significant sources of freshwater. Block Island and its 17 miles of sandy beaches have been attracting summer vacationers for decades, but the National Wildlife Refuge was not established until 1973.
Learn more about Rhode Island’s Most Scenic Drive, Wonderful Waterfall, Top State Park, and other categories in our new travel guidebook 50 States of Great: Road Trip Guide to America.
In southwestern Virginia, Jefferson National Forest manages Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area, which was established in 1966. Although it is only 154,816 acres in extent, Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area encompasses the highest point in Virginia at 5,729 feet, four federally designated Wilderness areas (totaling 18,500 acres), and nearly 500 miles of trails. At Raven Cliff Recreation Area, a short trail crosses an interesting bridge over Cripple Creek to access an old iron furnace that operated until the early 1900s. Nearby at Collins Cove is a rare example of an old-growth cove hardwood forest.
Seng Mountain National Scenic Area, Mt. Rogers, Whitetop Mountain, Elk Garden, Raven Cliff Recreation Area, New River Recreation Area, Beartree Recreation Area, Comer’s Rock, Falls Branch Waterfall, New River State Park, Grayson Highlands State Park, Two Ponds Nature Trail, Virginia Creeper Trail, Horse Heaven Trail, Iron Mountain Trail, Appalachian National Scenic Trail
Must-Do Activity
Pat Jennings Visitor Center is located six miles south of Interstate 81 in Brushy Mountain, and there are two visitor centers situated along the Virginia Creeper Rail Trail (see our post on Jefferson National Forest). There are multiple routes to reach the summit of Mt. Rogers, but the two shortest are both 4.5 miles one-way from Elk Garden (on State Route 600) or Grayson Highlands State Park (that gains about 1,350 feet in elevation). At Massie Gap, we encountered a herd of wild miniature ponies that had no fear of humans and liked to lick the salt from our skin, but watch your fingers because they will bite.
Best Trail
There are about 500 miles of hiking trails within Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area, including 78 miles of the famous Appalachian National Scenic Trail (or A.T.). The A.T. runs through the Lewis Fork Wilderness, which also features the Virginia Highlands, Mt. Rogers, Grassy Branch, Helton Creek, Cliffside, Pine Mountain, and Sugar Maple Trails. The A.T. also traverses the Little Wilson Creek Wilderness, as do the First Peak, Bearpen, Kabel, Hightree Rock, and Little Wilson Creek Trails.
Instagram-worthy Photo
A beat-up USGS marker can be found at the highest point in Virginia on 5,729-foot Mt. Rogers, located on a short spur trail off the A.T.
Peak Season
Summer
Fees
$5 day use fee at Beartree Recreation Area
Road Conditions
All the roads we drove in Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area were paved.
Camping
There are eight campgrounds, four horse camps, and two rental cabins in Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area. Grindstone Campground has nature trails and an amphitheater, Hurricane Campground offers a one-mile loop trail, and Raccoon Branch Campground is popular with trout fishermen. We stayed at Chestnut Hollow Campground in Grayson Highlands State Park and had the place to ourselves in early May. There is a 25-foot right-of-way for backpack camping on both sides of the Virginia Creeper Trail (see our post on Jefferson National Forest), except on private property.
Scott and Tiff in Grayson Highlands State ParkChestnut Hollow Campground in Grayson Highlands State ParkChestnut Hollow Campground in Grayson Highlands State ParkScott and our Siberian husky on the way to Mt. RogersScott meeting a friendly localTiff on the Virginia Creeper TrailVirginia Creeper TrailVirginia Creeper TrailVirginia Creeper TrailTiff and her father biking the Virginia Creeper TrailSnake on the Virginia Creeper TrailTiff and her mother on the Virginia Creeper TrailAzalea flowers
Explore More – Common to the high elevations of Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area, what exactly is a heath bald?
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