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itinerary, Mississippi

Mississippi Road Trip Itinerary

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30,030,893 acres

Statehood 1817 (20th)

Capital: Jackson

Population: 2,961,279 (34th)

High Point: Woodall Mountain (807 feet)

Best time of year: Spring

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, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Hawai’i, Arizona, Louisiana, South Dakota, Indiana, and Montana, we decided to do another state in the deep south.  We made an ambitious seven-day plan starting in the south on the Gulf Coast and then zigzagging across the state with plenty of options to extend the trip.

Day 1

Gulf Islands National Seashore (click here for our blog post)

You will have to take a ferry to enjoy the white sand beaches of West Ship Island, which are considered some of the best in the U.S.  If you are stuck on the mainland, at least check out the visitor center and hiking trails just off Interstate 10. 

Biloxi

Biloxi has beaches, a lighthouse, casinos, and the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum.  I still want to see the Patriarch Oak, estimated to be more than 2,000 years old and located at Mary Mahoney’s Old French House seafood restaurant.

De Soto National Forest (click here for our blog post)

Tuxachanie National Recreation Trail runs 12 miles through De Soto National Forest with the path from its western trailhead following an old logging railroad right off Highway 49.  Near the far eastern end of the trail is a lakeside World War II Prisoner of War camp with a pond.

Optional stop at Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge

Some sandhill cranes migrate to this forested spot for the winter, but a small population lives there year-round.  There are trails, interpretive signs, and a visitor center.

Day 2

Natchez National Historical Park (click here for our blog post)

National Park Service (NPS) rangers or volunteers are on location at the William Johnson House, Melrose Estate, and the Forks of the Road where hundreds of thousands of slaves were sold in the 1800s.  The William Johnson House tells the story of a slave freed at age 11 who apprenticed to a barber, and became a successful businessman before his murder.

Grand Village of the Natchez Indians State Historic Site

These historic mounds offer a free museum and film inside an air-conditioned building (which is important on a muggy summer day). 

Optional stop at Homochitto National Forest (click here for our blog post)

There is a nice campground with showers on Clear Springs Lake, accessed by a paved road four miles south of Highway 84.  A one-mile trail circles the lake, which has a picnic shelter built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1935 that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Day 3

Natchez Trace Parkway (click here for our blog post)

This paved road runs 444 miles from the Mississippi River to Nashville, Tennessee, including 309 miles in Mississippi.  The trace (or trail) started as an American Indian footpath and was heavily used in the 1800s by “Kaintuck” flatboatmen returning from New Orleans who left the Mississippi River at Natchez and continued on foot north.  At several roadside pullouts, you can still follow portions of the “sunken” trail worn down by travelers over the centuries.  Popular stops along the way include the boardwalk at Cypress Swamp outside Jackson and its three free campgrounds.

Optional stop at Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (click here for our blog post)

Paralleling the parkway, this trail exists in five segments totaling 67 miles in length.  One of the longest sections is located north of Jackson (Miles 108-130).  There are also eight miles of the original trace around the free Rocky Springs Campground (Mile 58) accessing Owens Creek Waterfall and a historic town site.

Day 4

Jackson

The capital city is home to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Museum of Mississippi History, and Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum.  The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science is a 73,000-square-foot facility situated in a 300-acre forest with 2.5 miles of trails that also boasts a 200-seat theater and many aquariums, including “The Swamp” where alligators reside inside a large greenhouse. 

Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument (click here for our blog post)

In Jackson, the National Park Service manages the former home of a prominent Civil Rights Leader who was assassinated in his driveway in 1963.  Across the street, there is a sidewalk through Myrlie’s Garden, a community garden where interpretive signs on the wooden fence tell the story of the Evers family.

Optional stop at Bienville National Forest (click here for our blog post)

There are several lakes here open to the public, including 50-acre Marathon Lake (which got its name a lumber company that closed in 1929).  The lake was built in the 1950s for recreation in a former logging camp and now has 34 campsites (with water and electric hook-ups), a boat ramp, a swimming area, and a 1.7-mile trail that circles it. 

Day 5

Vicksburg National Military Park (click here for our blog post)

The numerous failed attempts to take Vicksburg by force are evidenced by the 17,000 soldiers buried in the National Cemetery here.  Following a 46-day bombardment, the city finally surrendered on July 4, 1863.  The best part of visiting the park is walking through the partially-reconstructed U.S.S. Cairo, an ironclad gunboat which was carefully salvaged from the Yazoo River during the 1960s.

Optional stop at Delta National Forest (click here for our blog post)

Delta National Forest is seasonally flooded for wildlife, but it was dry enough to walk up to the Kay Cypress Tree even when other trails were underwater during our April visit.  The tree is more than ten feet in diameter even above the widely fluted base common to baldcypress.  It is located across from Blue Lake on unpaved Fire Tower Road.

Day 6

Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center (ETHIC)

Located in a former cotton gin near the site of Emmett Till’s torture and murder on the farm of “J.W.” Milam in Glendora.  Established in 2005, there is an atmosphere to the museum that bears the full weight of history, heightened by the short introductory video showing Emmett Till’s family members’ recollections of the events of 1955. 

Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument (click here for our blog post)

The National Park Service operates out of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, located in a strip mall opposite the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner.  It has limited hours, but the courtroom where the September 1955 trial was held was unlocked when we visited on a Tuesday morning.

Optional stop at a Blues Museum

The Yazoo-Mississippi Delta (or simply “the Delta”) is a distinct section of western Mississippi renowned for its blues musicians.  There is plenty to learn and listen to at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, GRAMMY Museum Mississippi in Cleveland, and B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola.  Spend the night in the area to go to a bar for live music in the evening. 

Optional stop at Belzoni Catfish Museum and Welcome Center

At its peak in 1993, this region produced 461-million pounds of catfish annually (about 60% of U.S. production) and still hosts the World Catfish Festival every April.  The best part is that Belzoni has catfish sculptures spread around town, painted to represent different occupations like a fireman and nurse. 

Day 7

Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site (click here for our blog post)

The National Park Service site here is tiny with no facilities and only a couple interpretive signs, but a local battlefield commission owns 1,400 acres with walking trails.  The nearby Mississippi Final Stands Interpretive Center is located five miles east of the battlefield in Baldwyn. 

Tupelo National Battlefield (click here for our blog post)

Two cannons and a monument mark this one-acre National Park Service site surrounded by the city of Tupelo.  Its visitor center is combined with the one for the Natchez Trace Parkway just outside Tupelo.

Optional stop at Elvis Pressley Birthplace and Museum

In Tupelo, the house where Elvis grew up is a main attraction.  The grounds are open 24 hours and the museum is open seven days a week. 

Optional stop at Tishomingo State Park

Tishomingo State Park is located just off the Natchez Trace Parkway (Milepost 304) northeast of Tupelo.  The park’s sandstone and limestone rock formations represent the furthest southwest extent of the Appalachian Plateau.  The park opened in 1939, after its infrastructure was built using local rock by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  Several structures remain from that period, including a spectacular swinging bridge over Bear Creek.

Day 8+

Holly Springs National Forest (click here for our blog post)

Chewalla Lake Recreation Area is the most developed site offering a swimming beach and campground, plus fishing and boating opportunities.  A 2.3-mile trail at the 260-acre lake passes an overlook and a reconstructed Choctaw burial mound.  In the northeast corner off Highway 72, a short trail accesses Baker’s Pond, the source of the Wolf River.  Further south, Lake Tillatoba is a fee-free primitive site managed by Tombigbee National Forest.

Shiloh National Military Park (click here for our blog post)

An important railroad crossroads in Corinth made it a strategic spot during the Civil War.  In April 1862, two days of intense fighting across the border in Tennessee resulted in 23,746 soldiers killed, wounded, captured, or missing, and the Confederates abandoned the field and Corinth.  There were an additional 7,000 casualties when they failed to recapture the town in October 1862, which is the focus of the museums in town.

Apron Museum

Iuka is home to the Apron Museum that has collected thousands of vintage aprons, plus it has a gift shop with quilts, crafts, and, of course, aprons for sale.  Nearby, a restored wooden covered bridge is also worth a look-see and a drive across.

Learn more about Mississippi’s Most Scenic Drive, Wonderful Waterfall, Top State Park, and other categories in our travel guidebook 50 States of Great: Road Trip Guide to America.

Alaska

Kobuk Valley National Park

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Kobuk Valley National Park

Alaska

Managed by National Park Service

Established 1978 National Monument, 1980 National Park

1,714,578 acres

Website: nps.gov/kova

Overview

In northwest Alaska, an area roughly the size of Delaware is set aside to protect an 85-mile stretch of the Kobuk River.  Kobuk Valley National Park also includes the Waring Mountains to the south and the Baird Mountains that border Noatak National Preserve.  Hunters have been coming for at least 12,500 years to Onion Portage where caribou gather to cross the river.  In the 1960s, archeologist J. Louis Giddings built a cabin and cache so he could excavate a two-acre plot.  He and his assistants dug through 30 artifact-bearing layers that provided evidence of nine cultural periods from the Akmak Complex to the Arctic Woodland Eskimo.

Learn more about how to visit this National Park in the expanded second edition of our guidebook A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks. 

Highlights

Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, Onion Portage Archeological District

Must-Do Activity

The Northwest Arctic Heritage Center in Kotzebue is located 75 river miles from the western edge of the park.  Riverside ranger stations operate in the summer at Kallarichuk in the west and Onion Portage in the east.  A flightseeing tour of the park typically lands on the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, which are the remnant of a dune field that once covered as much as 200,000 acres after the Pleistocene glaciation.  Float trips take at least a week on the wide Kobuk River or the rougher Salmon River, which is designated a Wild and Scenic River.  The Kobuk River starts within a narrow canyon with Class V rapids inside Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, but soon flattens out and becomes a braided channel, like many rivers in Alaska. 

Best Trail

There are no established trails in the park, but it is easy to wander through the sand dunes and soft enough to go barefoot.

Photographic Opportunity

The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes are a geological anomaly sitting north of the Arctic Circle, once studied by NASA as an analog for polar dunes on Mars.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://nps.gov/kova/planyourvisit/basicinfo.htm

Fees

None

Road Conditions

There are no roads into Kobuk Valley National Park, so most visitors arrive by small airplane, which can cost around $5,000 to charter for the day.  If you are leaving from Fairbanks, we recommend flying with Sven from Aviation Expeditions who will do a combination trip that also lands in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

Camping

Backcountry camping is allowed throughout the park, but is not permitted on the 81,000 acres of Native Corporation lands that are typically situated along the rivers. 

Related Sites

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (Alaska)

Noatak National Preserve (Alaska)

Denali National Park and Preserve (Alaska)

This was the last of the 63 National Parks for Scott to visit in person
Kobuk River

Explore More – What is the current estimated size of the Western Arctic caribou herd that crosses the Kobuk River at Onion Portage?

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itinerary, South Dakota

South Dakota Road Trip Itinerary

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48,519,040 acres

Statehood 1889 (40th)

Capital: Pierre

Population:  886,667 (46th)

High Point: Black Elk Peak (7,242 feet)

Best time of year: Summer

Last year we 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 by jumping around to Kansas, Georgia, Idaho, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Hawai’i, Arizona, and Louisiana, we chose one of our favorite states to visit.  Just in time for summer (and the Custer State Park chip flip), we made an ambitious seven-day plan starting in the east near Sioux Falls and following Interstate 90 west, with plenty of options to extend the trip. See for yourself why South Dakota made it on our Top 10 States for State Parks and Top 10 States for National Park Service Sites list.

Day 1

Palisades State Park

Start your trip near Sioux Falls, where pink formations of quartzite rock rise above muddy Split Rock Creek below.  It is a great spot for a picnic, and you might get to watch rock climbers across the creek repelling down the steep cliffs. 

Optional stop at Falls Park

Not only is Sioux Falls the largest city in the state, it is also home to Falls Park where the Big Sioux River tumbles down 100 feet of rosy quartzite in a series of photogenic cascades. 

Day 2

Corn Palace

Not far off Interstate 90 in Mitchell is a great wonder of human creativity dating back to 1892.  Each year a new theme is chosen by artists who design images to decorate the outside of the building completely with organic materials.  By the end of the summer, the face of this unique building is covered with 275,000 ears of corn in a variety of colors.  Be sure to go inside the building to see pictures of past palaces, turn a millstone to grind our own cornmeal, and learn fun facts. 

Dignity sculpture

Also on Interstate 90, there is a new 50-foot sculpture of a Native American woman wearing a traditional star quilt entitled Dignity of Earth and Sky.

State Capitol Building

Visit inside the capitol to learn why the tiny town of Pierre (pronounced “peer”) was chosen as the state’s capital city in 1889 and how the building was constructed starting in 1905.

Optional stop at Fort Pierre National Grassland (click here for our complete blog post)

Look online for the publication South Dakota Fishing Guide to the National Grasslands, which provides information on 41 fishing ponds in the National Grassland.  Originally built in 1934, Richland Dam was renovated in 2014 and now features handicapped-accessible fishing and a concrete boat ramp.  Fishing ponds are generally open December 1 to August 31 to avoid overlap with hunting season.

Day 3

Badlands National Park (click here for our complete blog post)

Beyond the geologic formations and hiking trails, this is a good place to camp at the developed Cedar Pass Campground, free Sage Creek Primitive Campground (which can be crowded in the summer), or backpacking out with the bison.  Bighorn sheep are also common, and porcupines, surprising for as treeless as it is.  Prairie dog towns make for an endless variety of entertainment and provide habitat for burrowing owls, prairie rattlesnakes, and endangered black-footed ferrets that have been reintroduced throughout South Dakota. 

Optional stop at Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (click here for our complete blog post)

Outside Badlands National Park on Interstate 90, a small museum and ranger-guided tours of the Delta-01 launch control facility.  Tours have very limited space and a nominal fee, but are no longer solely first-come-first served thanks to an online reservation system. 

Day 4

Wall Drug

Perhaps the greatest roadside attraction in the entire world, famous since 1936 for its “Free Ice Water” road signs.  Today Interstate 90 is inundated with Wall Drug billboards for miles in each direction.  Ice water is still free and the café still offers a cup of coffee for only five cents, as well as the best soft-serve ice cream we have ever tasted.  In the Wall Drug Backyard, you can even ride atop a ten-foot-tall jackalope; and do not leave without a free bumper sticker.

Optional stop at the National Grasslands Visitor Center

This serves as the main interpretive site for all 20 National Grasslands (plus Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie).  The exhibit hall is still under reconstruction following a flood that forced a relocation into a temporary trailer for years, but the theater is reopened showing a short film. 

Optional stop at the South Dakota Air & Space Museum

Admission is free to this museum (currently closed for construction) seven miles east of Rapid City on Interstate 90.  It sits next to Ellsworth Air Force Base, but you do not have to pass through military security to enter.  An impressive B-1B Lancer sits out front alongside other historic aircraft, with many more located inside the hangars.

Day 6

Mount Rushmore National Memorial (click here for our complete blog post)

This icon of South Dakota is inspiring to see during the day, but for the full patriotic effect do not miss the night lighting ceremony offered May to September. 

Needles Highway

The 14-mile-long Needles Highway was completed in 1922 and is known for its narrow, one-lane tunnels that run straight through mountainsides and the natural arch aptly named the Needle’s Eye (Custer State Park admission required).  Trails leave from along its length to access the Cathedral Spires, Black Elk Peak, Sylvan Lake, and Little Devil’s Tower.  To the northeast, the Highway 16A section of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Highway utilizes more one-lane tunnels and fascinating corkscrew turns called “pigtail bridges” to connect Custer State Park with Mount Rushmore National Memorial (no admission fee required when simply driving through).

Optional stop at Crazy Horse Memorial

Under construction since 1948, this privately-funded monument continues to be carved and blasted to this day.  In addition to the 563-foot-tall memorial to the legendary fighter and leader of the Oglala Lakota, the site also has the Indian Museum of North America full of outstanding artwork and artifacts.  Special tours can be booked up to the 87-foot-tall head of Crazy Horse, plus, a laser-light show runs nightly in the summer.  There is a pretty good view from the highway if you do not want to pay the admission fee.

Day 5

Custer State Park

World famous for its Buffalo Roundup every September, this park has so much more than bison (see Needles Highway above).  Visitors can see bighorn sheep, mountain goats, pronghorn, elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, coyotes, turkeys, golden eagles, and you might even get nose-to-nose with one of the feral burros that roam free and love handouts. You may find yourself stuck waiting out a “bison jam” as the large ungulates cross a road. 

Wind Cave National Park (click here for our complete blog post)

The interior of Wind Cave is a constant 53°F, so bring a jacket if you sign up for the Natural Entrance Tour, which involves entering a vapor lock revolving door and descending stairs.  On the Candlelight Tour you carry lightweight metal candle-lanterns, just like 19th-century tourists.  It is only offered in the summer and explores an unlit section of the cave.  There are several good trails that traverse the prairie and canyons and we enjoy backpacking (free permit required) on Highland Creek Trail where we always see bison.

Optional stop at Black Hills National Forest (click here for our complete blog post)

Surrounding Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore and spilling into the state of Wyoming, it is home to a fun hike to the state’s high point at 7,242-foot tall Black Elk (formerly Harney) Peak rising in the center of the beautiful Black Elk Wilderness.  We also recommend Old Baldy Trail and Buzzards Roost Trail.

Day 7

Jewel Cave National Monument (click here for our complete blog post)

Currently, Jewel Cave ranks third worldwide with over 160 miles in mapped passages, and based on air flow estimates the cave is less than 10% mapped.  The namesake jewels are actually boxy calcite formations, which crystalized out of water in a manner similar to the way a bathtub ring forms.  The Wild Caving Tour and Lantern Tour are our favorite ranger-guided tour options.

Optional stop at Buffalo Gap National Grassland (click here for our complete blog post)

The only developed site of this sprawling area is located at French Creek Agate Beds, where there is a campground and rockhounding is legal for Fairburn agate (the official State Gem of South Dakota), rose quartz, and banded jasper.

Day 8+

George S. Mickelson Trail

This flat trail runs 109 miles from Deadwood to Edgemont along the former Burlington Northern rail line, but you can choose to hike as far as you like (day-use fee).  Like many rails-to-trails projects, this route is wide enough to accommodate bikes and includes many bridges and tunnels, like those near the Mystic Trailhead.

Spearfish Canyon Nature Area

A scenic byway follows Highway 14A south of Interstate 90 past roadside Bridal Veil Falls and Spearfish Falls.  The limestone cliffs of the canyon are sprinkled with ponderosa pine trees and the creek is lined by deciduous trees that add to the beauty when changing colors in late-September (around Buffalo Roundup weekend).  It is free to park at 30-foot-tall Roughlock Falls (pictured below), but this small park can get congested. 

Geographic Center of the Nation

Belle Fourche is home to a 21-foot-wide monument with a visitor center and museum at the site designated by the National Geodetic Survey as the center of the 50 states after Alaska and Hawai‘i were added in 1959.

Petrified Wood Park in Lemmon

A free park filled with locally gathered petrified wood and other geological specimens. The “world’s largest collection” also has a free museum constructed out of petrified wood that is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Missouri National Recreational River (click here for our complete blog post)

In southeast South Dakota, the river’s lower segment runs 59 miles from the Gavins Point Dam to Ponca State Park, plus a 39-mile stretch was added from the Fort Randall Dam to Niobrara State Park, and includes 20 miles of the Lower Niobrara River (which is itself designated a National Scenic River upstream in Nebraska). 

Learn more about South Dakota’s Most Scenic Drive, Top State Park, and other categories in our travel guidebook 50 States of Great: Road Trip Guide to America.

South Dakota

Buffalo Gap National Grassland

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Buffalo Gap National Grassland

South Dakota

Managed by U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region

Established 1960

679,805 acres (595,715 federal/ 84,090 other)

Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nebraska/recarea/?recid=30329

Overview

Buffalo Gap is the second-largest National Grassland and it surrounds Badlands National Park and Minuteman Missile National Historic Site east of Black Hills National Forest.  The town of Wall, South Dakota is home to the National Grasslands Visitor Center, which serves as the main interpretive site for all 20 National Grasslands (plus Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie).  The exhibit hall is still under reconstruction following a flood that forced a relocation into a temporary trailer for years, but the theater is reopened showing a short film.  This is a good spot to pick up a map and buy some hard-to-find National Grassland merchandise. 

Highlights

National Grasslands Visitor Center, French Creek Agate Beds

Must-Do Activity

After starting your visit at the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall (and making a required visit to Wall Drug—America’s best roadside attraction), head south through Buffalo Gap National Grassland towards the entrance booth for Badlands National Park (see Photographic Opportunity).  The only developed site is much further west at French Creek Agate Beds, where there is a campground and rockhounding is legal for Fairburn agate (the official State Gem of South Dakota), rose quartz, and banded jasper.  The collection and duplication of vertebrate fossils requires a permit and no commercial gathering of fossils is allowed, except for petrified wood. 

Best Trail

Right to the southeast of the Wyoming border on Highway 18 is a section of Buffalo Gap National Grassland where we did some off-trail hiking along a waterway.  Conata Basin south of Badlands National Park is also a good option for prairie exploration.

Watchable Wildlife

Buffalo Gap National Grassland contains grazing allotments for cattle and domesticated bison herds, as well as wild herds of white-tailed deer and pronghorn.  In 2003, 151 black-footed ferret kits were reintroduced and placed in coyote-free areas, but these nocturnal predators only spend a few minutes above ground each day.  Swift fox and bighorn sheep have also been reintroduced in neighboring Badlands National Park.  Watch in prairie dog towns for burrowing owls and prairie rattlesnakes, as well as northern harriers, prairie falcons, golden eagles, and other raptors. 

Photographic Opportunity

There are free designated campsites along the popular Nomad Vw S Road just north of the Pinnacles Entrance to Badlands National Park, which offer great views from the cliffs above the striped geologic formations.

Peak Season

Summer

Fees

None

Road Conditions

The bentonite clay soils can make the unpaved roads impassable to passenger vehicles when muddy.  There is also a deep stream crossing to access the French Creek Agate Beds that would require high clearance when there is water present. 

Camping

Unlike most National Grasslands, this one has a developed campground at French Creek (fee required) with vault toilets, fire grates, and picnic tables, but no potable water.  It is free to camp in designated sites along the busy Nomad Vw S Road just north of the Pinnacles Entrance to Badlands National Park.

Related Sites

Fort Pierre National Grassland (South Dakota)

Jewel Cave National Monument (South Dakota)

Wind Cave National Park (South Dakota)

Nearest National Park

Badlands

River crossing at French Creek Agate Beds
Scott making the river crossing at French Creek Agate Beds
Tiff rock hounding at French Creek Agate Beds
Wyoming border and National Grassland border

Explore More – What is the status of 48,000 acres of the National Grassland set to be designated as Wilderness in a 2010 bill sponsored by South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson?

Update

Our 500th Blog Post!

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A big thank you to our readers for continuing to support our website!  We recently reflected on our love of travel for the website All Fifty States Club and wanted to share that with you. And if you are around Wyoming, please check out our next 4 presentations at local libraries.

Our travel website Raven About The Parks is dedicated to providing information on recreating on U.S. public lands.  Our mission is to shine a light on the lesser-known National Forests and National Park Service sites in America, and eventually to expand into covering National Wildlife Refuges and State Parks.  We enjoy outdoor pursuits like backpacking, kayaking, camping, and snowshoeing, but we also love touring historic buildings, exploring museums, reading interpretive signs, and attending college football games.  We take joy in discovering new places, and it seems like every time we visit one new spot, we add two more to our list.  That is fine with us, since we believe travel is a never-ending quest to live life to its fullest.  We hope that sharing our travels helps inspire others to “Find what you love and do more of it.” 

In 2016, we took ten months off work in Wyoming to travel the world and we visited all 50 states between April and November.  We had already been to more than 40 states at that point, and Tiff’s final state was New Jersey, while Scott’s was Connecticut.  Our goal that year was in every state to stop into at least one State Park and a National Park Service site that we had never been to (some states like New Hampshire only have one).  We printed blank sheets for each state to record the dates we visited, wildlife spotted, favorite places and people, and our impressions of each state’s drivers, roads, and topography.  One of the best things we recorded was a list of places and events to return for, which has helped us plan some awesome trips in the subsequent years.

Between 2017 and 2023, we visited all 50 states once again (Delaware was the final one) while researching travel guidebooks we wrote on all 155 National Forests and road tripping in each state.  We also made sure by the end that we had spent the night in every state (with Rhode Island being our last).  The 50 States of Great guidebook is based on our experiences and thousands of hours of research; we picked our favorite National Park, State Park, National Forest (40 states have at least one), museum, roadside attraction, and eight other categories for all states.  We even included shorter chapters on American Samoa, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (and we hope to visit Guam and Saipan someday).  If you are interested, 50 States of Great: Road Trip Guide to America is available on Amazon.

We continue to travel across the U.S. seeking new adventures and returning to favorite places.  In 2022, we came upon the book The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau that explained the mental health benefits of working toward a greater life goal (like running a marathon in all 50 states or attending a baseball game at every MLB stadium).  We had been doing this all along, but since reading the book we have gone back to check in how many states we have bought a stuffed animal (45), hiked to a waterfall (38), crushed a penny (46), climbed to the highest point (29), visited the capital city (50 finished in Olympia, WA in 2023), showered at a Planet Fitness (29), and entered a museum (46).  Our current active pursuits include attending a college football game (39) and hiking in a National Wildlife Refuge (33) in every state.

Basically, we write about the places we have been to inspire others to “Find what you love and do more of it.”  We especially enjoy visiting new places, knowing that some of them will exceed our expectations and surprise us in ways we never could have anticipated.  We flip through travel magazines and scroll through Pinterest boards (check out ours here), but some of our more interesting finds have been inspired by obscure sources such as U.S. Mint quarters and U-Haul Super Graphics (we are mildly obsessed with these and have been known to burst into jubilation upon seeing a Saskatchewan moose on a dune).  We look forward to a future filled with travel across the U.S. and abroad.  To put our expertise on U.S. travel to good use, we have started posting one-week itineraries for all 50 states (starting with Kansas, Georgia, Idaho, and Rhode Island).

After reading an article on the website All Fifty States Club by Bob Rainville, we were inspired to determine how many state-to-state border crossings we had completed.  It took more than an hour of poring over maps and searching our memories, but we figured out there are 104 drivable border crossings and that we have made 96 of them already on our cross-country journeys.  Half of the eight remaining involve the corners of Missouri, which touches eight different states (the most of any state).

We appreciate your time and hope to produce another 500 quality posts for our audience in the coming years.  We have previously made Top 10 Lists of our favorite posts from each 100 post milestone, but this time we decided to create a different list highlighting the Top 10 Natural Phenomena to See in the U.S.  Watch for it soon!

Thank you for reading our blog! 

Scott and Tiff

Cheyenne, WY

Please check out our next 4 presentations at libraries in Wyoming!

“Find what you love and do more of it.” 

We recently published the expanded 2nd edition of our guidebook to the National Parks— A Park to Yourself: Finding Solitude in America’s 63 National Parks (available for sale on Amazon). The new edition is more than 60 pages longer with four-page chapters on Alaska’s wilderness National Parks that formerly had only a page. We also wrote a six-page chapter on the newest National Park— New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

Our travel guidebook 50 States of Great: Road Trip Guide to America is also available for sale on Amazon