I want to start by saying I'm NOT looking for turkey hunting info. My wife and I are going to be taking a 2-2 1/2 week vacation. We will be leaving Iowa in a couple of weeks and looking for info. We have no itinerary, just going to kind of wing it...if we notice something we want to see, we are going to stop and see it...no real schedule.
What are the must see things in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois(not Chicago) and Missouri(been to the Arch)?
We like being outdoors and enjoy hiking(nothing strenuous or long). We are already planning on seeing Nashville, looking for diamonds in Arkansas, visiting a couple distilleries/ breweries, possibly Grace Land(not interested in DollyWood), the Bass Pro shop in Springfield, Mo. and possibly Branson.
If you like hiking then the Red River Gorge in Ky is incredible. Beautiful country. I live about 30 or so minutes from there. Cave Run lake is not far from there and is a sight to see as well.
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I've been to the Arch in St Louis many times. Gone up in it? There ain't enough tea in China :toothy12:
There's always a chance at a Cardinals game if you're there.
There's the bourbon trail in Kentucky.
In Indiana we have The Dunes National Lakeshore up north. There's French Lick/West Baden down south. The Springs hotel is really cool. It was built in the 1800's and was the largest free span dome in the world until the Astrodome was built.
Spend a couple days in one of the cabins at White River Trout Club in Flippin, Arkansas. If you like to fly fish, it is a great place for it. If you don't like to fly fish, you are right in the center of a couple cool small Ozark towns with a strong outdoors culture and good eats. The cabins sit directly on the White River and have plenty of privacy.
Check out Bear Creek Winery in Walnut Shade, MO outside of Branson. I got married there, great little cabins with a winery on site and fantastic pizzas. There is an outdoor deck that sits on a big, wooded bluff with a magnificent view of the Ozarks rolling out for miles.
Swing north into Kentucky and check out Mammoth Caves National Park.
Another vote for the Bourbon Trail as well.
Mammoth cave in Ky. Must see.
Thanks for ideas!! We'll check into to them.
Make sure to tour the wonders of wildlife museum at bass pro in Springfield.
On the way from the diamond mine to Springfield you will drive thru the ozarks. Could stop in Gilbert along the Buffalo River. Maybe lunch in downtown Leslie and work your way north toward the flippin area mentioned above. Branson is a tourist trap but some people love it. Outlet malls etc.
Big cedar lodge outside Branson is very nice and brunch or sunset dinner at Osage is great but it'll cost some serious $
Illinois - garden of the gods
Indiana - Hoosier national forest has a lot of cool stuff
KY - red river gorge, Cumberland gap, etc
All of these are are within a few hours of each other ^
I'm from southern IN - feel free to PM me for more details
Hoosier is a nice place, I took my first out of state hunting trip there last year. Picked the worst day to go, poured rain all day
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In Kentucky you could route your trip up the Land Between the Lakes. If your hungry the porkchop at Patties settlement will fill you up.
Quote from: Lcmacd 58 on February 13, 2026, 10:13:58 AMIn Kentucky you could route your trip up the Land Between the Lakes. If your hungry the porkchop at Patties settlement will fill you up.
Haven't been to Patties in years but it was great home cooked food :happy0064:
I've heard the Ark Experience in KY is really good.
Ocoee River White Water rafting in East Tennessee is a great time.
Fun post to read...
If you pass through Memphis on your way east or west, stop by the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid on the river. In East TN, Check out Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains. Lots of good trout streams too.
Check out the Big South Fork on the KY/TN border
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Places to visit:
Yahoo Falls -- tallest in KY
Cumberland Falls -- close to BSF one of only two places with a moonbow
Blue Heron Overlooks -- Spectacular views. Hike to Mine 18
Mine 18 -- reconstructed coal town -- ride the train from Stearns
. . . I've been going for 30 years and I still haven't seen all the sites. My wife grew up there; she hasn't seen them all. Most are an easy hike from a parking lot, but you can go as deep as you want. BSF is big.
Places to Stay:
Parkland in Stearns
Cumberland Park Inn, Campground, Cabins
Blue Heron Campground
Great Meadows Campground
The campgrounds are usually empty except for holiday weekends.
There's a lot to see around Little rock and a nice state park lodge. Never been to Nashville. In Kym there's Ky horse park ( a good visit) definitely do some of the bourbon trail. I would recommend Woodford Reserve, Wild turkey and Makers Mark. You could also visit the barrel factory. The red river gorge area is nice. I have never found anything great about Indiana corn fields (sorry hoosiers).
Capt Pete, I live in TN. Are you interested in hiking to see waterfalls? If so, let me know and I'll give you some spots.
Also, the tour of the Jack Daniels distillery is pretty cool!! 😎
The Bass Pro is really neat. It has one of the best aquariums I've ever seen and the "wildlife exhibit" is really cool. Be sure to do both of those. When we went we also visited Laura Ingels Wilders home place in Mansfield about 40 minutes away. The kids were reading through the little house on the prairie books so that was neat to see.
In Tennessee there's a handful of state parks close together that have some great hikes with waterfalls. Fall Creek Falls, Burgess, and Cummings. We really enjoyed these. If you end up in the east side of the state Smoky Mountain knife works is the biggest knife store in the country. There's some cool geological and history stuff in the basement to.
Kentucky has Mammoth Cave. I visited it as a kid. Which was a long time ago haha.
Have fun.
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Like Tail Feathers mentioned the Arc in Kentucky. I was there about a month ago it is very interesting. One thing I do want to mention if you go there. There security is tight there. It was snowing there the day we went so not a lot of people. My wife and I did just happened to be first in line to get in and load the first buss. I had my big camouflage jacket on with gloves in pockets. I was told to take one line going in and my wife a different one. I was asked if I had any weapons, answer no. So was asked to remove everything from pockets. Spread eagle while he waved a wand along side to make sure. I hadn't looked at the other line if every one was getting the same scanning. They were not the first buss was full and waiting by the time I got in. So don't have camouflage on must be a trigger for there profiling to be screening.
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In AR Blanchard Springs Caverns is really cool, Hot Springs national park (maybe check out the horse races while you're there), crater of diamonds park.
In southern Missouri there's lots of old mills along the eleven point river that's neat, mammoth spring state park (it's technically in AR but right on the line) a couple other neat state parks also around the Thayer area.