My wife and I are planning a road trip in November through the mountains of Arkansas, through Tennessee to the Blue Ridge Parkway, south to north. I would appreciate any suggestions concerning spots not to miss and also places for overnight stay. We realize that we will miss much of the fall color but her business precludes leaving earlier.
Fall Creek Falls near Cookeville, tn
I don't know how close it would be to your route, but the Luray Caverns in Virginia are worth a visit. Charlottesville, VA is home to 2 Presidential homes--Montpelier (Madison) and Monticello (Jefferson). I enjoyed the AAF Tank Museum at Danville, VA.
flashguy
billnikon
Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
druthven wrote:
My wife and I are planning a road trip in November through the mountains of Arkansas, through Tennessee to the Blue Ridge Parkway, south to north. I would appreciate any suggestions concerning spots not to miss and also places for overnight stay. We realize that we will miss much of the fall color but her business precludes leaving earlier.
Craggy Gardens.
Waterrock Knob.
Grandfather Mountain State Park.
Julian Price Memorial Park.
Mabry Mill.
DougS
Loc: Central Arkansas
In Arkansas: Petit Jean State Park; Blanchard Springs, (but unfortunately the caverns are closed for now, but still a pretty/interesting area); Mountain View, quaint town with the Ozark Folk Center State Park; Elk near Ponca, along a portion of the Buffalo River (quite scenic area); Hwy's 7 and 23 (the Pig Trail) in northern part of the state. Haw Creek Falls, google "Tim Ernst" for lots more waterfalls in Arkansas.
Be sure to spend at least 2 days in the Smoky Mts NP, north to south, the Blue Ridge Parkway begins at the southern edge of the SMNP, near Cherokee, NC. Near there, stay at the Best Western Plus River Escape Inn & Suites 248 WBI Dr, Dillsboro, NC 28725•(828) 586-6060, it is literally on the edge of a river, VERY nice.
First, I am planning a similar trip from AR to the SM\Blue Ridge. I leave when foliage is approaching prime based on several sources including
https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map-embed/ (note, this morning this is showing 502 bad gateway). We shot AR first week of November last year (
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmS5VWrP). If fall foliage is your focus, AR (including Route 1 AR to OK) will be behind SM\Blue Ridge due to altitude difference. I know a group that is planning Beaver Bend mid-November. Hope this helps, thanks for the question, I am copying the responses.
Linville Falls and Mt. Mitchell, NC on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mt Mitchell is the highest mountain east of the Rockeys.
Ruby Falls cave, that has waterfall inside the cave is in my bucket list. It's in Chattanooga TN.
If you go to Mountain View, Arkansas, you might want to visit this place:
https://www.jacksresort.com/home. You can fish the White River, and the co-located Jo Jo's Catfish Wharf has great food!
druthven wrote:
My wife and I are planning a road trip in November through the mountains of Arkansas, through Tennessee to the Blue Ridge Parkway, south to north. I would appreciate any suggestions concerning spots not to miss and also places for overnight stay. We realize that we will miss much of the fall color but her business precludes leaving earlier.
Highway 7 from Harrison to almost Fort Smith in Arkansas is one of the most spectacular drives I have ever been on. The trouble is that the road when I was last on it had few stops along the crest.
The switchbacks at 15mph are accurate: faster and you might take a long plunge.
Meadwilliam wrote:
Fall Creek Falls near Cookeville, tn
Fall Creek Falls is near Spencer from one side and Pikeville on the other side. Burgess Falls is between Sparta and Cookeville and is spectacular. Cummins Falls is another great falls north of Cookeville but there was a flash flood a few years back and seems like a couple of people drowned during that. One of my favorites is Rock Island near McMinnville.
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