Road trip through Nebraska and Ozarks. Any suggestions?

[mountainsoft]

I found this State Park with cabin rentals to be amazing - Petit Jean Mountain S.P. Arkansas (Ozarks)

Petit Jean State Park

Petit Jean State Park is an Arkansas classic, a natural and historic treasure that has welcomed travelers for decades.

www.arkansasstateparks.com

Looks promising. I'll add it to my maybe list...

 

[audreyh1]

Good to know. I've never been to the area, so I wasn't sure how easy it was to avoid. A quick look at Google maps made it look like the whole area was a big theme park!

We didn’t spend time in cities/large towns. There are a huge number of outstanding parks and natural areas. You can really escape.

Definitely not an extensive theme park, those areas are quite contained. I mean, we were close to Branson once and didn’t even notice!

You’ll probably wish you were camping though. I’m glad we were in an RV.

 

[mountainsoft]

Has anyone driven the "Pig Trail Scenic Byway"? Is it actually scenic?

Are there any drives through the Ozarks you would recommend?

 

[audreyh1]

Looks promising. I'll add it to my maybe list...

We enjoyed hiking and wildlife watching there (Petit Jean) very much. And the drive from there to Mount Magazine was very scenic.

 

[mountainsoft]

You’ll probably wish you were camping though. I’m glad we were in an RV.

We're not really set up for camping. My little car is great for road trips, but there's not much room beyond our luggage and food items. Besides, I'm a bit too "pampered princess" these days to enjoy camping.

 

[HarveyS]

WW1 museum in KC, MO is well worth a half day.

 

[audreyh1]

We're not really set up for camping. My little car is great for road trips, but there's not much room beyond our luggage and food items. Besides, I'm a bit too "pampered princess" these days to enjoy camping.

Yeah, our large DP motorhome was definitely “princess style”camping. Although our first visit to the area was in a much smaller RV. Definitely still comfortable.

But some of these parks have decent cabins and lodges, and even resort class lodges.

 

[imjustawarrior]

If you like art:
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, Ark)
Woolaroc (near Bartlesville, Ok) a little out of the way, but it is amazing
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (KC, Mo)

The Bass Pro in Springfield, Mo, is amazing. The aquarium is one of the best we have been to. There is a lot to see there.

 

[mountainsoft]

Kayaking the Buffalo River in Arkansas sounded interesting, but every company I ran across only offers shuttle service with your personal vehicle. In other words, someone drives your vehicle down to the take out point. That's just weird to me. Every other shuttle we've ever used transports you in a van or bus back to the starting point (or up to the start point for you to run back down). Your personal vehicle stays parked in the lot the entire trip.

Maybe I'm just not that trusting, but on a road trip where all of our belongings are in our personal vehicle, I'm not handing the keys over to someone else for a joy ride.

So, I guess I'll check that activity off the to-do list...

 

[audreyh1]

Kayaking the Buffalo River in Arkansas sounded interesting, but every company I ran across only offers shuttle service with your personal vehicle. In other words, someone drives your vehicle down to the take out point. That's just weird to me. Every other shuttle we've ever used transports you in a van or bus back to the starting point (or up to the start point for you to run back down). Your personal vehicle stays parked in the lot the entire trip.

Maybe I'm just not that trusting, but on a road trip where all of our belongings are in our personal vehicle, I'm not handing the keys over to someone else for a joy ride.

So, I guess I'll check that activity off the to-do list...

That is odd! We’ve always been shuttled back to the start.

 

[imjustawarrior]

Kayaking the Buffalo River in Arkansas sounded interesting, but every company I ran across only offers shuttle service with your personal vehicle. In other words, someone drives your vehicle down to the take out point. That's just weird to me. Every other shuttle we've ever used transports you in a van or bus back to the starting point (or up to the start point for you to run back down). Your personal vehicle stays parked in the lot the entire trip.

Maybe I'm just not that trusting, but on a road trip where all of our belongings are in our personal vehicle, I'm not handing the keys over to someone else for a joy ride.

So, I guess I'll check that activity off the to-do list...

Maybe not everyone wants to go back to the start. On a multi-day journey, a shuttle service that could take your car to the final destination would be quite useful.