May 17, 2024 - Things to Do
Summer road trip ideas from Nashville
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The descent into Mammoth Cave. Photo: Courtesy of the National Park Service
Summer is coming, and we're itching to get away.
- With Memorial Day just around the bend, we're highlighting a few family-friendly road trips to help enliven your holiday weekend and the rest of summer vacation.
🪨 Mammoth Cave National Park (about 90 minutes away): A nature lover's paradise.
- The park encompasses more than 52,000 acres in southern Kentucky and has something for everyone: hiking, biking, horseback riding, canoeing and camping.
- It's also home to the longest cave system in the world, and there are guided cave tours to suit everyone's interest, wheelchair-accessible tours, short walking tours and more intensive crawling tours.
- Bonus: Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area is another nearby option in southern Kentucky.
🐠 Chattanooga (a 2.5-hour drive): It's a classic for a reason.
- The Tennessee Aquarium is the state's ultimate field-trip destination. And options for rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking and white-water rafting are plentiful.
- We're partial to the underground waterfall at Ruby Falls, which takes you 26 stories deep into Lookout Mountain.
- At Rock City, which sits atop the mountain, you can see ancient rock formations, lush gardens and stunning views.
🦫 Buc-ee's (two locations are about 90 minutes away): Because sometimes you just want to get out of the house.
- A round trip to one of the nearby Buc-ee's locations doesn't require hotels, bags or reservations.
- It turns the roadside gas station into a festive destination: They've got BBQ-specific chants, exclusive merch and enough specialty snacks to feed the whole family on the way home.
📣 Tell us: Email [email protected] and let us know your favorite family road trips to nearby attractions.