I'll be driving from college in colo springs to home in pennsylvania in mid may. I've about had it with route 80 and would like to see the heart of the country. Any suggestions for stops through the above states? Prairies, hills, streams, caves, good flower spots, wildlife areas; anything to get off the road for a while. Close proximity to the major highways doesn't matter, maybe even less desirable. thanks for any input.

Mt Sunflower just over the KS border off I 70, if you're into state highpointing. Even you're not, it's a really nice little 30 min detour off the interstate and you get into some real solitude.

Here are my suggestions, double posted from the other forum:

Ozarks: Ozark Trail, Ozark National Rivers, Mark Twain National Forest (several state parks). Silver Mine campground may be the best. Those are in Missouri. I haven't been to the Buffalo River in Arkansas but it's highly recommended.

Southern Illinois: Shawnee National Forest especially Garden of the Gods area.

Southern Indiana: Hoosier National Forest especially Charles Deam Wilderness. Nice second-growth forest.

Western Central Indiana: Turkey Run and Shades state parks. Very distinctive canyons.

Northern Indiana: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, avoid the beaches and hike behind (south) of the dunes.

Kentucky: Mammoth Cave National Park. Do a cave tour or cross the river and do some hiking.

Kentucky/Tennessee: Land Between the Lakes, a more developed rec area but with hikes, campgrounds, power boating, and a battlefield!

Many of those have SP pages (some by yours truly).

Arthur Digbee wrote:Here are my suggestions, double posted from the other forum:

Ozarks: Ozark Trail, Ozark National Rivers, Mark Twain National Forest (several state parks). Silver Mine campground may be the best. Those are in Missouri. I haven't been to the Buffalo River in Arkansas but it's highly recommended.

Southern Illinois: Shawnee National Forest especially Garden of the Gods area.

Southern Indiana: Hoosier National Forest especially Charles Deam Wilderness. Nice second-growth forest.

Western Central Indiana: Turkey Run and Shades state parks. Very distinctive canyons.

Northern Indiana: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, avoid the beaches and hike behind (south) of the dunes.

Kentucky: Mammoth Cave National Park. Do a cave tour or cross the river and do some hiking.

Kentucky/Tennessee: Land Between the Lakes, a more developed rec area but with hikes, campgrounds, power boating, and a battlefield!

Many of those have SP pages (some by yours truly).

Turkey Run and the Indiana Dunes are excellent spots I've gone to time and time again.

If you really want to hit the dunes though, you should go up to the Warren Dunes in the southwestern tip of Michigan.

You can boulder at little rock city. I think that's in Arkansas

I grew up in southern Illinois and lived in St. Louis for several years. My favorite areas were the St. Francis Mountains and Current River area and the many associated shut-ins of southern Missouri. I maintain an area page for the St. Francis Mountains which includes references to many of the area shut-ins. My favorite is the Hahn's Mill shut-ins(also referred to as the Castor River shut-ins). Southern Missouri also has some amazing natural springs and caves. My favorite spring is Blue Spring along the Current River - it is amazing - like looking into an aquarium.

FYI - you won't be disappointed if you try the Buffalo River area of northern Arkansas either.

thanks all for the suggestions so far. they've got my imagination going, especially all this undeveloped cave talk, like child of god by cormac mccarthy. i feel like i should extend the ride back from one week to two.