Scenic Drives & Scenic Places | Auto & RV Touring

Welcome to ScenicPathways, a guide to scenic drives, interesting travel destinations and attractions, and places of particular interest to campers and RVers.

We are Ross & Joanne veteran campers and wilderness explorers (by canoe) who in retirement bought a motorhome to travel across the United States and Canada. Here we pass on tips to some of our favorite drives, scenic places and favorite destinations to spend a few days.

New articles:

• RV Shows: Best RV Shows for 2020
• Restaurant Reviews: Best Restaurants in Cedar Key, Florida
• RV Reviews: Winnebago Fuse Review 
  One of the top compact class C RVs
• Hidden Gulf Coast Gem: Top Things to Do in Cedar Key, Gem of the Hidden Coast
• Best Modular Camper Vans – Save money and have a dual purpose cargo and camper van.

Other new articles:

• We’ve recently updated our series of articles driving along the Natchez Trace National Scenic Drive.
• Which are the Best Class B RV Motorhomes.

Florida-Mississippi Gulf Shore Campground Reviews

• Campground Review for Florida’s Big Lagoon State Park
• Campground Review Mississippi Davis Bayou NP campground.
• Campground Review Fort Pickens – Pensacola Beach
• Indian Pass Campground Review
• Shell Mound Campground Review
• Grayton Beach State Park Campground Review

Some of our favorite scenic drives

Upper Mississippi Great River Road

One of our favorite scenic drives is along the Upper Mississippi Great River Road (see articles here). During this section of the Great River Road, much of the scenic drive runs along the actual river itself and through picturesque smaller towns who owe their founding to an era when travel along the Great River was the primary means of moving goods and people north and south. The picture at the top of this page shows a view from Effigy Mounds National Monument Park located on the top of one of the many bluffs that line the river along the Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota scenic drives.

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Gulf Coast Scenic Drive

Last winter we extended our exploration of Florida’s Scenic Gulf Coast Highway 98 from Pensacola Beach to south of Tallahassee. At Tallahassee, Highway 98 moves away from the coast and technically no longer a coastal drive. However, we had heard good things about Cedar Keys, a Gulf resort beach community about 150 miles south of Tallahassee. So we took a drive down that far and we really impressed.

See our article on Visiting Cedar Key, Gulf Coast Island Village.  Also found two RV campgrounds down there we like: Shell Mound County Park and Manatee Springs State Park.

Some other recent Posts you might enjoy:

• Compact European Motorhomes – Lots of space and top quality in a small footprint
• Best USA-Canadian Compact Motorhomes – Trying harder to match Europe’s standards!
•  2019 Top RV Shows – Our calendar of best RV shows to catch this year.
• Hot Springs National Park – Updated posts with new info on RV Camping, Hiking Trails, and other attractions
• Historic Mineral Point Wisconsin – unique boutiques, artisan attractions, antiques, historic inns, etc.
• “Extreme Travel Trailers” – Camping Trailers for Back Country Camping

Other recent posts:

• Grant River Corps Campground Review
• Visiting Historic Natchez, MS
• Best Natchez Restaurants & Pubs
• Pensacola Beach Florida
• Destin Florida Harborwalk & Beaches
• Best Restaurants in Pensacola Beach
• Chicago RV & Camping Show
• Part 2. Gulf Coast Scenic Drive
• Grayton Beach, Florida
• Apalachicola, Florida

Here are some of our more popular Scenic Pathways travel articles you might enjoy:

• Fort Pickens – Gulf Islands National Park & Campground
  Excellent uncrowded beaches, hiking trails, top quality campground, and interesting military history.
• Visiting Pensacola, Things to See and Do
  Attractive historic city whose roots trace back to the earliest European settlements.
• Natchez Trace Scenic Drive
  Historic scenic byway, no stoplights, ad signs, nor commercial traffic. 50 mph speed limit. Hundreds of historic markers and exhibits along the route.
• St. Croix Interstate Park & Campground along the St. Croix National Scenic River. See our beautiful fall color pictures. The park offers camping on both sides of the river and some terrific hiking and scenery along the canyon rim of the river.
• Scenic Travel & RV Guides
  While the Internet has a wealth of information, we always use and like hand-held books and guides that require no electricity or wireless connection to use!
• Agate and Rock Picking on Lake Superior Beaches Finding pretty rocks and agates is a favorite pastime on Lake Superior’s uncrowded and expansive sand beaches.
• Hot Springs National Park & Campground
  One of the oldest National Parks with an interesting history, historical spas, and a terrific network of day hiking trails and scenic overlooks.
• Upper Mississippi River Great River Road
  See our map and directory to articles on what many rank as the most scenic section of the entire Mississippi Great River Road.

• RV Travel Links and Resources
  If you are a camper or RV traveler, here’s some of our favorite and useful links to Internet guides to campgrounds and parks, other blogs with useful scenic travel info, and other stuff of interest to the motor home and rv campers.
• Pods Trailers, Tear-Drops & Ultra-Lite Campers
  See photos, our reports, and links to some of the new models of travel trailers and RVs.

The recent Hurricane of 2018 will affect travel along the Florida Gulf Coast Scenic Drive from Panana City Beach to historic Apalachicola, Florida. You’ll have to take a few detours along the route. Fortunately, although they got a lot of water, Apalachicola should be recovering nicely from the storm and is planning on continuing to hold their annual Florida Seafood Festival.

Searching. You can use the Search box to find information of interest (like RV Camping) or sometimes the topic of your interest is among the drill down links in the Main Menu. For example if you are interested in seeing maps of the Great River Road Scenic Drive, go to “Scenic Drives & Scenic Places” then to “Great River Road Scenic Drive” and then in the drop-down menu see “Great River Road Map & Directory.”

Ross

June 2019