
Gulf Islands Scenic Drive
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: Top Ten Best Restaurants Cedar Key, Florida
- RV Reviews: Winnebago Fuse Review
One of the top compact class C RVsOther 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.
Some of favorite scenic drives
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.

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 things to see and do visiting Cedar Key. Also found two 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
Thanks for the tip Ron. I’ll take a look at your site soon. Sorry for the delay in responding. Somehow missed that this came through.
Ross
rvcrossroads.com is a non commercial site written and maintained by Ron and Martha Hughes, a retired newspaperman and a school teacher. maybe you can consider adding it to your list of blogs.
Thanks David for the compliment. The Trace is a neat ride isn’t it. We have 2005 QD which is now going into winter storage until we take our spring trip. If you ever do any traveling in the north central US you might also enjoy our SuperiorTrails.com website.
Happy Traveling,
Ross
What a wonderfull site. I have a 1999 FD Rialta and just returned from a great drive down The Natchez Trace.Plan to spend hours here before I plan my next trip. Thanks, David Evans
beautiful web site and great info
baldtbird.05.qd
Glad we could help Bart. Hope the weather was good for the last leg of your trip.
Ross
I’m in Sault Ste. Marie bicycling clockwise Duluth to Duluth. Wonderful trip. Thanks for the help you gave me earlier when I emailed asking for advice.
Hi Marianne,
Good to hear from you again. I’ve added information on your new boondocking website to our RV Camping & Travel Resources page.
In two days we are heading for Wisconsin’s scenic Door County hoping to catch some nice fall color and explore the many interesting things to see and do there.
–Ross
Hi Ross and Jo
About a year ago you contacted me to request a link to your site. I put it off at that point (can’t remember why) but have just checked back to discover that your posts have continued to grow and…Wow! Your blog has become a great valuable resource for RVers.
Good job!!!
You’ll find the link here: http://www.frugal-rv-travel.com/RV-Travel-Blog.html
Let me know if you’d like any changes.
By the way, have you discovered my other website for RVers yet? It’s new, and a totally unique idea that’s catching on fast. Check it out at http://www.boondockerswelcome.com