Salt Lake City to Nashville Road Trip Guide

Before you and your buds hit the road, make one last stop in Salt Lake City by visiting the Red Butte Garden. It’s always a good idea to start a road trip outdoors since you’ll be cooped up between points of interest along the journey to Nashville. The Red Butte Garden consists of both a botanical garden and an amphitheater. There you will also find an arboretum. If you’re traveling with a plant lover, this place is a must-see.

It is operated by the University of Utah and is open year-round to the public. There you will see a variety of different plants, flowers, and even a waterfall in the garden! Before making your way to Wyoming, you may want to rest at one of the local RV parks. Salt Lake City KOA will be a comfortable place to stay overnight.

One of the more unique places to stop along the way to Nashville is the Wyoming Frontier Prison Museum. This place is somewhere that will take you back in time. Even if you’ve never committed a crime in your life, a visit to the Wyoming Frontier Prison Museum will make you feel like you’re one of the people who would call it home. At one point, this was a high-security prison that had hundreds of empty cells.

Upon visiting, you may notice that there’s a bit of a ghostly feeling to the air at the Wyoming Frontier Prison Museum. This museum has guided tours available for guests. The guides will teach you all about the rich history of the prison, why it shut down, and what it was like for those who called it home. If you’re looking to rest after this heavy experience, Rawlins KOA Holiday is nearby.

If you like the great outdoors, you’ll love stopping at the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. This forest has a ton of amazing land for you to explore. When you're visiting during the peak season, you’ll get to enjoy an afternoon of hiking. You can also take out the four-wheeler and ride around. It’s an amazing area to go rock climbing, as long as you have prior experience.

When visiting during the off-season, you can still have a good time at Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. If there’s snow on the ground, you’ll be able to enjoy an afternoon of skiing, snowmobiling, or sledding. You can also go hunting or just enjoy building snow people in the snow! This is the perfect place to stretch your legs and bonus - you can park the motorhome there overnight before you make your way to Lincoln.

It’s understandable that after a few hours of driving through Nebraska, you’ll need a change of scenery. As you approach one of the more populous cities, Lincoln, you’ll be able to visit the Sunken Gardens. This garden was constructed in the early 1930s and has made it into the National Geographic Guide to Public Gardens before!

There are a whopping 30,000 individual plants and flowers that you’ll be able to view during your visit. Planning your trip for the fall will give you the opportunity to watch the leaves change color! This is unlike any garden you’ve ever seen before. If you’re traveling in the spring you’ll be able to watch the tulips bloom and in the summer you can see many more flowers come to life! There is camping all around the state and in this area of Lincoln.

Speaking of places where you can get a break from staring at the road all day long, located in Omaha, Nebraska, Fun-Plex Waterpark is a more modern way to cool off during the warm summer months. The name will have you thinking this is only a waterpark, when in fact it’s a full-on amusement park! Actually, it is considered to be the largest amusement park in all of Nebraska.

It has the only roller coaster in the state and there are plenty of things for visitors of all ages to enjoy. A cool fact about the Fun-Plex Waterpark is that the entire park started as a simple go-kart track in the late 1970s. When it comes to water-based activities here, you can enjoy a fun wave pool there that will make you feel like you’re in the ocean. Don’t forget that adults can take advantage of the swim-up bar for a cocktail right in the water!

As you make your way to Nashville, consider making a pit stop in Kansas City, Missouri. Located just off of I-35 South, Worlds of Fun is a great place to stop. Whether you’re traveling with your friends, a group of kids, or just your significant other, this place will keep you entertained for hours on end. You may want to bring your swimsuit to be able to enjoy the water rides like the Riptide Raceway. There are three types of rides within the park.

Thrill rides are the large roller coasters that have a height requirement and are the fastest, most intense rides in the park. Family rides are classic fair rides like the scrambler where both adults and kids can ride together. There are plenty of kid-friendly campgrounds around as well.

When most tourists think of things to do in Saint Louis, the infamous Arch comes to mind. While you can still do that during your trip, the City Museum is a more unique place to stop and see. With over 600,000 visitors every year, this museum is worth checking out. There are massive exhibits that are created using repurposed architectural and industrial objects.

The City Museum is housed in the former International Shoe building in the Washington Avenue Loft District. It was first opened in 1997 and has been attracting people from all over the country ever since. You won’t see anything else like this during your trip. If you need a place to stay before the final leg of the trip, there are plenty of RV parks in the area.

It doesn’t matter if the people you’re traveling with are fans of country music, making one last stop at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee is a must. It was founded nearly 60 years ago in 1961. This legendary museum has seen some of the most iconic performers in the past several years. Many don’t know that this is the largest museum in all of Tennessee.

The Country Music Hall of Fame was originally created as a research center that is dedicated to making sure American vernacular music is kept alive and well. During your visit, you’ll be able to see one of the largest collections of music in the entire world! After a long day at the museum, you can hit the hay at the Nashville Koa Holiday, Two Rivers Campground, and Anderson Road Campground are some of the closest options.