The Funhog Family 50 State Challenge – 1st Stage (States East of Arizona)
Preparations are underway and a rough itinerary has been mapped. For the first stage of our journey we have decided to tackle the states east of Arizona. This will take roughly three months to complete (July – October). Each destination is anywhere from 2-6hrs drive time. So, each drive day we will get up early and drive until noon. We will stay two nights and then start the cycle over again. Please let us know if you have suggestions on places we should see or unique adventures that are a must, we would love to hear from you. And if you’re in the area, come join us!!
States East of Arizona
Map: The Funhog Family 50 State Challenge
Itinerary:
July 4 – Black Rock Mesa State Park, Oklahoma (Birding at Nature Preserve and hike to OK’s highest point)
July 6 – Cimmaron National Grassland, Kansas (Point of Rocks – Hiking)
July 8 – Mullen, Nebraska (Tanking)
July 10 – Custer State Park, South Dakota (Rock Climbing/Mt Rushmore & Crazy Horse)
July 12 – Sioux Falls State Park, South Dakota (Kayak Big Sioux River)
July 14 – De Smet, South Dakota (Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead)
July 15 – Sheyenne National Grassland, North Dakota (Hike part of the North Country Trail and watch for wild prairie chickens!)
July 17 – Itasca State Park, Minnesota (Bike/Hike across the Mississippi Headwaters)
July 19 – Porcupine State Park, Michigan (Kayak Presque Isle River/ Hiking in same area)
July 21 – Copper Falls State Park, Wisconsin (Hiking around numerous waterfalls)
July 23 – Decorah Ice Cave, Iowa (Exploring a small ice cave)
July 25 – Onondaga Cave State Park, Missouri (Caving)
July 27 – Garden of the Gods/Cave-In-Rock, Illinois (Hiking)
July 29 – Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky (Caving – World’s longest known cave system)
July 31 – Clifty Falls State Park, Indiana (Playing in the creek/Exploring old railroad tunnel)
August 2 – Answers In Genesis Creation Museum, Kentucky (Exploring)
August 4 – Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio (Rock Climbing/Rappelling/Hiking – Old Man’s Cave & Conkles Hollow)
August 6 – Blackwater Falls State Park, West Virgina (Hiking)
August 8 – Frank Lyod Wright’s Fallingwater, Pennsylvania (Sightseeing)
August 9 – Youghiogheny River, Pennsylvania (Tubing/Kayaking)
August 11 – Niagara Falls, New York (Sightseeing)
August 13 – Thousand Islands, New York (Boating around islands and castles)
August 15 – Smuggler’s Notch, Vermont (Hike Bingham Falls & more)
August 17 – Franconia Notch, New Hampshire (The Flume Gorge, Kinsman Falls & Rocky Glen Falls Hikes)
August 19 – Acadia National Park, Maine (Tour Lighthouses, Go lobstering, Pick blueberries hiking Mount Desert Island}
August 22 – Walden Pond, Massachusetts (Hike around Walden Pond and explore Thoreau’s home)
August 24 – Newport, Rhode Island (Sailing)
August 26 – Sleepiong Giant State Park, CT (Rock Climb, Hike Tower trail)
August 28 – Mohonk Mountain Preserve, New York (Rock Climbing and Rappelling)
August 30 – High Point State Park, New Jersey (Hike section of Appalachian Trail and swin Lake Marcia)
September 1 – White Clay State Park, Delaware (Hike and play in the creek)
September 3 – Assateague Island, Maryland (Beach/Wild ponies)
September 4 – Chincoteague Island, Virginia (Beach/Wild ponies)
September 6 – Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Virginia (Sight Seeing)
September 8 – Green River Narrows, North Carolina (Hiking/Kayaking)
September 10 – Table Rock State Park, South Carolina (Hiking Carrick Creek,Rock Climbing)
September 12 – Ocoee River, Tennessee (Kayaking/Rafting)
September 14 – Cloudland Canyon State Park, Georgia (Hike Waterfalls Trail)
September 16 – DeSoto Falls State Park, Alabama (Hike to the Falls and around the creek)
September 18 – Tishomingo State Park, Mississippi (Rock climbing, Kayak/tube Bear Creek)
September 20 – Crater of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas (Diamond Hunting)
September 22 – Mineral Wells State Park, Texas (Rock Climbing)
September 24 – Carlsbad Caverns Nation Park, New Mexico (Caving)
{ 7 comments }
Sounds like a great adventure for your family. I noticed that in September your NC and SC stops are both less than an hour from my house! Hope we can see each other then.
Mandy, that would be great!! We would love to see you and meet your little one!
My parents live right outside of Albuquerque (in Edgewood). If you all need a place to stay while driving through to OK, let me know. I know they would be happy to accomodate you all!!
Thank you Sandra for the offer. This is just the type of experience we are looking for. Experiences that will allow us to connect with the people in the states we are traveling through!
Having grown up in western NE, I have spent a lot of time in the Black Hills of SD. Things I would suggest are the Black Hills Passion Play, the closing ceremony at Mt Rushmore, with commentary and fireworks…well worth it. Since you guys are hikers, you can park for free down the hill from Mt Rushmore and hike back up. Crazy Horse, though who knows when and if it will ever by completed, has quite a story. You can see it from the road if you don’t have time to visit or prefer not to pay the admission fee. The drive up Needles Highway is worth the side trip. Keystone has great salt water taffy, or so I am told! You’ll be too early for the bike rally at Sturgis but it’s not that far out of Rapid City. Deadwood is a great history lesson about the old west and the drive into town is interesting, but it’s all about the casinos now. Gambling saved the town from extinction. They do have street shootouts every so often during the day and there are tours you can take but it isn’t what it used to be. Hot Springs is a neat little town. You might enjoy swimming at Evans Plunge…an indoor water park, natural springs, 87 degrees mineral water. It has been a kid favorite forever!!
There are several ways to get from Mullen, NE to Rapid City, SD most will show you parts of NE that will give you the impression that it is all Sand Hills and flat. (It isn’t all that way but due to time constraints, you’ll have to take my word for it!) If you happen along Highway 20 and pass through Rushville, NE that is where my sister lives. My brother-in-law helps cook and serve a fabulous buffet breakfast every Sunday from 7-11 at the American Legion if you’re in the neighborhood. It’s not only the best breakfast in town, it’s the only breakfast in town. Once you see the area, you will understand!! We are talking small town central here where everyone is related, somehow, cell phone service is spotty, at best, and the population changes depending on what sign you drive past. You won’t have many stop lights to slow you down, but let me warn you, along Highway 2 and Highway 20, speed limits are STRICTLY enforced!! Speed traps are legendary.
Thank you Myrna for all this great info! We will be putting it to use very soon.
This sounds like a great adventure you and your family will remember for a life time. I grew up with 11 brother and sisters and our parents took us camping all the time. The experiences we enjoyed camping, playing in the river. hiking around in the woods, and having every meal around a camp fire is something everyone should do with their family. I am excited to join up with you and your family to go on a river float down the Maquoketa River (starting off just below the Dam that breached last summer) and ended with a primitive camp out at Camp Howiewanna. I also am looking forward to following your blog and sharing it with my family. It will be very interesting to hear about all your family adventures.