# Road trips in Tennessee > 9 road trips and 14 hand-picked places in Tennessee, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. Source: https://camping-spirit.com/roadtrips/tennessee/ 9 road trips and 14 hand-picked places in Tennessee, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. ## Road trips through Tennessee - [Cumberland Plateau waterfalls](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b9-cumberland-plateau/): Five state parks with waterfalls and gorges along the edge of Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau, from Cookeville to Chattanooga. - [The quiet side of the Smokies: Foothills Parkway and Cades Cove](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b19-smokies-tennessee/): Look Rock tower, the log cabins and wildlife of Cades Cove, Little River Road and the narrow Roaring Fork loop above Gatlinburg. - [Music highway: Nashville to New Orleans](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/music-highway/): Country, soul, blues and jazz, with Memphis in the middle. - [Natchez Trace Parkway](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/natchez-trace/): A 444-mile parkway with no trucks and no billboards, from Nashville to the Mississippi at Natchez. - [Cumberland Gap and the moonbow at Cumberland Falls](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b19-cumberland-gap/): Follow Daniel Boone’s Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap and across the Kentucky coalfields to the great falls of the Cumberland River. - [The Blues Highway](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/blues-highway/): Highway 61 from Memphis through the Mississippi Delta, where the blues began, to Vicksburg. - [Faulkner, Elvis and Shiloh: north Mississippi hill country](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b19-north-mississippi-shiloh/): From Memphis to Faulkner’s Oxford, Elvis’s birthplace in Tupelo, the rock gorges of Tishomingo and the Civil War battlefield of Shiloh. - [Great Smoky Mountains and the Tail of the Dragon](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/smokies-dragon/): Newfound Gap, the highest point in the Smokies and 318 curves at Deals Gap. - [North Alabama: Helen Keller, rockets and caves](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b19-north-alabama/): From Nashville to the Shoals, Huntsville’s space center, the giant caverns of the Tennessee Valley and the iron god Vulcan above Birmingham. ## Places worth the detour in Tennessee - [National Civil Rights Museum](https://camping-spirit.com/places/civil-rights/): Built into the former Lorraine Motel. A moving walk through the history of the civil rights movement. - [Cummins Falls State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b9-cummins-falls/): A wide, stepped 75-foot waterfall with a swimming hole, reached by wading up the river gorge. Gorge access needs a permit bought in advance and closes when water is high. - [Fall Creek Falls State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b9-fall-creek-falls/): Tennessee’s largest state park, whose namesake falls drop 256 feet into a wooded gorge. A scenic drive links several overlooks; the trail to the base is steep. - [Cades Cove](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b19-cades-cove/): A mountain valley with log cabins, churches and a mill, circled by an 18 km one-way loop road where deer, turkeys and black bears are common. Closed to cars on Wednesdays from May to September; go early. - [Graceland](https://camping-spirit.com/places/graceland/): Elvis Presley's 1939 mansion, including the Jungle Room, the gold records and the pink Cadillac. - [Ryman Auditorium](https://camping-spirit.com/places/ryman/): A former tabernacle that became the "Mother Church of Country Music". Take the daytime tour or see a show. - [Elkmont Campground](https://camping-spirit.com/places/cg-elkmont/): The largest campground in the Smokies, along the Little River. Synchronous fireflies appear here in early June. - [Natchez Trace double arch bridge](https://camping-spirit.com/places/double-arch/): An award-winning concrete bridge carrying the parkway across a valley near Nashville. - [Burgess Falls State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b9-burgess-falls/): A series of waterfalls on the Falling Water River, ending with a big drop into a gorge. A short trail leads to an overlook of the main falls. - [Rock Island State Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b9-rock-island-sp/): The Caney Fork gorge with Twin Falls pouring from the rock wall below a dam. Water levels change quickly with dam releases, so obey the warning horns. - [Foster Falls](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b9-foster-falls/): A 60-foot waterfall in a sandstone amphitheater, part of South Cumberland State Park and popular with climbers. A short trail leads to the overlook. - [Shiloh National Military Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b19-shiloh/): Site of the bloody two-day battle of April 1862, with a tour road, a national cemetery on the Tennessee River bluff and prehistoric Shiloh Indian Mounds. The visitor center film is worth watching first. - [Look Rock, Foothills Parkway](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b19-look-rock/): A 800 m paved path climbs from the Foothills Parkway to an observation tower with a 360° view of the Smokies. The parkway has no commercial traffic and several overlooks; free. - [Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b19-roaring-fork/): A narrow one-way 9 km road past old-growth forest, cascading streams and historic cabins, starting from Cherokee Orchard Road. No buses, trailers or RVs; closed in winter. ## FAQs **What are the best road trips in Tennessee?** Popular routes include Cumberland Plateau waterfalls, The quiet side of the Smokies: Foothills Parkway and Cades Cove, Music highway: Nashville to New Orleans and Natchez Trace Parkway. CampingSpirit has 9 trip guides that pass through Tennessee, each with a stop-by-stop itinerary and a route map. **Which places in Tennessee are worth a detour?** Our editors recommend National Civil Rights Museum, Cummins Falls State Park, Fall Creek Falls State Park and Cades Cove.