Road Trip Colorado Springs, Colorado to Bradenton, Florida

Shawnee NF will be very cold to camp in Dec.

Nashville you need to make hotel reservations now, its one of the expensive cities for a hotel in the USA at present.

Thats a 2000 mile trip, and I would get south first, via I40, to avoid winter weather....

If not, St Louis is nice stop for a Museum, the Zoo, and Botanical Garden...

best places to eat, just use the Internet, Google, Best new xxxxx in Nashville Etc..

You dont mention any interest and a budget, so I dont want to suggest places to eat and stay, they may not be in your budget...

Thanks for the reply mrmoto. After a seach I think you're right. Shawnee will be a bit too cold to enjoy. We'll have warm camping gear but perhaps we'll wait until further south to camp. I appreciate the heads up on Nashville lodging. It's a bit too far out to know what day we'll land in Nashville but we've got family in the area if need be. Any recommendations for where to stay on our route if we take I40? Looking for personal recommendations like "This is my favorite bbq joint and in a cool part of town" or "If you find yourself in the mood for greek food when in __ definitely go here" As far as budget goes we are flexible. We'll both splurge and pinch pennies depending on how things go. I don't want to miss something worthwhile to save a couple bucks.

When in December--you'll find it's a transitional month until you get to Florida and it will be more humid as you go further South. Decemeber in Nashville or Atlanta is likely to be grey, damp and not so much "warm" as warmer than say, Michigan. You might get days in the 70sF or you might get days in the 40s or 50sF

I was around Shawnee earlier this year--not very large, not much to see unless you like urban destruction---nearby Cairo is good for that. December is when the business /meeting season comes to an end and Nashville may actually be not expensive esp. on a weekend. Nashville has been remaking itself as a conevntion town and capitalizing on the for-profit health sector--Ryman, the Country Hall of Fame and one of well known country bars might fill a day or two. Otherwise it's a pleasanter than average sunbelt sprawlburg. For the best BBQ, try Mary's which is in the North Nashville ghetto near Fisk.

The most direct way from Nashville to Bradenton is via Atlanta, easily the least interesting large city in the US (I used to live there and in Nashville) and then driving through perhaps the most unintersting part of Georgia. The places where you might hike between Nashville and Bradenton would require a detour and would not be warm because of elevation--elevation change that's modest by Rocky Mountain standards matters and in Decemeber, you can experience ice and snow in parts of the North Georgia mountains, although that's not a certainty. Keep in mind with your hiking/camping ventures that will get dark by 5:30 pm.

Atlanta is a dynamic city if you live there, but to visit is a sprawling traffic hell. I am here right now as a type, and don't mind it for work, but would not come here with my wife for a weekend, thats for sure.

The only area a tourist should stay and play in Nashville is down by the gulch or downtown by the all the music bars...otherwise, its not exactly as dynamic as it appears, but its a fun place to be a tourist that likes music, and the dining scene is improving yearly...

Shawnee I have hikes many times over the years, as I grew up in St Louis and pass thur there on my moto adventures when off the beaten path, but always spring or fall...winter would be gloomy, like everywhere, Ozarks, Smokeys, Natchez...Dec is not the time to visit IMO.

I live in Sarasota now, for the 3 months, and if I were you, check out the Crystal River area and natural springs.

Besides a stop in Nashville for fun and a break, just keep going IMO...Dec is NOT the time to explore nature or camp...

Atlanta is frankly, not much of a place for the visitor. A dead downtown, a lack of usual cultural destinations, a third rate art museum, an aquarium that has no interpretive materials. The list goes on from there. It gets little love here and most people who live there and have have departed have no desire to return.

Nashville lost its old tourism base to Branson, Missouri a long time ago. Music City, which now is being genetrified, was always a lot of anonymous recording studios, with a few tourist shops and a longgone, but very good used record store. It has refasioned itself with the for-profit health sector and developing a convention trade, but it's still not what people expect. And OP really shouldn't spend more than a day or two.

For a hiking and camping trip, OP has picked the wrong route and the wrong time of year. If the temperatures remain mild, then some place like St Joe in Florida might be nice, but having done much of their route, it's going to be a boring drive all the way, in terms of conventional attractions or hiking/camping and they probably need to see if some of the smaller places on their route may be more interesting.

For camping you might try Land between the Lakes, could be chilly/wet, probably not much different then Shawnee NF. Just off I-24 try Twin Lakes, small and more remote or the large place like Hillman Ferry, 10-15 minutes off the interstate.

Some decent/good camping in Osceola NF outside of Lake City-Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park. About 20 minutes off I-10/I-75.
Off Hwy.90, the first is called Ocean Pond Campground, actually fairly nice, a mixture of full hooks up to primitive tent sites on the lake, all spread out. Nice stop., about 15 bucks.
Also Hog Pen, just a few minutes down the dirt/sand road is very basic remote and cheap with camp sites on the water, they do have a newer pre-fab outhouse, free or like 5 bucks.
Both are quiet and off the beaten path, for Florida. Weather should be OK for camping.

On the way back Clear Springs in Homochito NF is not bad. Beautiful forest and good/decent hiking. They have an area that's isolated and has primitive camping.
Up by Natchez off Hwy.98-84. Some places like Meadville are dry so get your booze before if you go.
Try and drive the backroads of Miss.-LA when you can, some very nice country roads, fun driving.
Also recommend driving north to Arkansas on the way back, avoid Texas. Check out the north west part, Ozarks are cool. Eureka Springs is a nice town

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.