Get a head start on camping season with a family travel road trip through the Southeast, following the Spacious Skies Campgrounds Spring Bloom Trail through Tennessee, North and South Carolina, and Virginia. Traveling by RV or tent camping, your family will find wildflowers in meadows, woodlands, gardens and along the roadsides.
Of the 1,600 plant species along the Blue Ridge Parkway, north of Spacious Skies Hidden Creek campground in Marion, North Carolina, 80 percent are wildflowers. Rhododendron, Mountain Ash and Dogwood trees also bloom in the spring. Walk along the trails of North Carolina Arboretum to find woodland wildflowers.
Close to Spacious Skies Belle Ridge in Monterey, Tennessee, Cummins Falls State Park and Burgess Falls State Park are known for the wildflowers along their hiking trails. At Burgess, the Native Butterfly Garden beside the upper parking area has beautiful native wildflower displays.
While camped at Peach Haven in Gaffney, South Carolina, you can follow the Trillium Trail at Nine Times Preserve, known for its more than 134 varieties of wildflowers. Bring home flowers for your own garden at the Piedmont Plant & Flower Festival in late April.
Also in late April, the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival is filled with family activities. While camped at Sandy Run Campground in Fayetteville, North Carolina, take the kids to Cape Fear Botanical Garden, where there’s a children’s Nature Nook. Kids can get free Discovery Backpacks with magnifying glasses, scavenger hunts, binoculars, field guides and activities to enjoy during their visit.
More than 850 species of flowering plants bloom in the Shenandoah Valley, considered one of the best places in the country to see them. From a base campsite at Shenandoah Views in Luray, Virginia, you can tour Shenandoah National Park and follow the beautiful Skyline Drive when the Dogwood and other trees are at their loveliest.
Read This Next
#WhereverFamily
Insta FeedMultigenerational
Apr 28, 2023“Jay’s Horrible Day”: A Children’s Book Based on a True Story and Tackling Big Issues
As family travelers bring their families to various destinations around the globe, diversity, tolerance, empathy and compassion are incredibly important issues to help children comprehend. The children’s book Jay’s Horrible Day, by Stacey B. Shapiro, MSW, MLC, is part of the Big Issues for Little Children Series and “based on a true story about racism and discrimination.” It’s not always easy to handle issues as big as racism with children, but this book does so in an easily digestible manner.
Sponsored Content
United Airlines Celebrates its First Class of United Aviate Graduates
As the only major U.S. airline to own a flight school, United Airlines already hit a major milestone, and now the carrier celebrates another important — and historic — step as the inaugural class of United Aviate Academy pilots graduates, leading the next generation of aviators. The 51 students in the graduating class were majority, at 80 percent, women and people of color — another stride toward United’s goal of training 5,000 new pilots by 2030 with half women or POC.
Age Specific / Multigenerational
Apr 27, 2023Experience History, Language and Culture Firsthand Through Educational Travel
There are many forms of education. There are many forms of travel. When education and travel combine, the results can prove surprising, challenging and inspiring.
Travel Tips
Apr 27, 2023Engaging Kids in Travel
The best way to keep kids engaged and interested on family travel is to make them part of the planning and travel process. You can be pretty sure of keeping a kid’s interest if the attraction or place you’re visiting is one they’ve chosen themselves.
Age Specific / Multigenerational
Apr 25, 2023Family-Friendly Podcasts Keep Kids Entertained While Traveling
When it comes to traveling with kids, there are seemingly endless options to keep them entertained on the journey, including downloading videos to watch and playing on hand-held game consoles. Classic road trip games like the alphabet game and license plate game still offer fun and can easily pass hours in the car.
Age Specific / Multigenerational
Apr 21, 2023Resident Mascots Enjoy Rock-Star Status at Pet-Friendly Hotels
As we pulled away from The Kentucky Castle’s gates, I could sense right away it wouldn’t be the impressive castle towers, the incredible farm-to-table meals, or even the lush bedding we slept in that my son would remember from our time in Versailles, Kentucky. It was our first vacation as a family of four, and as my 3-year-old son began introducing his 3-month-old baby sister to his new favorite toy — a plush replica of the castle hotel’s miniature highland steer — I knew it would be the time he spent petting and playing with Tucker, The Kentucky Castle’s mascot, that would forever be the highlight of his time in Kentucky.
ShareThis