Ask Lemmy

I would suggest Shenandoah National Park. Partly for the beauty of the park itself, and partly because the drive from Indiana will go through some gorgeous terrain. I would suggest taking route 33 through Wayne National forest in Ohio. You can stop in Athens as a halfway point, it's a picturesque little college town nestled in the hills.

I grew up going to the Great Smoky Mountains fairly regularly as a kid, my favorite was always to go to Chattanooga. It’s like a mid sized town in the middle of the Smokies, so it’s super easy to drive out into very rural natural areas during the day and drive back to the amenities of town at night. There’s also a lot of fascinating Civil War history in the area if anyone is a history buff.

The aquarium is great, and I’m a sucker for the incline railway and Rock City (featured prominently in American Gods). Rock City is technically in Georgia, but it’s a 15 minute drive away from Chattanooga so it might as well be right there.

If any of the kids are 8 or under they’d probably enjoy the Creative Discovery Museum. It’s a pity caves aren’t an option, because Ruby Falls is an underground waterfall in the area and very beautiful. The other thing we always did was either go horse riding or zip lining.

Oh, and if you see people selling fruit or veg on the side of the road with hand written signs, stop and buy it. It will be some of the best you’ve had. Same rule for boiled peanuts and apple butter.

The boundary waters area is really great, but maybe not for a family. Honestly, I don't think any of these areas are going to compare to Yellowstone in terms of the purely sublime combined with ease of access with children.

New River Gorge is nice, but, like a lot of these options, it's "take your kids for a weekend" kind of nice, not "my mom is paying for a multi-generational meeting at a national park visit" kind of nice.

It's all what you make if it though. Were I you, I would figure out how to go to Yellowstone. Especially considering it's the preference of the person, you know, paying for it.

Breaks interstate Park between WV and KY is pretty nice. I also very, very highly recommend smoky mountains, I live in the region and have gone every year. Ik you said no cities but Gatlinburg area can be nice to check out after the trip if you wanna see Smoky Mountain Knife Works and all the small businesses in the rural parts of the mountains.

I've been to all of those except congaree and if I had to go back to one I'd do isle Royale. Great for introductory backpacking with it's low elevation change and pit toilets at all camping areas. More modern toilets at either end of the island. You also can kayak to one of the the surrounding islands and camp there. If that's not your thing there's a hotel, restaurant, and boat tours of all the shipwrecks. I'm a big backpacker though so if I went back it'd be kayaking and camping on the chain if Islands around one end of the island. Lots of more family friendly options near rock harbor too. Like others have said you can visit lots of things in the way up to break up the trip. I'd do a day at pictured rocks, tahquamenon falls, kitch-iti-kipi, or even a couple nights on mackinac Island on the way up.

My partner and I have a goal to visit all the national parks, so we've done almost all of these recently.

Mammoth cave is by far my favorite, but I'm a computer nerd, and a giant hole in the ground is my natural environment, so there may be some bias.

Gateway arch is okay, but not worth a long drive in my opinion.

Got springs was very neat. It has a different feel than the other parks I've been to. It is a bit "touristy".

New River Gorge is amazing. Be aware that any hiking there is going to take a lot of vertical travel, a 1 mile trail there is more like a 3 mile trail in a flat area. That being said, it has a lot of wildlife, picturesque views, unique structures (big ass bridge) a cozy little town (Fayetteville reminds me a lot of downtown Bloomington) and plenty of activities (hiking, rafting, zipline, tree top obstacle course, history, shopping). Easily a top recommendation.

Congaree. Probably the most wildlife I've seen at a park. Snakes, salamanders, pigs, owls, fish, skinks and a shit ton of fuzzy caterpillars. Very buggy, but honestly the mosquitoes weren't as bad as everyone said they would be. Also highly recommend. The park has a long boardwalk as it's "main" attraction, which is very accessible. Saw lots of wheelchairs while I was there. I'd recommend taking a kayak tour as well.

Great Smoky Mountains is a great choice as well. Has that authentic "National park" feel. Very big (for an East of the Miss. park) Gatlinburg is nearby for lodging and other activities. You could easily spend a week here between the two. I like more unique "unique experiences" but GSM would be an awesome choice if your family isn't very adventurous.

Don't forget some state parks while driving through. Red River Gorge in KY is one of my favs, and easily worth the trip on its own. You've got Natural Bridge State Park right there, and the skylift is the best way to get to the top. Shout out to Daniel Boone coffee shop, best breakfast burrito I've ever had, but the line goes out the door, so be prepared to wait a little. FYI, this area had a bad fire last year, not sure about the extent of the damage.

All in, I'd say do GSM. Solid pick, easy to get lodging, lots to do if the weather doesn't cooperate. On your way over, hit up Red River Gorge on the way if it's not too far out.

Niagara Falls isn't too far out of your area, 9 hours for the American side, maybe 10 for Canadian. Walking on the pier under the Canadian side is incredible, if you are willing to pay for the ferry ride.

Gateway Arch? I think you meant to say City Museum.

I've done quite a bit of camping in the UP of Michigan and have been really impressed by how much beauty can be found up there. Doing Pictured Rocks, Tahquamenon Falls, and Kitch-iti-kipi on a 4 day weekend trip is pretty incredible. So I'd do Isle Royale and hot up a few more landmarks while being up there. Sounds like a good clean inexpensive trip!

I live in VA and I find Shenandoah to be the most boring national park I've visited. Unless you can catch it during foliage season, I'd go somewhere else. That said, Skyline Drive is a mess during foliage season. Great Smoky Mountains is nice.

Isle royale is on my list because its so wild. May not be great for a family though because its so hard to get to.

Shenandoah tends to be very very packed. It's cool but it's full of people. The Smoky Mountains also can be quite busy depending on the exact season that you're visiting.

And then it just depends what you want to do. National parks are national parks for a reason but then again there are a lot of great state parks that might suit your interests.

Hot Springs in Arkansas.

I have no idea why the St. louis Arch is listed as a national park here. More like a national arc at best.

Not a national park and kind of on the outskirts of your radius, but any thoughts on the Finger Lakes region of NY? Lots of hiking, waterfalls, lakes, etc.

Ithaca

Watkins Glen

Personally I'm partial to looping them all into a trans continental high speed rail network, make them all visitable in simple order

Isle royal isn’t very easy to visit. But the parks department operates 2 “national lakeshores” in MI that everyone should see. Sleeping bear dunes is west of traverse city and is super accessible and close to lots of lodging in TC. Pictured rocks is perhaps my favorite place on earth. But, driving up to the UP is a bit of a trek.