Day Trippin' › Alabama › From Huntsville
From Huntsville, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and Burritt on the Mountain are about 10 minutes away, the Botanical Garden about 10, Monte Sano State Park about 15, Cathedral Caverns under 40, Unclaimed Baggage about 45, and Lake Guntersville under an hour. The best day trips from Huntsville, by drive time.
76 places within a 3-hour drive, by real roads.
Cave · 38 min southeast
A cave with one of the widest entrances in the world and Goliath, a stalagmite about 45 feet tall. It stays about 60 degrees all year.
Wildlife · 32 min southwest
A big refuge near Decatur where thousands of sandhill cranes and some rare whooping cranes spend the winter.
Museum · 28 min west
A modern natural history museum in Decatur with live animals, coral, a climbing tree and a cafe.
Family fun · 45 min east
A huge store in Scottsboro that sells lost airline luggage and its contents. A quirky treasure hunt.
State park · 51 min southeast
A mountaintop park above Alabama's largest lake with 36 miles of trails, a beach, a zipline and winter eagle programs.
State park · 1 hr 57 min west
Rocky hills, a 1938 CCC swinging bridge over Bear Creek and some of the best trails in Mississippi.
Hike · 1 hr 29 min west
A deep, mossy sandstone canyon with waterfalls and old hemlocks, famous for glowing Dismalites on night tours.
National park · 1 hr 42 min east
A deep canyon on top of Lookout Mountain with a scenic rim drive, overlooks, Little River Falls and spots for paddling and climbing.
State park · 1 hr 46 min east
A big canyon on Lookout Mountain with waterfall stairs, rim views and bike trails.
Museum · 1 hr 34 min south
A moving museum on the Birmingham civil rights campaign, across from 16th Street Baptist Church and Kelly Ingram Park.
State park · 2 hr west
Park on Pickwick Lake near Iuka, good for boating.
Scenic drive · 1 hr 41 min west
A 444-mile scenic parkway with no billboards. The Alabama stretch near the Shoals has quiet woods and river crossings.
Family fun · 1 hr 34 min south
A 19-acre green space downtown with lawns, ponds, trails and free events. A good spot for a picnic.
Historic site · 2 hr 20 min west
The small house where Elvis was born, plus a museum, memorial garden and his childhood church.
Museum · 2 hr 51 min south
A powerful museum on the history of slavery, lynching, segregation and mass incarceration in America, built on a site where enslaved people were once held.
Small town · 2 hr 2 min west
Railroad and Civil War town with a walkable downtown.
State park · 2 hr 25 min west
Wooded lake park just outside Tupelo.
State park · 2 hr 29 min southeast
The highest point in Alabama at 2,407 feet, with rock overlooks, a lake, CCC history and access to the Pinhoti Trail.
Bike trail · 2 hr 44 min west
A 43.6-mile paved rail trail from Houston to New Albany through farm country and small towns.
National park · 2 hr 10 min east
America's oldest national military park, with driving tour stops, monuments and trails.
Zoo · 2 hr 28 min west
Bison herd and other animals on a big park in Tupelo, with tours.
Drive times are by road on a typical day from ZIP 35801 (OpenStreetMap data with the OSRM route planner). Facts checked against official sites; passes and hours change, so check before you go.