[MissEdie]

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!

[Red Badger]

https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Kids-Ultimate-Atlas/dp/1426309333

[Mmogamer]

https://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/the-9-best-travel-apps-for-exploring-cities-1786593373

[Cold Heart]

Contact the states you want to visit. You will get some very nice (free)maps, brochures and contact info. You can custom design it yourself.

[WayneS]

I have no suggestions on a specific route, but I strongly recommend you get your car’s AC checked out and, if needed, serviced, before you start your trip.

[nickcarraway]

Hope you find some diamonds.

[dragnet2]

Don’t use Delta!

[Responsibility2nd]

My daughter has asked for a trip to the Diamond Park in Arkansas for her birthday. We will be traveling via car from South Carolina to Arkansas, possibly in late June early July...

_________________________________________________

Go early. That is - take that trip now. Or early spring. If you must go in June or July - go early in the day.

You will be out in an open dirt field with temperatures blazing hot. Oh, then if that sun doesn’t bake your brains, you will sweat to death with the humidity.

You will have a good time, don’t let my comments here dissuade you. Just know it’ll be hot as hades.

[mad_as_he$$]

Up thread someone posted to get info from the States tourist bureau(s). Excellent idea.

I notice the Google Earth has a very good catalogue of places of interest with travelers notes and pictures.

[kosciusko51]

If you wanted to go through North Alabama, there is the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL.

https://www.rocketcenter.com/

[phoneman08]

Prepare to swelter in the mud.

Made that trip with the wife when we were young. Told her I’d buy her a diamond the minute we left!

[warsaw44]

I can’t be of any help at all.

But I wanted to say your daughter is so lucky to have such a considerate and thoughtful Mom. I’ll bet she loves the trip and what you finally have planned.

Hope you have a terrific vacation!

[elephant]

Don't know where it is exactly in AR but if you go North, AR there is a town called Eurka Springs, AR. Nice older town with a lot of things to do! Branson, MO is about an hour North on Hwy 65 with lots and lots of things to do. Lots of people but beautiful country!

[Robert DeLong]

It took less than an hour for Dan Frederick, of Renton, Washington, and his daughter Lauren to spot a 2.03-carat white diamond on the side of a plowed furrow at Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park. The Fredericks arrived at Arkansas’s diamond site at 8 a.m. on Monday, October 3, 2016 and by 9 a.m. they were holding “The Lucky Diamond.”

In total, over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the Crater of Diamonds since the first diamonds were found here in 1906 by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land long before it became an Arkansas State Park in 1972. The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed here in 1924 during an early mining operation. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats.

Notable diamonds found by visitors to the state park include the Amarillo Starlight, a 16.37-carat white diamond discovered in 1975, which ranks as the largest diamond ever found by a park visitor. The second-largest find by a visitor is the Star of Shreveport, an 8.82-carat white gem unearthed in 1981. In 2011, a visitor from Colorado found an 8.66-carat white gem named the Illusion Diamond, which is the third-largest gem found at the park.

In June 2015, another visitor from Colorado discovered an 8.52-carat white diamond named the Esperanza, the fifth-largest diamond found by a visitor. In September 2015, celebrated diamond cutter Mike Botha cut the Esperanza into a 4.6-carat triolette shape during a public event in North Little Rock. The diamond was later graded colorless and internally flawless by the American Gem Society and valued at $500,000.

I hope you guys strike it big. 8>)

SOURCE

[abb]

Hot Spings is a nice city to visit while in the area.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g60856-Hot_Springs_Arkansas-Vacations.html

Also, Petit Jean Park is not too far away.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g31792-d145337-Reviews-Petit_Jean_State_Park-Morrilton_Arkansas.html

I concur regarding the time of year to visit. Late spring or fall is best.

[ml/nj]

Not much along your route except for the Jack Daniel's Distillery.

ML/NJ

[CJ Wolf]

Did this with my mom and dad back in the early 80s at my suggestion. Great trip. We didn’t find any diamonds but was loads of fun. We had a camper van but in arkansas we ended up in hotels some nights. It was hot. Good luck!

[colorado tanker]

Trip advisor has info on local attractions, plus it will give you the yummiest places to eat.

[libertylover]

My advice would be to pick your spots to visit carefully and don’t try to visit too many. If you stop at too many places you just end up running hither and yon at a frantic pace instead of enjoying a few places thoroughly.

[T. P. Pole]

If you like quirky places, Roadside America is the website to visit. Things like "biggest ball of twine" kind of places. We found in there things like Hold a Million Dollars in your Hands in the Arkansas state capital, where you get a nice photo op of you holding the state's treasury - sometimes over a million dollars in cash.

I'll second TripAdvisor for finding things along to way. You can read up other folks' reviews. And find decent restaurants.

[outofsalt]

I would go for Spring Break unless you like to swelter. If you do go in late June early July make sure you belts and hoses are recently changed and you radiator’s thermostat is working well and your AC has a good charge. Another possibility is to rent a camper. https://www.bing.com/maps?&ty=17&q=rent%20a%20camper%20van%20in%20south%20carolina&ppois=34.0273857116699_-81.0833892822266_Cruise%20America%20Motorhome%20Rentals_YN788x232837466~33.8923606872559_-81.1965637207031_Todd%27s%20RV%20Rentals_YN786x13394014~34.8864288330078_-82.3947372436523_Gibson%20Auto%20%26%20RV%20Sales_YN792x13528791~33.9514999389648_-80.9202270507813_Holiday%20On%20Wheels_YN788x13410042~32.8869514465332_-79.9256362915039_Charleston%20RV%20Rental_YN873x16634041838017250615~&v=2&sV=1&qpvt=rent+a+camper+van+in+south+carolina&FORM=SNAPST

Here is a map of possible routes from Columbia
https://www.bing.com/maps?q=arkansas+diamond+park&FORM=HDRSC4