5 Great Day Trips From Memphis

If you’re traveling to Memphis, you’ll probably hit several highlights—including boosting your knowledge of Elvis Presley and B.B. King, learning about Martin Luther King Jr.’s impact at the National Civil Rights Museum and walking on Beale Street. Use this handy Memphis travel guide to find great downtown destinations. But if you’re game to venture a little farther beyond these Memphis hotels, there are also several fun day trips from Memphis to discover.

Go wild at the Tennessee Safari Park

Stare into the eyes of a curious ostrich and some 80 other species found at Tennessee Safari Park.

Head to Alamo, Tennessee (named after, you guessed it, Davy Crockett and the Battle of the Alamo), 80 miles away on the first of our day trips from Memphis, to visit the 20-acre Tennessee Safari Park. The Conley family has owned this land and nurtured their love for animals here since 1858. They added bison to a collection of pheasants and deer in 1963, followed by zebras in the 1980s. Now home to more than 80 species of endangered and rare animals, the park opened in 2007 to allow visitors and locals the chance to learn more about these wild creatures. Watch out for the ostriches—they’ll follow you to the car and make a snack out of your lunch!

Hit a high note at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame

Tour Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, a historic location where artists such as Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Cher and Rod Stewart recorded. Photo Credit: Art Meripol /Alabama Tourism Department

Music lovers have much to explore in the city, but if you hit the road on the second of our day trips from Memphis to Tuscumbia, Alabama, about a two-and-a-half hour drive east, you’ll find the home of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. This scenic town, which was incorporated in the early 19th century, has many buildings on the National Register of Historic Places—and a strong connection to some of the best musicians of the 20th century. Music fans will geek out over the fact that musicians like Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones and Willie Nelson all recorded music at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, just a 6-mile drive from the Hall of Fame. Tours of the Hall of Fame, chronicling Alabamians who have made a difference in music, are self-guided. Want to belt out a few tunes? Record a song in the recording studio!

Sing your cares away on the Mississippi Blues Trail

Duck into any number of bars, clubs and hideaway spots to find a little blues guitar to help soothe your soul.

For the third of our day trips from Memphis, take to the Mississippi Blues Trail to discover some of the most important locations and moments in Southern music history. There are more than 200 markers scattered throughout the Delta at clubs, bars, plantations, radio stations and record companies that were a part of the movement, and each one gives a little insight into the history and passion of the blues music that infused the region. One easy stop you can’t miss, just 25 miles from Memphis, is Hernando, Mississippi, where a handful of some of the blues’ most important musicians were born.

Spin the wheel for fun and games in Tunica, Mississippi

Feeling lucky? Try your hand at roulette or one of the other games of chance at Tunica, Mississippi’s many casinos.

Take some Memphis magic with you on the fourth of our day trips from Memphis and head just an hour from the city to Tunica, Mississippi, for an outing packed with legal gambling and entertainment. Stop at the Tunica Museum to learn more about the town’s history before heading to one of the area’s casinos (like Horseshoe, Gold Strike and Tunica Roadhouse) featuring baccarat, roulette, poker and blackjack among other games and live music from talents including Patti LaBelle and Trace Adkins.

Enjoy the outdoors at Forrest L. Wood Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center

The three-story Forrest L. Wood Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center features exhibits and resources to help you navigate their 160 acres of trails.

Spend the day outdoors for the final selection on our list of the best day trips from Memphis. Just an hour away in Jonesboro, Arkansas, at Forrest L. Wood Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center, take a self-guided hike through wetlands and forests or enjoy exhibits on local wildlife and monthly workshops designed to help visitors connect with nature. You should also make time to take in Craighead Forest Park, just under three miles away. The park’s 60-acre lake offers opportunities for bird-watching, fishing and boating as well as places to enjoy a picnic.