Arkansas in the center of the United States is one of the southern states of the United States. Arkansas is best known for its more than overwhelming nature, which is still unspoilt and authentic. This is why Arkansas is also known as The Natural State. So if you like hiking and love massive mountain ranges, or want to swim in cool lakes of incredible cleanliness and clarity, Arkansas is the place to be. Arkansas is also known for its musical heritage – the state is also called the cradle of the blues. Johnny Cash was one of Arkansas’ most famous residents for a long time. Bill Clinton also started his career as a politician from here.

Visiting the capital Little Rock

Little Rock is undisputedly one of the most interesting cities in Arkansas and at the same time the capital of this state. A good 200,000 inhabitants live here. Little Rock is idyllically located on the south bank of the Arkansas River and is also surrounded by majestic mountain ranges, such as Pinnacle Mountain and the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains. There are some interesting buildings to see in Little Rock. Above all, an exact copy of the American Capitol in Washington D.C. is impressive. The version, which can be found in Little Rock, where it serves as the Arkansas state parliament building, is only a little smaller than the original. The William J. Clinton Presidential Center & Park pays tribute to the city’s famous son, Bill Clinton.

Here you will find an extensive library and also a museum. In both departments, everything revolves around Bill Clinton and his time as president of the USA. But that’s not all there is to museums, Little Rock has a lot of them. The Museum of Discovery is a science museum that is especially popular with families with children. The Old State House Museum explores the history of Little Rock and Arkansas. Particular attention is paid to the time of the Civil Wars. More in-depth information on these topics is also available at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. In the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum, all water rats get their money’s worth, because here different types of ships can be viewed from the inside and outside.

Enjoy a bath in hot springs in Hot Springs National Park

Only about an hour’s drive from Little Rock is the entrance to Hot Springs National Park. Hot Springs National Park owes its name to the fact that there are no less than 47 hot springs on its grounds. In the town of Hot Springs, there are some modern bathhouses where you can frolic in the hot springs to your heart’s content. In addition, the Hot Springs National Park impresses with its enchanting nature, which can be easily accessed on foot via well-signposted hiking and walking trails.

Nothing but sporting challenges and untouched nature in the Ozark Mountains

If you want to go high in Arkansas, you can visit the Ozark Mountains plateau. The leisure activities there are almost endless. On hikes or mountain bike tours, the magnificent landscape of the Ozark Plateau can be completely absorbed. The region is sparsely populated, only here and there are a few isolated farmsteads to be seen. Otherwise, there is nothing here but mountains, forests, river landscapes and lakes. In late summer and autumn, many locals and tourists come here to dedicate themselves to mushroom picking. Fishing is very extensive all year round, for example in Norfolk Lake and the White River. There are also opportunities for guided rides. No matter how you get around, you will always encounter a whole lot of interesting plants along the way, such as the honey apple and wild wild strawberries. And if you like it exciting, or if you are traveling with the whole family, you can also cross deep valleys in the Ozark Mountains via ziplines and marvel at the breathtaking gorges and rock formations during the ziplining.

Once-in-a-lifetime diamond digging at Crater of Diamonds State Park

For many, Crater of Diamonds State Park is a dream come true because it is possible to dig for diamonds here. Because in the almost 3.7 square kilometer Crater of Diamonds State Park, the eighth largest diamond mine in the whole world is located and awaits visitors there. The mine is open to the public and has an unbeatable advantage: Whatever stones you find there, whether worthless or a real gem – you can keep them all and take them home with you. There is still a volcanic vent in the Crater of Diamonds State Park, but it has not been active for 95 million years. However, this is the basis for the fact that diamonds and other precious and semi-precious stones are still found here. No less than around 600 pieces per year. For a small fee, visitors can get to work with excavation equipment that can be borrowed there and hope for their luck. If you are more interested in the geology of the Crater of Diamonds State Park, you will be provided with a small exhibition and information about it in the visitor center.

Ancient cultures and fascinating landscapes: deserts, plains, hot springs, high mountains and a boundless expanse known from the West. This is New Mexico, the fifth largest state in the USA. It is located in the southwest on the border with Mexico. Almost as big as Germany, however, it has only 2.2 million inhabitants. “Land of Enchantment” is what the locals call New Mexico: the “Land of Enchantment”. It attracts all those who like to spend their free time with outdoor activities such as horseback riding, climbing, fishing, biking, hiking or skiing.

Pleasant temperatures all year round

New Mexico has so many national parks that you can’t list them here. But the state – especially the city of Santa Fe – is also a magnet for artists who are inspired by the landscape and culture of past and living indigenous peoples. The caves carved in stone and the pueblo architecture are considered unique. The temperatures are pleasant, only in desert regions it can get very hot in summer – and in the desert very cold at night.

Downtown Albuquerque becomes a trendy district

The state’s capital, Albuquerque on the Rio Grande, has a population of 500,000. Almost half of them are Hispanics – have Latin American-Spanish roots. They speak a “New Mexican” Spanish that has mixed with Native American and English words. In New Mexico, Spanish and English are official languages. Albuquerque is crossed by the legendary Route 66, which is identical to Interstate 40. The city is currently changing and is becoming a trendy meeting place with galleries, boutiques, bars and restaurants. There, the culinary qualities of New Mexico can be tested: The burger with red and green chili sauce (“Christmas style”) already gives an idea of the exotic delicacies that will be served. On weekends, it gets crowded around the “Pueblo Deco KiMo Theater”. That’s when opera lovers flock to the building in the Indian-American Art Deco style. Be sure to check it out!

In the old town there are still old mudstone houses

Albuquerque was already settled by Indian tribes in the 12th century, and in the 16th century the Spaniards occupied the city. The Old Town was founded in 1706 by Spanish settlers and is now worth a visit for its last historic adobe buildings. Albuquerque’s modern architecture pays homage to the indigenous people of the Pueblo culture: even high-rise buildings are often built in steps and with rounded corners, and their facades shine in natural rust and clay colors. In October, visitors can’t miss the Balloon Fiesta – with hundreds of colourful hot-air balloons in the sky. If you are drawn to the Sandia Mountains, you can take the cable car to the 3000m peak.

Via the “Turquoise Trail” to the City of Art

Instead of driving from Albuquerque to Santa Fe via the highway, there is the “decelerated alternative” of reaching the city via the “Turquoise Trail” (Byway 14). This is a scenic road that leads through the mountains and some nice villages and abandoned ghost towns with former gold mines. Santa Fe is located 3000 meters above sea level. The city has around 90,000 inhabitants and is considered the oldest in the USA. The Governor’s Palace and the San-Miguel Chapel are from 1610. Jewellery is sold in front of the palace. Here, holidaymakers have the opportunity to buy Indian turquoise jewellery.

Spanish colonial buildings next to pueblo houses

The cityscape inspires every visitor: a successful mixture of the rust-red, nested houses in the Pueblo style (correctly it is called “Adobe style”) and the old Spanish colonial buildings. Santa Fe has more than 200 art galleries, making it an outstanding arts center. The New Mexico Museum of Art is worth a visit – as is the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum with paintings by the artist (1887-1986). Wacky but no less fascinating is the multi-media art in the “Meow Wolf” cultural centre.

Via the Pueblo Trail to ancient cave dwellings

Between the Chihuahua Desert and the Sangre de Christo Mountains, New Mexico offers natural wonders and important cultural sites on virtually every mile. 9.5 percent of New Mexico’s inhabitants are indigenous, mainly Pueblo Indians of the Navajo peoples. About 60 kilometers northwest of Santa Fe, Bandelier National Monument is located in an area of rugged canyons and flat plateaus. The Pueblo Trail leads to the cave dwellings with hewn walls and carved rock signs. With rangers, visitors can hike the stunning Tyuonyi Overlook Trail and learn all about plants, animals, and pueblos along the way.

Holy Land for ceremonies at Chaco Canyon

If you go to the Chaco Cultural National Historical Park at Chaco Canyon northwest of Albuquerque, you will drive through “Indian country”. The canyon is sacred land of the Pueblo peoples. It was and still is a place for ceremonies. The ruins of the ancient pueblos bear witness to the highly developed culture of the First Nation, which very early applied its knowledge of astronomy and geometry to its buildings. North of Farmington is the Aztec Ruins National Monument, which is well worth seeing. You can see a large labyrinth of ruins of the Pueblo Indians, in which visitors can roam. Aztecs have never been to this place. But the first settlers in the mid-19th century thought it was Aztec settlements and left the name.

Snow-white giant dunes made of gypsum sand

In the southeast of New Mexico lies the beautiful and photogenic (!) Nationalpark White Sands National Monument. It is located 25 kilometers southwest of the town of Alamogordo in the north of the Chihuahua Desert. A 712 square kilometre gypsum field with impressively high, snow-white dunes lies in a valley, the Tularosa Basin. The grained gypsum was formed by sediment deposits, as no water could drain off here. 250 million years ago, there was a sea here that dried up due to faults. In 2009, the 23,000-year-old footprint of a Homo sapiens was found in the area.

The state of Kansas is understood as the center of the USA and is at the same time a fundamental part of the folklore around such American classics as the cowboy. The sprawling Great Plains still tell of the sheer incomprehensible size of the USA and if you want to understand the United States, you will definitely have to stop in Kansas. It is also above all this nature that attracts most vacationers to Kansas. Larger cities are the rarity here, but it is very easy to see why the Native Americans were almost all settled in this region of the states.

The folklore around Kansas

If you take a look at typical American stories, you will notice that many of them are closely connected to Kansas. There are, for example, the cowboys, who today are mainly associated with Texas , but actually had their origins in Kansas for years. The farm from The Wizard of Oz was also in Kansas. This is probably because every child has some connection to the state, which is so typical of the image of the USA that many people have. Above all, however, Kansas is now the Sunflower State. The sprawling sunflower fields are a quintessential sight of the Great Plains and have given Kansas one of many nicknames.

By the way, Kansas is also the country of the German-speaking minority in the USA. Many emigrants settled here after 1857. Previously, this was not possible, as it was a state that was assigned exclusively to the indigenous peoples after they had been expelled from other parts of the national territory. Since then, however, a very special culture has developed here and the traces of the “Indians” can still be found everywhere in the state. In addition, there are some reserves where the indigenous people can now live according to their own rights and often offer tourists a guided tour and talk about the fate of their people.

Top attractions in the state of Kansas

From historic trade routes with a close connection to the Wild West to untouched prairies, the likes of which you won’t find anywhere else in the USA, Kansas has a lot to offer. It should be mentioned here that you should always rent your own car for the exploration tour. Although Topeka is a huge urban region, the expansion of public infrastructure, especially in traffic in Kansas, is rather rare. This is not least due to the sheer size of the state, where you can also travel for a few hours by car until you reach your next destination.

The Santa Fe Trail is one of the last testimonies of the journey to the West. During Kansas City when the gateway to the west was considered, the merchant wagons moved here towards the west coast and not only had to be protected from attacks by the natives, but one or the other trading post was created, which can still be visited today if you follow this path yourself. A visit to Fort Larned, where one of the most important meetings between the natives and the new Americans took place, also fits in with this.

Even though the state borders the Rocky Mountains, it is relatively flat. Hiking and mountain bikers will therefore get their money’s worth less here. But it is mainly hikers who find the vast prairies a great way to discover this almost forgotten form of nature in the United States.

Cities, culture and other sights in Kansas

A visit to Topeka is of course an absolute must, even if it is only to take in the historic parts of the city. This is where life in the state began, and the historic State Capitol alone is worth a visit. Above all, however, you can discover some museums here, which show, for example, the eventful history of the state in connection with the tornadoes. Kansas is one of the most tornado-stricken parts of the USA and the destruction of natural phenomena is sometimes immense.

Even though Topeka is the capital of the state, Wichita is the actual urban center. Here you will not only find the international airport and thus the gateway to a visit to Kansas, but also an interesting division of the city. The Wild West meets the modern aircraft industry that has become so important to Kansas. Great restaurants and very hearty and home-style cuisine can be found in the restaurants, with the city’s excellent steakhouses in particular deserving of a special mention.

Last but not least, Hutchinson should also be mentioned. The slightly smaller city, for example, is home to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center and is therefore one of the most beautiful and interesting museums when it comes to space travel and the history associated with it in the USA. All in all, this state is an excellent way to switch between natural spectacle and urban region and experience and explore a wide variety of things.