Best of 2025: Another Super Cool year of camper van fun
Site C17 sits near the southwest corner of Jekyll Island Campground in Georgia, meaning the tree line lights up with an orange glow at sunset.
We started 2025 with our toes in the sand on the Gulf Coast and ended it beneath Spanish moss on the Atlantic.
In between the coastal bookends, we explored new corners of the map. Learned — sometimes the hard way — how to be better camper van travelers. And took the time to slow down where it mattered.
We went around the Midwest, through other parts of the South and, for the very first time, to Oklahoma — the 25th state we’ve taken Bonnie, Clyde and Camper Van Beethoven.
We didn’t push it. We let the hottest months pass by, keeping the van parked from early June to late August. Most of our camper van trips happened over long weekends, save for the first (Florida’s Gulf Islands National Seashore) and last (Jekyll Island, Georgia) of the year.
We slept in 11 states (one more than in 2024) over 10 trips (two fewer than the year before).
On seven of those, we met up with family, friends and even a few of my remote coworkers. Plus, we made new friends while visiting Oklahoma and Georgia. A reminder that even the best camper van trips are better when you have great people to share them with.
There were moments — blowing a tire on the freeway without a spare — that helped us grow. Because learning isn’t always gentle. Moments in nature that wowed, and quiet nights of gazing down into the campfire and up at the stars.
We saw bison roaming the prairie in Oklahoma, waterfalls in Georgia, castle ruins in Missouri, a disappearing river in Florida and a Grand Ole Opry show in Tennessee. All for the first time. A stout festival in Indiana and paddle boarding in Kansas gave us reason to stop and stay in two states we’d previously only passed through.
Our fifth calendar year of camper van travel was a good one. And, for the third year in a row, I’ve compiled a best-of list so you know what places and things are worth checking out.
Each year, I select 11 categories and a winner for each, plus runners-up for some. This year, I’m introducing two new categories to keep things fresh: best celebrity chef restaurant and best natural oddity.
Best of 2025 camper van travel
Best breakfast
Harvest Room
9625 Calumet Avenue
Munster, Indiana 46321
Two Scotch eggs, each sliced in half, are adorned with pesto and dijonnaise (a sauce made with Dijon mustard and mayonnaise, usually with garlic, lemon and herbs as well). A good quarter-pound of hashbrowns completes the plate.
We walked through the doors of Harvest Room in May on a mission: Put down a hearty (and ideally delicious) base layer of food before heading to Dark Lord Day. For those not up on the Midwest beer scene, Dark Lord Day celebrates the release of an imperial stout bearing the same name from 3 Floyd’s Brewing.
In the Dice of Deluxe game at Dark Lord Day, I received the prize that corresponded to my dice roll: a koozie.
Each year, the Munster brewery fêtes the release with carnival games, beer tastings, food trucks and metal bands. People come from far and wide to pick up their Dark Lord bottles and share ones from their own reserves — it’s one of the few beer festivals that allows you to bring in beer from the outside.
The portions at Harvest Room proved fitting for a beer fest morning, especially since we started with the monkey bread — a power move to try more things on a big menu. I had a delightfully ginormous croissant sandwich called the Harvest Moon (I love that song, too), but J-Wo’s plate, the Scotch eggs breakfast, is what really wowed.
A Scotch egg is hardboiled, wrapped first in sausage then breadcrumbs and, finally, baked or fried — a fine example of British pub food. At Harvest Moon, they were beautifully executed and presented.
From there, bellies full, we strolled over to the festival, about 15 minutes away on foot.
2024 best breakfast winners
King’s Chef Diner — Colorado Springs, Colorado
Cozy Coffee Café — Wilson, Kansas
The Buttered Biscuit — Bentonville, Arkansas
2023 best breakfast winners
Milk & Honey — Chattanooga, Tennessee
Tacker’s Shake Shack — Marion, Arkansas
Best brewery
Southern Grist Brewing
754 Douglas Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee 37207
When you spot nine hazy IPAs on tap at Southern Grist Brewing in East Nashville, you order nine hazy IPAs. Not a bad one in the bunch.
With beer this hoppy and hazy, we easily could’ve been back in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). But, there we were in East Nashville, visiting our first Tennessee brewery in early March.
We were practically giddy walking up to the bar and spotting nine hazy IPAs on tap — something we don’t see very often now that we live in the Midwest. So, we did the only reasonable thing: ordered a taster of each one.
As for the non-hazy IPAs and other styles on the menu, we couldn’t say. We kept it hazy and ordered lunch from the in-house restaurant, Lauter. Get the burger. Skip the Ceaser salad fries — trust us on that one.
Runners-up
Scratch Brewing Company
264 Thompson Road
Ava, Illinois 62907
In 2025, Outside magazine named Scratch Brewing one of the eight most scenic breweries in the U.S. — they’re not wrong.
You won’t find a standard lager or IPA at James Beard-nominated Scratch Brewing. Instead, you might come across a dandelion lager made with the greens, roots and flowers of everyone’s favorite lawn pest. Or, an IPA with three kinds of basil: lemon, sweet and Tulsi.
Scratch is known for foraged beer — meaning if it grows on their woodsy 5-acre property in Southern Illinois, it might end up in your pint. According to Outside magazine, they’re one of the best in the game.
Come with an open mind and some cash (no cards, but there’s an ATM). Order a pizza. Sit back. Tune into the birds singing in the woods and the hints of dandelion, basil or hickory bark in your beer.
Irrigation Ales
414 Main Street
Courtland, Kansas 66939
Irrigation Ales’ warm, cozy taproom is a hotspot for locals and a fun stop on a Kansas road trip.
You know what makes good beer even better? When genuinely nice people make it. And, these folks are Midwest nice.
I sent them a DM on Instagram asking about food options, unsure if I’d hear back. I did, and then some.
They told me about the burger-slinging food truck coming that night. Mentioned they’re a Harvest Host if we needed a place to stay in our van. Even gave me a mini history lesson on the area’s agricultural irrigation canal system — the one their name nods to.
In a town of fewer than 400 people, this is the spot to hang. And, if you’re not a local? Pull up a chair.
Tap selections can range from classic (lagers, porters) to hoppy (hazy and non-hazy IPAs) to a walk on the wild side (sours, dill pickle lager).
2024 best brewery winners
Mile Wide Beer Company — Louisville, Kentucky
Ozark Beer Company — Rogers, Arkansas
WestFax Springs — Colorado Springs, Colorado
2023 best brewery winners
Wicked Weed Brewing — Asheville, North Carolina
Odd Colony Brewing — Pensacola, Floria
Best camper van equipment purchase
More than just practical, the ladder and spare-tire mount also looks Super Cool on the back of Camper Van Beethoven.
We rolled the dice for more than 4 years traveling without a spare tire. We knew the gamble might catch us out — and then it did. In May, we blew a tire on I-70, got a tow and slept outside a tire shop. The next day, we bought four new tires, keeping an old one as, yes, a spare.
The tricky part: where to put it. Our generator sits where the spare usually goes on a Ram ProMaster.
The solution: the Saved by the Tire Bundle from Aluminess. A recommendation from our go-to van repair shop, it’s a ladder, spare tire mount and gas can all in one. (We removed the gas can.)
Even better, it attaches to the rear door hinges with no drilling.
Total game changer. Now we’re more adventure-ready than ever.
2024 best camper van equipment purchase winner
Etenwolf Vortex S6 air compressor
2023 — not a category
Best campground
Cloudland Canyon State Park
122 Cloudland Canyon Park Road
Rising Fawn, Georgia 30738
As the evening fire crackles, the setting sun glows in Camper Van Beethoven’s windows at Cloudland Canyon State Park.
It took us three tries to get to Cloudland Canyon State Park on the western side of Lookout Mountain in Georgia. We canceled our first reservation when plans changed. The next year, the park canceled us due to construction.
But in 2025, we finally made it — and it was worth the wait.
Visiting in April, we didn’t see the dense fog and low clouds that sometimes fill the 1,000-foot-deep canyon and give the park its name. Perhaps we just didn’t get up early enough.
We did, however, see the three waterfalls: West Rim Falls (300 feet), Hemlock Falls (90 feet) and Cherokee Falls (60 feet).
Being able to hike to the waterfalls right from our campsite is partly why Cloudland Canyon takes the best campground category this year. There are 64 miles of dog-friendly hiking trails, plus biking, horseback riding, disc golf and fishing.
It also earns the nod for its stunning mountain setting. Sandstone bluffs and boulders, lively creeks and waterfalls and dense woodlands all bring the drama.
The campsites are nicely designed with gravel pads and ample space. We stayed in site 61, which looked through the woods to the distant horizon. The only downside? Being right next to a playground.
Clean bathrooms, friendly staff and a cute store selling firewood further seal the deal.
2024 — not a category
2023 best campground winner
Edgar Evins State Park — Silver Point, Tennessee
Best celebrity chef restaurant
New category for 2025
Freight House
330 South 3rd Street #102
Paducah, Kentucky 42003
If there’s a burrata cheese appetizer on the menu, chances are I’m going to order it. At Freight House in Paducah, it came with grilled bread, grapes, golden raisins and broccolini.
We’re pretty new to reality food competition shows, but we have a favorite: Guy Fieri’s Tournament of Champions (TOC). It’s a single-elimination bracket where chefs face off against each other — and the Randomizer, a set of spinning wheels that dictate the protein, style, equipment and other details for each round.
We took our love for the show on the road, adding stops at some of the chefs’ restaurants to our van travels in 2025. Including our holiday trip in December.
I built the first day’s route around James Beard nominee Sara Bradley’s Freight House in Paducah, Kentucky. Talk about starting strong. We ordered two appetizers, two entrées and a dessert to share.
It was one of the best meals we’ve had in a long, long time. During our 1.5 hours sitting at the bar (you choose where you sit when making a reservation), the noise of the world faded away and time seemed to expand. It felt delicious.
Two bonuses: Sara was there — which added a special vibe— and the parking lot is huge, with plenty of room for the van.
Runner-up
Chauhan Ale and Masala House
123 12th Avenue North
Nashville, Tennessee 37203
Chauhan Ale and Masala House makes its home in a former industrial area of Nashville — not far from Lower Broadway — known as the Gulch.
Chauhan Ale and Masla House takes the runner-up spot for best celebrity chef restaurant — not because we liked the food any less than Freight House. But because the overall experience just didn’t hit at the same level.
There were no signs of James Beard and two-time TOC winner Maneet Chauhan. And, no easy parking for the van.
Still, the flavors delivered. We both opted for tikka masala, which was sumptuous, rich and tangy. I added paneer (cheese) as my protein, and J-Wo went with braised chicken.
If you love cultural food mashups, you’ll feast on the appetizers and sides. Tandoori poutine, saag mac n cheese and lamb keema nachos bring Indian flare to classic pub dishes.
My only note is a nitpicky one: If you’re going to call yourself an ale house, have more than eight taps.
Best destination
When I say there are fallen trees on the beaches of Jekyll Island in Georgia, I don’t mean a few. I mean hundreds.
We spent the final four days of 2025 — and the first two of 2026 — on Jekyll Island, the southernmost of Georgia’s four Golden Isles. The state owns the entire island, which limits development. Still, homes, hotels, restaurants and shops dot the 5,500 acres
There’s a small airport. And Jekyll Island Campground has 179 sites with more under construction.
We didn’t mind that it’s not an island just for camping. Or that the campsites offer only a slight buffer on the sides but none from the neighbors behind. It’s fine if you know about the squeeze in advance.
We were there for the 10 miles of shoreline anyway. In particular, the stretches of beach where fallen trees masquerade as giant driftwood sculptures. As the island loses land to the Atlantic, trees topple where they once stood, creating drama at the water’s edge.
It made for amazing walks — dogs are welcome on most beaches — and great photography.
For full island vibes, rent a golf cart from Red Bug Motors. We cruised to Red Bug Pizza one afternoon and visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center another day. Afterward, we waited in a long line at the super cute Wake Up Coffee Company. Sadly, they served the worst dirty chai I’ve ever had, but it was a tiny blip on an otherwise fantastic trip — our first time on the Atlantic Coast.
Runners-up
Leave it to Ree Drummond to breathe new life into a once-forgotten town. Her Pioneer Woman Mercantile in Pawhuska now anchors the revitalized downtown.
There’s a surprising amount to this town of fewer than 3,000 people —history, Hollywood, nature. Perhaps most famously, Food Network royalty.
Ree Drummond built and runs her Pioneer Woman empire from this very place. You can get a taste — literally — at her Pioneer Woman Mercantile, where breakfast was so-so but the shopping was fab. You can even step inside her stunning TV studio kitchen, located just outside town on the sprawling family ranch.
Ree put Pawhuska on the small screen, but the big screen has visited, too. Oscar-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) was filmed in the downtown streets and surrounding neighborhoods. It depicts the murders of Osage people for their oil-rich lands — the real-life events took place nearby.
This is a place where you can see history with your own eyes. Bison still roam at Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, and a 1920s wooden pedestrian bridge still swings high above Bird Creek.
You can experience it all — and more — in a day or two. With Osage Hills State Park about 20 miles out, it’s a great spot for a camper van trip. Check out my 1-day Pawhuska itinerary for more details.
The neon, the crowds, the live music streaming out bar windows, the people in their going-out looks of Levi’s, boots and cowboy hats all combine to make Nashville’s Lower Broadway an experience like no other. The opposite of a lowkey night.
We love taking the camper van to nature-forward places. But sometimes we need an urban escape for concerts, breweries and great food. In 2025, we realized Nashville delivers all that — and more — in one convenient package.
It’s a smaller city that’s relatively easy to get around — depending on the traffic. Yet there’s plenty to do. Lower Broadway is the main entertainment district, but there are charming neighborhoods worth exploring, too.
Why it works so well for us: We can stay at Nashville KOA Resort in the van with our dogs and be just 20 minutes from the heart of town. We’ve relied on rideshares to get around so far, but the campground also partners with a shuttle service for $15 (cash-only) rides to Lower Broadway and back.
Like so many spots in Nashville, even the KOA has live music — maybe we’ll catch it next time. We’ll definitely be back for more Music City fun.
2024 best destination winners
Kentucky Bourbon Trail
Bentonville / Rogers, Arkansas
Omaha, Nebraska
2023 best destination winner
Highlands, North Carolina
Best hike
Waterfalls Trail
Cloudland Canyon State Park
122 Cloudland Canyon Park Road
Rising Fawn, Georgia 30738
Cherokee Falls tumbles into a serene pool at Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia, a highlight of the park’s scenic Waterfalls Trail.
Another win for Cloudland Canyon, where the aptly named Waterfalls Trail takes you to Hemlock Falls (90 feet) and Cherokee Falls (60 feet).
The hike is just under 2 miles total out and back, but short doesn’t mean easy. In fact, it’s considered strenuous thanks to 700 feet of elevation change and 600 stairs. Tough going down. Tougher coming back up. Totally worth it.
Kudos to the team that built and maintains this impressive trail — a mix of natural surface and boardwalk. It winds past sandstone boulders, follows rushing creeks and descends alongside rocky bluffs before revealing the falls. Bonus: You can hear the waterfalls nearly every step of the way.
Go in late winter, spring or early summer for the best water flow. Go during the week for fewer crowds — this is a popular spot.
Note: There’s no trail to West Rim Falls (300 feet), but there’s a viewpoint just a short walk from the day-use parking lot.
Runner-up
Castle, Colosseum, Dell Rim and Spring trails
Ha Ha Tonka State Park
1491 State Road D
Camdenton, Missouri 65020
J-Wo pauses on the descent to Ha Ha Tonka Spring at a viewpoint above the Niangua River.
This state park in the Missouri Ozarks has an interconnected system of 13 trails covering 16 miles — meaning most are short and easy to combine.
We tackled four of them to see three major highlights: the castle ruins, natural bridge and spring.
The paved, wheelchair-accessible Castle Trail (0.4 mile one way) is the only one we completed in full. It’s the park’s busiest spot for good reason. The trail goes past the remnants of a 12,000-square-foot castle dating back to the early 20th century. Today, only the stone walls remain.
The castle ruins at Ha Ha Tonka State Park in Missouri offer a glimpse into early 20th-century affluence and ambition.
We stayed on the natural-surface Colosseum Trail (0.6 mile loop) just long enough to marvel at another stone structure — this one natural. The park’s natural bridge spans 60 feet, rises 100 feet and stretches 70 feet wide.
Then we circled back to the Dell Rim Trail (0.3 mile one way) to connect to the Spring Trail (1.4-mile loop). The trail descends 316 stairs — an elevation change of 200 feet — to Missouri’s 12th largest spring, which releases on average of 58 million gallons of water each day.
2024 — not a category
2023 best hike winner
Sunset Rock / Sunrise Rock — Highlands, North Carolina
Best natural oddity
New category for 2025
Disappearing river
O’Leno State Park
410 Southeast O’Leno Park Road
High Springs, Florida 32643
The spot where the Santa Fe River disappears underground (at left) looks like the rest of the riverbank — giving no clue that it continues beneath the surface for 3 miles.
From bright blooms and dramatic clouds to towering trees and jagged mountains, nature surprises and delights us in so many ways.
But a river that gets swallowed — completely — by a sink hole only to emerge again 3 miles later? That we had to see.
The river sinks at O’Leno State Park in Florida, about 45 minutes northwest of Gainesville. It’s where we spent our first-ever Christmas in the camper van and where we set out on a short hike the next day to see the Santa Fe River say hasta la vista, baby.
It gets even stranger. The river doesn’t make a big show of going underground. There’s none of the bubbling or gurgling you might expect. It just seems to … end. And, that’s that — for now.
The river rises again at River Rise Preserve State Park, which we didn’t have time to visit. Next trip!
Best paddle
Lovewell State Park
2446 250 Road
Webber, Kansas 66970
As the sun dips toward the horizon, Clyde paddle boards across Lovewell Reservoir, with shades of pink and orange reflecting on the water’s surface.
Lovewell State Park sits amid miles and miles of northcentral Kansas farmland, about 42 miles northeast of the marker for the geographic center of the United States — the lower 48, that is.
The park has several camping areas, both electric and non-electric, lining the shores of the 3,000-acre Lovewell Reservoir. We stayed in Cottonwood Campground, where the non-electric sites sit right at the water’s edge. We were just up above those in the small electric loop.
It was a short walk from site 410 down to the water to hop in for a paddle.
A longer daytime outing took us past some of the other campers and back, back, back into a house-lined cove. As the homes grew farther apart, the lake narrowed into a shallow stream that didn’t look navigable by paddle board.
The best paddles, however, were when the day started its transition to night.
Kansas is known to throw down at sunset. The flat, open horizon offers unobstructed views of the colorful display. Volatile weather patterns create clouds that catch and reflect the pink, orange and purple hues, while wind-carried dust can intensify the glow.
All that and a can of IPA on the calm water made for the best paddle board moments of the year. Sharing it with friends made it even better.
Runner-up
Creve Coeur Lake
13450 Marine Avenue
Saint Louis, Missouri 63146
A light rain didn’t dampen the magic of my first-ever witches paddle.
Our first outing to this small natural lake in the Saint Louis ‘burbs fulfilled, for lack of a better term, a bucket list item: witches paddle.
I don’t remember when I first heard of dressing up as a witch and going paddle boarding for Halloween, but I immediately knew it was something I had to do. It just took a few years to happen.
On a drizzly Sunday in late October, we took our three paddle boards to Creve Coeur Lake, where two friends joined me on the water for my first witches paddle.
In some places, such as Asheville, North Carolina, and Bend, Oregon, it’s an organized event with hundreds of witches, wizards and warlocks taking to the water on paddle boards, as well as kayaks and canoes. Which makes me think that perhaps I should invite more witches this year.
2024 — not a category
2023 best paddle winners
Center Hill Lake — Tennessee
Table Rock Lake — Missouri
Best roadside attraction
Buc-ee’s
2328 Lindsay Lane South
Athens, Alabama 35613
Bonnie and Clyde sniff out the Buc-ee’s mania on a late-December walkie.
We’ve had a few chances to stop at Buc-ee’s. But we didn’t take them.
We just weren’t up for dealing with the circus that comes with getting gas and snacks. At some locations, vehicles jam the freeway off-ramp — inching ever closer to the amusement park-like gas station with every turn of the green light.
We even pulled off at a Buc-ee’s exit once. The dizzying line of more than 100 gas pumps and all the vehicles darting this way and that felt daunting — no, thank you. We just couldn’t do it. The Love’s Travel Stop across the street looked cozy in comparison.
But on our holiday trip in 2025, we relented.
There was no backup of cars on the off-ramp, and we sailed right in. We filled up. We walked and fed the dogs. We shopped both the clothing and home goods side of the sprawling convenience store, as well as the food side. And, just like that, we were having fun.
At least, I was. I got a Buc-ee’s hoodie for me and one for Bonnie, too. I got some nibbly Christmas presents for my dad. And, we even bought pulled pork and brisket mac ‘n’ cheese dishes to have the next night as Christmas dinner.
Was it a test of patience? A little, but we knew that going in. We took a breath, looked each other steadily in the eyes and said, we got this.
Let’s go experience an American spectacle — and perhaps never do it again.
Tie
Black squirrel statues stand more than 5 feet tall on the sidewalks of Marysville — including this one outside the Pony Express Barn & Museum.
Black Squirrels on Parade
Marysville, Kansas
Driving on Kansas Highway 36 toward Lovewell State Park in June, we started seeing signs for Black Squirrel City: Marysville. I tried to resist the urge to stop, not wanting to delay our arrival at the campground. I. Just. Couldn’t. Do. It.
I love squirrels — absolutely adore them. Their fly-through-the-air agility. Their climb-the-tallest-tree energy. Their fluffy tails and their chatter. Black squirrels are even more exciting because I’ve never lived anyplace where they’re regulars.
So, of course we stopped. First, we explored the dog park, spotting an actual black squirrel. Then, we walked around the downtown area to see some of the 34 black squirrel statues — each sponsored by and painted to represent a local business. There’s one at the Pony Express Barn & Museum and another at the Pepsi-Cola bottling and distribution facility.
The town was gearing up for Big Blue River Days, so the vibe was festive. Music pumped over the speakers and people buzzed about in what I imagine is otherwise a pretty quiet little town.
2024 roadside attraction winner
World’s largest Czech egg — Wilson, Kansas
2023 — not a category
Best tootsie dip
Castor River Shut-Ins
Fredericktown, Missouri 63645
Bonnie waded out to a pink granite rock during her summertime tootsie dip at Castor River Shut-Ins in Missouri.
This beautiful spot is down a gravel road outside a small southeast Missouri town of about 4,500 people. It feels off the radar — no official street address — yet it’s on Google Maps, where the parking lot is labeled Amidon Memorial Conservation Area.
Even calling it hidden might be a stretch. It’s a popular spot for locals to swim, fish, hike and hang out. So, we’ll just call it quietly well-known.
Our late-summer visit gave us the best tootsie dip of the year
Bonnie waded into the cool, clear water of the Castor River far enough to perch on one of the pink granite rocks and take it all in. Clyde opted for a quicker tootsie dip — and a sip — of his own.
2024 best tootsie dip winners
Coler Mountain Bike Preserve — Bentonville, Arkansas
Pensacola Dog Beach West — Pensacola Beach, Florida
Bear Creek — Morrison, Colorado
2023 — not a category
That’s a wrap, 2025
Traveling by camper van unlocks places and experiences we might not otherwise have. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Here’s to another year of exploring the roads, the state parks, the hiking trails and whatever else is waiting for us out there. I can’t wait to see what makes the Super Cool Van Trips Best of 2026 list.
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