When I plan my travels, I almost always use a strategy I call Destination Linking. It probably isn’t a new concept, but I will share it with you anyway. Perhaps you can use the strategy to optimize your own travels?!
This strategy is certainly helpful when you’re trying to stretch limited resources, because you’ll get to see and do more in a given trip. It allows you to stay within your travel budget and save money in the long run. What? Save money?? Who doesn’t love the sound of that?!
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What is Destination Linking?
Destination Linking is a process I use to optimize my travels by linking secondary locations to my primary location. This allows me to make the most of each geographical area I visit as well as my available travel time.
The Destination Linking Process
First of all, choose a “primary” destination location. This is where your accommodations will be so it will serve as the center around which you plan.
Second, set your travel radius so you don’t spend too much time driving and not enough time experiencing your secondary locations.
Third, browse all secondary destinations within your travel radius. The secondary destinations will serve as short adventures or day trips.
Fourth, pick and choose which secondary destinations you want to visit.
Fifth, plan your itinerary.
St. Francois Mountains & Arcadia Valley Itinerary
Here’s the itinerary for our St. Francois Mountains & Arcadia Valley trip, all made possible through Destination Linking.
Note! We did not schedule this itinerary in the most efficient way in terms of driving. In short, it was more important for us to do certain activities on certain days. The local weather played a huge role in our decision-making process.
Day One
Get to Pilot Knob in the Arcadia Valley. Check into the Fort Davidson Hotel. Unpack. Spend the rest of the afternoon and evening poolside.
Day Two
In the morning, drive from Fort Davidson Hotel to Tom Sauk Mountain State Park. Go to the overlook and enjoy the view. Next, go to the lookout tower and climb up 72 feet. Then, hike the Mina Sauk Falls Trail and see the 132-foot waterfall.
Note! We did not hike the 2.9-mile Mina Sauk Falls Trail because we were told by other hikers that it was barely flowing. Mina Sauk Falls is a wet weather waterfall, and the region was amidst a hot, low rain period. We will try again later.
Around noon, leave Tom Sauk State Park and drive to Elephant Rocks State Park.
Use the minus sign on the interactive map below to zoom out.
Arrive at Elephant Rocks State Park, find a shaded picnic table, and enjoy lunch. Then, hike the Braille Trail. After exploring, return to Fort Davidson Hotel for an evening swim and rest.
Use the minus sign on the interactive map below to zoom out.
Day Three
In the morning, drive 1 minute to the Battle of Pilot Knob Historic Site to begin the Battle of Pilot Knob Driving Tour. This is a 16-stop tour so allow plenty of time to enjoy each stop.
Bonus! You can learn more about driving tours and see photos of our favorite stops along the Battle of Pilot Knob Driving Tour here!
After completing the driving tour, return to Fort Davidson Hotel to spend the rest of the day poolside.
Pleasant Surprise! A live band set up in the late afternoon hours at the restaurant by the pool. This was certainly a nice surprise as we got to listen to live music while lounging poolside.
Day Four
In the morning, drive to Johnson’s Shut-ins State Park. Spend the extremely hot day splashing in the cool water rapids.
NOTE! This is where we had to change our plans. The water was unbelievably low at the Shut-Ins and there really wasn’t room for us because there was a crowd. We found another possible swimming location by looking at Google Maps. After notifying our “Safety Buddy” of changes in our itinerary, we were off on our surprise 44-minute drive!
Drive from Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park to the Silver Mines Recreation Area.
OMG, what a place! So very glad we had to change our plans. This was the highlight of the entire trip for all of us. You can read more about that in my post on the Silver Mines Recreation Area!
Day Five
Check out of our accommodations and begin our trip back home.
Wrapping up destination linking
You can easily go camping at Tom Sauk State Park and spend all your vacation days there. Likewise, you can book a room at the Fort Davidson Hotel and easily spend your entire vacation enjoying the amenities there. You can also make trips back to see other destinations in the area that pique your curiosity. However, with my destination linking process, we were able to enjoy multiple destinations in one trip. We had plenty of time to enjoy each destination and had a wonderful time using this method.
I hope this process helps you explore more in each given geographical location you choose to visit. Wishing you many blessings and as always, Safe Travels!
