The official MTTS "Off the Beaten Path" drive on Day 7, Dallas to Memphis leg, is a stop in Hot Springs, AR. If you're on this trip for the driving experience, I'd suggest you stop for a quick lunch bite in Hot Springs, honk at the endless tourist t-shirt shops on your way out of town, and continue heading north on State Hwy 7 (Scenic Byway 7) from Hot Springs to Dardanelle, AR. At Dardanelle, take a quick drive up some serious switchbacks to the top of Mt. Nebo (State Hwy 155); from there you can drive back down, across the Arkansas River through Russellville, and onto I-40 for a quick trip back to Little Rock, rejoining the official MTTS route to Memphis. The Hwy 7 route includes many hills & twisties, abundant natural beauty and a bonus drive over another of the small mountain state parks in AR (Petit Jean Mountain). The whole trip from Hot Springs-Mt. Nebo-Little Rock will add an est. 3.5 hrs (~160 miles) to the Dallas-Memphis trip - putting you in Memphis in time for dinner, Beale St., etc. You can enter "Hot Springs, AR" and "Mt. Nebo State Park (place name), AR" at MapQuest.com to get accurate driving directions and maps.

 

You might want to leave a little early if you take this route. The straight interstate route that MTTS lists is 7 hours if you are lucky. I don't think I have ever made it between Mphs and Dallas in 7 hours unless I was driving pretty fast.

 

Totally agree - if you took this side route, likely ~ 10 - 11 hrs total driving time.

 

And totally worth it, IMHO, espec after driving hundreds of miles of flat-as-a-board Interstate wasteland through NM, TX and south AR.