ATLANTA — Communities across America are beginning to feel the buzz of a total solar eclipse coming this spring. In Georgia, it won't quite be as much of an event as it was nearly seven years ago when the path of totality was within spitting distance of Atlanta, passing through western Carolina and South Carolina.
But it's still not too far out of reach this year!
Here are some of the best road trip destination candidates from Atlanta and north Georgia for the 2024 eclipse, which is happening on April 8.
Best places to see the total eclipse within driving distance of Atlanta
So there are a few things to weigh if you're thinking about making the trek to see the total eclipse -- how far do you have to go, what kind of city are you wanting to stay in, and which places will see the most of the eclipse (as you can read about here, some cities will see more time in totality than others).
Luckily we have a few options that cover all the different bases.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Basics:
- Drive time: Just over 8 hours
- Time in totality: 3 minutes, 48 seconds
This is your big-city option, with the most hotels, most viewing parties and crowds, etc. It's also a fairly straightforward road trip, taking you up I-75 to Chattanooga, then I-24 to Nashville and then up I-65 to Indy.
The downside is it's the longest drive (Google gives it 8 hours, 7 minutes precisely from Atlanta) among your options.
Evansville, Indiana
Basics:
- Drive time: Just over 6 hours
- Time in totality: 3 minutes, 2 seconds
This is roughly your best combination for closest drive and biggest city. Evansville -- population roughly 116,000 -- can well accommodate with hotels, activities and places for watching the eclipse.
The main drawback with this option is it has less time in totality than either Indianapolis or the next option.
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
- Drive time: Just over 7 hours
- Time in totality: 4 minutes, 5 seconds
The drive time here splits the difference between Indianapolis and Evansville and offers you more than four minutes of totality.
The thing to note is Cape Girardeau is a bit smaller than the other two cities (population of about 40,000) which might make finding a place to stay more difficult. But, also, the historic riverfront town does appear to have more tourist infrastructure than your typical city of 40,000.
Henderson, Kentucky
Basics:
- Drive time: Just under 6 hours
- Time in totality: 4 minutes, 9 seconds
This is the one drive you can clear under 6 hours (5 hours 57 minutes to be exact, according to Google).
However, Henderson will only see 2 minutes, 30 seconds of totality. It's also the smallest town (population under 30,000) among these four options.
Some other drives under 8 hours
Just in case you want the options:
- Carbondale, Illinois: 6 hours, 53 minutes; 4 minutes, 9 seconds in totality
- Poplar Bluff, Missouri: 7 hours, 42 minutes drive; 4 minutes 8 seconds totality
- Jackson, Missouri: 7 hours, 25 minutes; 4 minutes, 10 seconds totality
- Little Rock, Arkansas: 7 hours, 41 minutes; 2 minutes, 21 seconds totality
- Wickliffe, Kentucky: 6 hours, 20 minutes; 2 minutes, 44 seconds in totality
