Three Good Stops

Minneapolis to Little Rock: where to stop

857 miles, about 12 hr 21 min of driving. Here are the real towns worth stopping in between Minneapolis, MN and Little Rock, AR, and why each one earned it.

Your first stop

Clear Lake, IAStretch your legs in Clear Lake, IA · mile 135

The other 5 stops on this drive

Named for your own departure time and driving style when you plan the trip — your first full plan is free.

W•••••, IAstretch, fuel, meal · mile 275
L•••••, MOstretch · mile 414
N•••••, MOstretch, fuel · mile 553
C•••••, MOovernight, meal · mile 595
A•••••, ARstretch · mile 737

Name every stop — first trip free

No card for the first trip. After that it's 99¢ for three trips, or $2.99 a month.

How the days break up

DayMilesDrivingNight in
15958 hr 36 minCarthage, MO
22623 hr 45 min—

How we picked these

Every stop is a real town on your actual route — not a chain billboard. We score towns on what a driver needs at that point in the drive: fuel and food for a stretch break, parks and grass when a pet is along, hotels and restaurants when it's an overnight. Detour distance counts against a town, so nothing here costs you a long side trip.

This page is planned for a 9-hour driving day leaving at 8:00 AM. Change any of that — your hours, your MPG, pets, small children, an EV's charging range — and the stops change with it. Plan Minneapolis to Little Rock your way →

Questions

How far is Minneapolis, MN to Little Rock, AR?
About 857 miles, roughly 12 hr 21 min of driving before stops.

Can you drive Minneapolis to Little Rock in one day?
Not comfortably. At a 9-hour driving day it splits into 2 days, with a night in Carthage, MO.

Where is a good place to stop between Minneapolis and Little Rock?
Clear Lake, IA is the first one on this route.