Minneapolis to Niagara - 14 days this summer
 

I am starting to plan a road trip (with travel trailer) to Niagara Falls from Minneapolis. I am thinking three days out and three days back with about 8 days based around Niagara. I have in mind Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Football Hall of Fame, Cooperstown?, Corning? Any kitschy ideas welcome, plus natural beauty things to see, day trips from Niagara, etc. It seems going to NYC is stretching it, correct? We like to pack it in, but we usually add too much for all the miles. Camping suggestions welcome, too. I think we have time to go North one way and South the other. Would love to avoid Chicago...

Only way I see to avoid Chicago is to go through the UP of Michigan and cross into Canada at Port Huron/Sarnia. Did you want to camp on the Canada side of Niagara Falls or the Buffalo-Cheektowaga side?
Coming back through Cleveland you could go north from Indiana into Michigan and back through Sault Ste. Marie.

I would do the southern route and head for the R&R hall and Canton first...if you do amusement parks, stop at Cedar Point also... then head up to Niagara Falls or cut across the Finger Lakes first to Cooperstown and drive back along NY Rt 20 toward the Falls... after Niagara you can head west through canada and back home via Michigan. .. since you are in high tourist areas, camping should be easy with a bit of pre planning ...

For your Michigan camping spot either coming or going, I like the area south of Grayling down to the Houghton Lake area. I do remember paddling a canoe for a few miles on the Ausable River.
Corning Glass had a barge that went from NYC all the way to Buffalo and back to Geneva for the trip down Seneca Lake to Watkins Glen where it was loaded on a transport to get it to Corning. The trip of the barge took all summer on the NYS Barge Canal (nee the Erie Canal). I hope they fire up the kiln and do demonstrations of glass making this summer.
My DW has a Christmas tree ornament that has her breath inside of it.
Check to see if you can camp in Watkins Glen State Park.

Being a travel enthusiast myself, I am intrigued by the discussion in this thread. My fiance and I always plan amazing trips at the start of the year. I am sure this place is amazing and I am gonna keep this in my bucket list. I would really appreciate if I can get dos and donts, and what I can do to be extra careful.

How many in your travel group of "we"? Ages?

WI: The EAA Airventure in Oshkosh is the world's largest aviation festival. If you have any friends or family which are aviators, might be that they've visited there, maybe even flown in. Lots of the smaller, local airports in the Midwest have pancake/sausage breakfasts, dinners, etc. in conjunction with the EAA event.

IL: Have you ever gone down the Great River Road from Minneapolis? Galena (far NW corner of IL) is not right on the Mississippi but about 10 miles to the east of it - wonderful spot to visit (85-90% of the town on the National Register of Historic Places). Can easily combine it with a visit to Dubuque, IA which is right across the Mississippi from it. There are several areas along the Great River Road, either going there or in Dubuque, which have fantastic viewing points of the Mississippi, particularly the locks in it.

South of Chicago: Starved Rock State Park in Utica, IL. Springfield, IL for the Lincoln sites.

IMHO, Indiana is quite an underrated state. But you have to know where to look, particularly in the very northern part of the state, as it contains a lot of agricultural fields.

In NW to NC Indiana: The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes State Park - right along the Lake Michigan shoreline. They get extremely busy on major holidays and other weekends - better to visit mid-week if you don't care for crowds. The Century of Progress Homes from the World's Fair held in Chicago can be viewed from the outside (only 1 tour date a year by park rangers in October where you can see the interiors). If you are visiting that area, make sure you read carefully about *where* non-residents can park. Beverly Shores, for example, charges a pretty penny for non-resident parking and aggressively enforces.

Michigan City has a Lighthouse Museum on the north end.

If you still wish to visit Chicago but not just to drive there, the South Shore and South Bend Railroad is a commuter railroad which travels from points in Indiana to downtown Chicago. Their Dune Park station is immediate to the Indiana Dunes parks and their Carroll Ave. station is in Michigan City. The western most station is right under Millennium Park in downtown Chicago, although they do have other stops at each of the major museum areas. NOTE: They are planning a major infrastructure upgrade and this may cause bussing and delays in some areas on particular dates next season. Read their website about proposed upgrades.

South Bend is where the University of Notre Dame is located. If you wish to take in a Cubs game but avoid Chicago, the South Bend Cubs (a Class A minor affiliate play in SB (a family friendly option).

The Amish communities of Indiana are mostly to the S/SE of South Bend. Also in this area is the state's largest natural lake (around Syracuse).

This whole area of Indiana was big into the automobile industry at its beginning. South Bend = Studebakers and there is a Studebaker Museum there as well as a restaurant in the Studebaker Mansion. In the very small town of Auburn, IN (just a few miles to the north of Fort Wayne, the second largest city in IN after Indianapolis), if you are an automotive enthusiast: The Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum. There are also 3 (or 4?) other museums of various types in that same small town.

If you wished to go as far south as Fort Wayne, the name tells you what it was. A fort in the wilderness and they have a replica there. Also, the Fort Wayne Zoo is wonderful family-friendly location.

Do you want to go as far south as the center of the state - say, Indianapolis? If so, please advise.

MI:

Outside of Detroit, the Henry Ford and Greenfield Village.

Ann Arbor deserves your consideration.

If you have children in that group, the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo.

The Frederick Meijers Gardens in Grand Rapids.

And, of course, you have all the beach resort areas along Lake Michigan.

To finish this off, JMHO, if I had your opportunity, what I would do is go through the Upper Peninsula of MI, visiting the fantastic national lakeshore areas there. Then to Mackinac Island, which is on many a bucket list. Then take the Sunrise Coast (i.e., along Lake Huron) - a little or a lot of it - down to the SE corner and continue on east from there.

If you wanted to go into Canada, you can either do it at Port Huron or Detroit areas (don't know which Niagara - Canadian or American side - you want).

If American, on the way back, you could go from Detroit to Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo - then up or down the Lake Michigan shoreline a bit. Personally, I like the locations to the north more than those to the south. Think about the Saugatuck/Douglas/Fennville area, at least, particularly Oval Beach. If you have kids in tow, St. Joseph is a good choice as well.

P.S. Sorry, forgot that you have a travel trail in tow. Well, that is a hindrance in many urban areas but you should find sufficient campgrounds near these areas I've mentioned. But: Make certain you check all websites for them if reservations are required. I've read that many are either now requiring reservations - or are planning on going to that system in the near future.

I know you mention the Pro Football Hall of Fame in your post, and I just want to emphasize that if you enjoy football even in the slightest, it's absolutely can't miss. They genuinely do an incredible job there in every way, staff, presentation, the whole deal!

If you are going to Canton, I would also go through the Amish Area in Holmes County, Ohio which is the largest Amish Area in the USA. It is a very interesting area and we have enjoyed several trips to the area. When in that area make sure you go on some of the back roads and to the small towns. Canton is not that far from this area. You can go to Cleveland and then down to Holmes County and to Canton. There are also lots of great places in Michigan if you go that direction. I highly recommend the Lake Michigan side of Michigan and Mackinac Island, but the Lake Huron side also has some nice areas and small towns.