Get Thee To Totality: New York

On April 8, 2024, the moon’s shadow will completely cover the sun for around three and a half minutes. The last total solar eclipse to travel across the United States was in 2017, and it won’t happen again for another 20 years. To celebrate, Atlas Obscura is throwing an out-of-this-world eclipse festival featuring four days of music, science, art, and wonder. The path of totality is quite narrow, and our festival site near Hot Springs National Park offers a chance to see the eclipse in its full glory.

To join us, you’ll need to do two things: get yourself a ticket, and get yourself to Arkansas. There are few things we love more than a good road trip, so we’ve put together a series of guides for getting to Hot Springs while exploring some fascinating places along the way.

Making your way to Atlas Obscura’s Ecliptic Festival from New York City? This road trip is for the real ones, requiring roughly 20 hours of driving. But anyone willing to brave those 1,300 miles will have lots to see and do en route. Check out a gold-plated Cadillac, the resting place of NASA’s rockets, and terrific soul food on your journey.