Springfield MO to Tulsa drive: Time, distance & attractions
The distance from Springfield MO to Tulsa OK by car is 181 miles, with a 2h42m driving time. The best road trip stops to add to the Springfield MO to Tulsa drive are the George Washington Carver National Monument, Joplin MO and Lendonwood Gardens.
Planning a Springfield MO to Tulsa road trip itinerary
The Springfield MO to Tulsa drive connects the heart of the Ozarks in Missouri to Oklahoma’s oil hub.
Tulsa’s big ticket attraction is the Philbrook Museum of Art, but you’ll get more of a local cultural education at the Woody Guthrie Center.
Alternatively, the Tulsa Air and Space Museum has a decent planetarium and Gathering Place is a great park with play areas on the Arkansas River. The classic photo stop, though, is at the enormous Golden Driller Statue.
Springfield is the third biggest city in Missouri, and packs an impressive amount in. Top of most visitor’s lists is the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium. The aquarium is the best section, but the rest is a quirky celebration of model animals. It flits from penguins in the Antarctic to elephants on the African savanna.
Other options include the Route 66 Car Museum, the Dickerson Park Zoo, the Mizumoto Japanese Garden and craft beer tours.
For something totally bizarre, head to the Pythian Castle, built in 1913 by an order of knights. You can visit on a history tour or a nighttime ghost tour.
Springfield MO to Tulsa distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Springfield MO to Tulsa is 181 miles. That makes for a driving time of around two hours and 42 minutes. The quickest route is along the I-44.
The best stops to add to a Springfield MO to Tulsa road trip itinerary are the George Washington Carver National Monument, Joplin MO and Lendonwood Gardens.
Springfield MO to Tulsa drive: George Washington Carver National Monument
The George Washington Carver National Monument celebrates a revolutionary agricultural scientist who was born into slavery and went on to become a legendary educator and humanitarian.
George Washington Carver was born in Diamond Grove, Missouri, and the National Monument is on the site of his boyhood home. There’s a one mile nature trail, but the three floor museum is the main point of interest.
Springfield MO to Tulsa road trip attractions: Joplin MO
Joplin MO is a long-standing stop on Route 66. Culturally, the top attraction is the Joplin History and Mineral Museum. This has a fairly cool collection of minerals, but the local history section is more engaging, covering mining, Route 66 and notorious outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.
The main reason to stop in Joplin, however, is to admire Grand Falls – the biggest permanent waterfall in Missouri.
Best stops between Springfield MO and Tulsa: Lendonwood Gardens
Lendonwood Gardens is an eight acre garden near Grand Lake in the north east of Oklahoma. Star attractions include the rhododendrons, azaleas, dogwoods and Japanese maples. There’s also a koi pond, and a station along the trails where you can learn about monarch butterflies. The gardens are open year-round during daylight hours.
More Springfield MO road trips
Denver to Springfield MO | St Louis to Springfield MO.
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