Marshall and Morehead State in 2 Days: A Huntington, WV and Morehead, KY College Drive Trip
A parent-first plan for seeing Marshall University and Morehead State University in two days along I-64: how each school's visit works and where to sign up, Marshall's guest garage and Morehead's reserved visitor spaces, four hotels from budget to upscale including the Official Hotel of Marshall Athletics, drive times from Huntington's airport and Lexington, sibling stops like the Kentucky Folk Art Center and Cave Run Lake, and Huntington weather by season, every fact sourced and checked Oct 30, 2026.
Old Main on the Marshall University campus in Huntington (June 2006). Photo: Youngamerican · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized and cropped
Last checked Oct 30, 2026. Every fact comes from the pages listed in Sources at the bottom. Some hotel and tour links are affiliate links (disclosure).
The short version
Trip at a glance
Schools
Marshall University (Huntington, WV) · Morehead State University (Morehead, KY)
Days
2 days: Marshall on day 1 from a downtown Huntington base, then Morehead State on day 2, about 1 hour 20 minutes west on I-64.
Fly into
Huntington Tri-State Airport (HTS), about 20 minutes from the downtown Huntington hotels with no traffic. Fly home from Lexington's Blue Grass Airport (LEX), about 1 hour 34 minutes from Morehead State, or drive back to HTS (about 1 hour 14 minutes).
Best base
Delta Hotels by Marriott Huntington Downtown, an Official Hotel of Marshall Athletics about 3 minutes by car from Marshall's Welcome Center.
Car or no car
Bring or rent a car. The campuses are about 68 miles apart on I-64, and both schools have visitor parking.
Registration
Book each visit on the school's own registration page. Marshall offers in-person tours Monday through Saturday, and Morehead State offers personalized in-person visits.
1. Who this guide is for
This plan is for parents bringing a high schooler, and maybe younger siblings, to see two schools along I-64: the Marshall Thundering Herd of the Sun Belt Conference and the Morehead State Eagles of the Ohio Valley Conference.
Marshall is in Huntington, West Virginia, near downtown's Pullman Square, and Morehead State is in Morehead, Kentucky, at Exit 137 on I-64, about 68 miles west. The photo in this guide shows Old Main on Marshall's campus.
Why this order
Arrive the day before: Huntington Tri-State Airport is about 20 minutes by car from the downtown Huntington hotels.
Day 1: a Marshall campus tour from the Joseph M. Gillette Welcome Center, then an evening in downtown Huntington.
Day 2: drive about 1 hour 20 minutes to Morehead State for a presentation and student-led walking tour, see the Kentucky Folk Art Center, then head to Lexington's airport or back to Huntington.
Plan ahead: registration and timing
Marshall offers walking tours Monday through Saturday and golf cart tours Monday through Friday. Academic buildings are closed on Saturdays, so pick a weekday tour if you want to go inside.
Want to meet a Marshall faculty member in your student's major? Email findyourherd@marshall.edu at least one week ahead to request a weekday College Experience Tour. They're not offered in August.
Morehead State's campus visits for incoming freshmen come in two types: a presentation and campus tour, or a presentation, campus tour and academic program visit. Pick a date on its event sign-up calendar.
Both schools also hold open houses: Marshall's Green and White Days and Morehead State's Open House, with faculty, admissions and financial aid staff and a campus tour.
Can't make the trip? Marshall offers a 360 virtual tour, and Morehead State links a virtual tour from its visit page.
Tour availability varies by season.
Huntington winters are cool: January averages about 43°F highs and 26°F lows, with about 6 inches of snow.
Marshall notes that tours may be delayed or canceled in extreme weather, so check before you leave.
July is the wettest month of the year in Huntington, averaging about 5.1 inches of rain, so pack an umbrella for a summer walking tour.
Check each school's athletics calendar for home games on your dates, since game days bring extra traffic and parking demand.
2. The suggested 2-day plan
Drive times are no-traffic estimates from OpenStreetMap routing, and walking times use OpenStreetMap foot routing, with addresses geocoded by OpenStreetMap Nominatim. Times to Marshall are to the Joseph M. Gillette Welcome Center at 1601 5th Avenue, and times to Morehead State are to the Adron Doran University Center at 205 East 2nd Street.
Arrival: fly into Huntington and check in downtown
Marshall offers in-person walking tours Monday through Saturday and golf cart tours Monday through Friday; register on the campus tour page.
Academic buildings are closed on Saturdays, and residence hall showrooms may not always be available, so choose a weekday tour to see inside.
If you aren't sure where to go, start at the Joseph M. Gillette Welcome Center at 1601 5th Avenue.
College Experience Tours pair your student with a College Enrollment Coordinator and a faculty member in their major. Request one by email at least a week ahead; they run Monday through Friday and aren't offered in August.
Group tours are for groups of 10 or more, and you can request an appointment with an Enrollment Counselor from the visit page.
Visitor parking
Guest parking is in the 6th Ave. Parking Garage. A permit is required in most campus areas during enforcement hours, but not in metered spaces, the pay lot or the Sixth Avenue Parking Garage.
Parking enforcement runs Monday to Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. There's no parking on John Marshall Drive, and the city enforces meters on 3rd, 4th and 6th Avenues.
Parking questions: Parking Services at 304-696-6406 or parking@marshall.edu, in the Bliss Charles Public Safety Building at 1801 Fifth Avenue.
Getting there
The Welcome Center is about 3 minutes by car or a 15-to-20-minute walk from the downtown Delta and DoubleTree hotels, and about 20 minutes from Huntington Tri-State Airport with no traffic.
What to know
Marshall describes Huntington as one of the 150 Best Places to Live in the U.S., with festivals and events at Pullman Square, the Mountain Health Arena and the historic Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center.
Green and White Day tours leave from the Memorial Fountain behind the Memorial Student Center and go inside Drinko Library.
Contact
Campus tour questions: experience@marshall.edu. College Experience Tours: findyourherd@marshall.edu.
Last checked Oct 30, 2026. Tour and admissions details change often, so confirm them on the school's official visit page before you go.
Book a personalized in-person visit to tour campus and meet with academic programs. Visits for incoming freshmen include a presentation and a guided walking tour with an Eagle Guide, a current MSU student, and you can add an academic program visit.
Morehead State also offers School & Organization Tours on weekdays, a monthly Friday visit for transfer and adult students, and an Open House.
Visitor parking
For a visit, park behind the Adron Doran University Center at 205 East 2nd Street, where spaces are reserved for visitors.
Visiting the Office of Enrollment Services? It has visitor spaces at 121 East 2nd Street.
Getting there
Morehead State is at Exit 137 on I-64 in Rowan County, about 1 hour 20 minutes west of downtown Huntington and about 1 hour 34 minutes east of Lexington's Blue Grass Airport with no traffic.
What to know
Downtown Morehead is on the National Register of Historic Places, and campus is a short drive from Cave Run Lake and Eagle Trace Golf Course.
The Kentucky Folk Art Center, part of MSU, is about a 9-minute walk from the Adron Doran University Center.
Contact
Office of Enrollment Services: 121 E. Second St., Morehead, KY 40351; 606-783-2000 or 800-585-6781; admissions@moreheadstate.edu.
Last checked Oct 30, 2026. Tour and admissions details change often, so confirm them on the school's official visit page before you go.
4. Where to stay: downtown Huntington near Marshall, or Morehead near MSU
Price tiers (Budget, Mid-range, Upscale) follow each hotel's star class on Expedia. Rates vary by date, so check your dates on Expedia.
Hotel · Our pickMid-range
Delta Hotels by Marriott Huntington Downtown
800 3rd Ave., Huntington, WV 25701
Why here
Marshall Athletics lists the downtown Delta as an Official Hotel of Marshall Athletics. It's about 3 minutes by car from the Welcome Center and about 20 minutes from the airport.
Expedia lists this hotel as a 3-star property, so we place it in the Mid-range tier. Rates vary by date, so check your dates on Expedia.
Good to know
Expedia lists free self-parking, an indoor pool, a free airport shuttle on request, breakfast for a fee, pets for a fee and a minimum check-in age of 18. Confirm details on the Expedia listing before you book.
Expedia lists this hotel as a 4-star property, so we place it in the Upscale tier. Rates vary by date, so check your dates on Expedia.
It's downtown, about a 15-minute walk from Marshall's Welcome Center, and Marshall reserves room blocks here for its Green and White Day events.
Good to know
Expedia lists covered self-parking for a fee, a seasonal outdoor pool, a free airport shuttle on request, breakfast for a fee, no pets (service animals welcome) and a minimum check-in age of 21. Confirm details on the Expedia listing before you book.
Expedia lists this hotel as a 3-star property, so we place it in the Mid-range tier. Rates vary by date, so check your dates on Expedia.
It's an all-suites hotel with in-room kitchens, about 6 minutes by car from Marshall's Welcome Center.
Good to know
Expedia lists a free continental breakfast, free self-parking, an outdoor pool, in-room kitchens, pets for a fee and a minimum check-in age of 21. Confirm details on the Expedia listing before you book.
Stay downtown in Huntington for Marshall, then drive I-64 west to Morehead State on day 2. If you want an early start at MSU, drive to Morehead the evening of day 1 and stay at the Hampton Inn Morehead.
5. Meals between tours
Hours change, so check before you go.
In downtown Huntington
Marshall points to downtown Huntington and Pullman Square for shopping, dining and entertainment, and the Huntington visitors bureau runs a Hot Dog Trail of nine local hot dog stands.
At Marshall
Marshall's Memorial Student Center and Harless Dining Hall are the dining spots its open house sends visitors to.
At the hotels
The TownePlace Suites and Hampton Inn Morehead include breakfast, and the Delta and DoubleTree offer breakfast for a fee.
6. Things for siblings along the route
With siblings
Heritage Station and the Huntington Hot Dog Trail
210 11th St., Huntington, WV 25701
The Huntington Area Convention & Visitors Bureau is at Heritage Station, and its Hot Dog Trail passport sends you to nine local hot dog stands. It's about a 16-minute walk from Marshall's Welcome Center.
Part of Morehead State, it holds nearly 1,400 pieces of regional folk art portraying Appalachian culture and heritage, with rotating exhibits and a gift shop. It's open weekdays and about a 9-minute walk from the Adron Doran University Center.
Morehead's 8,000-acre lake for boating, fishing, tubing, skiing and swimming, a short drive from Morehead State. Morehead and Rowan County, in the Daniel Boone National Forest, are an official Kentucky Trail Town with over 100 miles of multi-use trails.
At Marshall, park in the 6th Ave. Parking Garage and start at the Welcome Center at 1601 5th Avenue.
At Morehead State, park in the reserved visitor spaces behind the Adron Doran University Center at 205 East 2nd Street.
Flying in and out
Huntington Tri-State (HTS) is about 20 minutes from the downtown Huntington hotels. Lexington's Blue Grass Airport (LEX) is about 1 hour 34 minutes from Morehead State, and HTS is about 1 hour 14 minutes back east.
Weather by season (1991–2020 NOAA normals: Huntington Tri-State AP station)
Spring: April averages about 69°F highs and 46°F lows, with about 3.9 inches of precipitation.
Summer: July averages about 86°F/66°F, with about 5.1 inches of rain.
Fall: October averages about 69°F/46°F, with about 3.0 inches of rain.
Winter: January averages about 43°F/26°F, with about 3.1 inches of precipitation and 6 inches of snow.
Parent checklist
Book a Marshall campus tour, and pick a weekday if you want to go inside academic buildings.
Email Marshall at least a week ahead if you want a College Experience Tour with a faculty member.
Book a Morehead State campus visit on its event sign-up calendar.
Book flights into Huntington Tri-State and out of Lexington or back from Huntington, and plan a rental car.
Book a hotel in downtown Huntington, or in Morehead for the second night.
Check the forecast, since Marshall tours may be delayed or canceled in extreme weather.
After each visit, take five minutes to jot down what stood out to your student.
8. Student-athlete recruiting visits
For families whose student hopes to play a college sport. Rules below are the NCAA's; each school's links were checked Oct 26, 2026.
Coaches arrange the recruiting part of a visit, not the admissions office. The tour sign-ups in this guide are for the regular family visit. An official (school-paid) visit is offered by the school, and contact with coaches follows NCAA rules that vary by division, sport and grade level.
Start with your sport's questionnaire, then email the coaches. The NCAA suggests emailing coaches with your achievements, highlight videos and interest in their program, including your name, position, NCAA ID and graduation year.
2 Division I
Athletics
Marshall University
NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference
RecruitingWe found no department-wide recruiting page. Look for a questionnaire on your sport's team page at the athletics site ↗, or email the coaches.
RecruitingWe found no department-wide recruiting page. Look for a questionnaire on your sport's team page at the athletics site ↗, or email the coaches.
Unofficial visit: any campus visit you or your family pay for. You can take as many as you like; in Divisions I and II each one has to come after the first permissible date for your sport.
Official visit: a visit paid for by the school. Each school can offer your student only one. Before a Division I official visit, your student must be registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center, be on the school's institutional request list, and the school must have their high school transcripts.
Division I (Marshall University and Morehead State University): on an official visit the school can pay for travel for the student and up to two family members, lodging, up to three meals a day for the student and up to four family members, and up to $60 a person in entertainment, including five home-game tickets. On an unofficial visit there are no free meals, but the school can give up to three home-game tickets. Division I uses recruiting calendars with contact, evaluation, quiet and dead periods; in a dead period, no in-person contact and no visits.
Rules change. Confirm with the coach, or check the NCAA's recruiting page and recruiting calendars, before you plan dates.
Planning around the season
Check each school's athletics schedule (linked above) before you pick dates, so a coach meeting doesn't land on a road trip or game day for your sport.
Our recommendation, not a school rule: ask the coach whether they can line up an admissions session or tour around your meeting. If not, book the regular family tour yourself through the official sign-up links in this guide, and leave time between the two.
Add your dates and how you're getting there, and we'll pull this guide into one plan: tour sign-up links, the hotel base, parking or airport notes, the route and meals.
Coming soon
Planning more college trips?
Visit-season reminders and new trip guides from College Visit Guides. Newsletter coming soon.
Sources
All checked Oct 30, 2026. Tour schedules change constantly, so always confirm on each school's official sign-up page. Photo credits are under each photo and on our About page.
Expedia listing: Delta Hotels by Marriott Huntington Downtown (star class and amenities, checked 2026-10-30 via same-id Hotwire listing) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Huntington-Hotels-Delta-Hotels-By-Marriott-Huntington-Downtown.h127048.Hotel-Information)
Expedia listing: DoubleTree by Hilton Huntington (star class and amenities, checked 2026-10-30 via same-id Hotwire listing) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Huntington-Hotels-DoubleTree-By-Hilton-Huntington.h26666.Hotel-Information)
Expedia listing: TownePlace Suites by Marriott Huntington (star class and amenities, checked 2026-10-30 via same-id Hotwire listing) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Huntington-Hotels-TownePlace-Suites-By-Marriott-Huntington.h2863616.Hotel-Information)
Expedia listing: Hampton Inn Morehead (star class and amenities, checked 2026-10-30 via same-id Hotwire listing) (not linked: https://www.expedia.com/Morehead-Hotels-Hampton-Inn-Morehead.h2233212.Hotel-Information)
