Natchez trace parkway...

[2wTraveler]

Has anyone ridden this road from end to end? I am riding down to Stockton Alabama for the Stagecoach RTE on Dec. 29th, then cutting over to New Orleans. From there I plan to head north into Mississippi and picking up the Natchez Trace Parkway, it goes from Natchez MS almost all the way to Nasheville TN. I expect the southern half to be fairly flat and straight, but think the Northern half could be interesting. Anyone been there? what should I expect?

On another note...does anyone here plan on attending the Stagecoach ride in?

[Sign Guy]

I read somewhere a few years back that it was a pretty good ride. I drove several sections of it when I was in sales. I'd do it given a chance. Not going to the stage coach but have heard through the bmw riders that is a good event.

[bpg]

Not a bad stretch of road, not as challenging as the BRP but very scenic..

Some might call it boring, some say it's a brilliant chunk o' asphalt; ya need to see what YOU think!!

[Mac]

It is very nice and scenic. It will get twistier once you leave Ms. Lots of historic places to stop and take pics, if you're into that. There are NO services along the trace. If you want to eat, sleep or get gas, you'll have to leave the trace and find a nearby town. Natchez, Clinton, Jackson, Koscuscio, and Tupelo (birthplace of Elvis, if you didn't know) are the only major cities the trace intersects in Ms, so plan accordingly. The speed limit is also 50 mph and is strictly enforced by the rangers. The stretch from jackson to tupelo is very boring at 50. You might get lucky and catch a "rabbit" to make better time.
If you stop in Jackson I can make suggestions for eating and so on. I also have a spare room available, if you want to crash for the night. Pm for details

[2wTraveler]

Pardon my ignorance...but what the heck is a "rabbit"? Is it a fast movig car you can trail and watch for their brake lights?

[Mac]

Pardon my ignorance...but what the heck is a "rabbit"? Is it a fast movig car you can trail and watch for their brake lights?

Yes.

[Yankee Dog]

I rode the whole thing from North to South a couple of years ago.  This is my ride report if you are interested.  

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,3589.0.html

You can actually make pretty good time on the Trace.  There are no stop signs or light.  No trucks or other comercial traffic.  The pavement is good.  Very scenic.  And although much is made of the heavy traffic enforcment I only say two police cars in all 444 miles of it.  

Yankee dog

[lilwing]

I ride it from Nashvegas to Tupelo several times a year and the northern leg of the trace is by far the curviest.  I have never seen more than 2 LEOs on any round trip and I averaged about 60 MPH.  It's great unless you get stuck behind a camper or blue hair that can't even seem to drive the 50 mph speed limit.  Fortunately there are plenty of places to pass.

[kevrider]

the first time i rode it in '99, i thought it was painfully boring.  but that was after my first ride in the hills of NC, GA, etc.  that time i was headed north and bailed before i made it to Nashville.  bad move.  guess i was hoping for something like the BRP.  the second time i rode it, in '06, it was a different experience.  i was in a different mindset (less sport, more tour) and i thoroughly enjoyed it.  it is a beautiful road, scenery is fantastic and at this time of year, i imagine traffic will be sparse.



check it out, see how you like it.

[Tyrroneous]

Do not expect BRP like curves.  After all, the bulk of the trace is in MS.  But it is a nice ride if you can get into flower sniffin' mode.  Take the time to visit a few information centers and pull over for the views once in a while.  Be on the look out for wildlife.  I've had a personal encounter with a deer on that road before (I was in a car).  

Also, if you take the trace all the way to Nashville, just after the trace ends, there's a fantastic restaurant called The Loveless Cafe.  Great food.

As for LEO, I've seen a few...but never had any problems.  I generally travel around 60 mph.  There's just no way I can go 50mph!    

[1moreroad]

Also, if you take the trace all the way to Nashville, just after the trace ends, there's a fantastic restaurant called The Loveless Cafe.  Great food.

Thanks for the suggestion!  I plan to be on the Trace in about a week.

As far as LEOs, I can't speak for the Federales on the Trace, but I can give some advice about MS LEOs.  Nobody will look twice at you at 5 over.  I have not had any problems at 10 over, but YMMV.  

Lots of people will go 15 over or even 20 over.  There just is not that much traffic.  But cops do not like you to go 15 over.  DAMHIK

Be careful at dusk, dawn, and in between.  I'm still seeing deer on the side of the road although less of them than a month ago.  MS has the highest deer population per capita of any state in the country.  Look for photos of Mac's bike from about a month ago.

[rocketbunny]

Also, if you take the trace all the way to Nashville, just after the trace ends, there's a fantastic restaurant called The Loveless Cafe.  Great food.

+11111

Great breakfast... bad for arteries.

[JoBu]

This is one of the roads I've always wanted to ride, if for nothing else than for the scenery and the history.  I'm going to plan to take this when going from the CSTN to the ESTN.  

Thanks for the link to the ride report, Yankee Dog.  I'll pop over there when I'm not at work.

Cheers,

Joe

[1moreroad]

This is one of the roads I've always wanted to ride, if for nothing else than for the scenery and the history.  I'm going to plan to take this when going from the CSTN to the ESTN.  

The problem with the Trace is that it runs from southwest MS to north central TN.  It's such an inconvenient direction for me, that I haven't had a chance to ride it -- it's too out of the way to connect the Ozarks to the Appalachians.

[JoBu]

The problem with the Trace is that it runs from southwest MS to north central TN.  It's such an inconvenient direction for me, that I haven't had a chance to ride it -- it's too out of the way to connect the Ozarks to the Appalachians.

Good point.  I did take a quick look at it, and while I won't ride the entire length, I'm planning on trying to ride about 2/3's of it.  I need to end up near Nashville anyway as my Mom lives in Lynchburg, and I plan to stop over there for a couple of days.  

Cheers,

Joe

[bamarider]

The last few miles up in tn. have some good long sweepers, and be sure to exit off @ hwy 90 so you can look up at the bridge that crosses the valley. There's also a BMW & Ducati dealer ship in Nashville that's not to hard to get to from the trace if you want to do a little shopping.

[Bobcattoo]

FYI: The Memorable Bridge spans Hwy 96 and the Ducati dealership has been outta business for better than a year.

And the last two legs North of Hwy 46 are the most enjoyable for an Sport enthusiast BUT weekend bicyclists, traffic, and Park Rangers will increase your risk. Best time is early morning or weekdays.

                                                                    Ride Safe or Ride Well
                                                                           Bobcat

[1moreroad]

Came home on the Trace in TN and AL.  I got off to get gas in Iuka thinking I might not reach Tupelo.  I shouldn't have worried -- I was going so slow I was getting almost 55 mpg!

The northernmost 20 miles or so are BLISS.  Wide open smooth sweepers.  Nothing tricky, just a series of linked turns.  Just enough to be interesting but easy enough that almost anyone who passed the MSF course would not be intimidated.  It does settle down and get a little boring.  Some of the turn outs look interesting, but I really needed to get home last night.

There are clearly some dirt roads that run parallel to the Trace for miles and miles.  Might be interesting on a KLR.

Saw maybe a dozen cars, half a dozen bikers and 2 or 3 bicyclists in 120 miles-ish of the Trace yesterday.  I was doing about 5 - 10 over the limit and the Sheriff and Ranger didn't look twice at me.

[dartfrog]

http://dartfrog.blogspot.com/2006/07/natchez-trace-pucketts-grocery.html

Enjoy the trip

[bamarider]

I didn't have a map in front of me when I posted the other day, guess my memory not to good. The dealership that I mentioned is Bloodworth motorsports on white bridge pike in Nashville, they sell BMW & ducati. A friend & I rode up there A few weeks ago, they had a good selection of bikes & accessories. There were a lot of bicyclists out the sat. morning we rode up.

[gahdzila]

I've ridden the southern section a few times (natchez to somewhere near jackson) since it's not too far from my home turf.

My opinions - it's interesting if you've never been on it.  Not a sporty ride at all, IMO.  Lots of little parking spots along the road with tidbits of historic info.  Scenery was kinda nice...nothing particularly outstanding.

I rode part of it last year around october or so, and there was lots of road construction...so I'd check into that before planning a ride.  should be finished by now, I would think?

speed limits strictly enforced, in my experience.  I see lots of what I assume are park rangers?  Once, one passed me braked down to about 40 mph, flashed his roof lights, then sped away...strange...I took the message to mean, "I know you're speeding, you need to slow down, I'm cutting you a break this time."  I was going somewhere between 57 and 60.

overall, OK as long as you know what you're getting into.  Not an ideal route for getting from point a to point b.  Not a sporty ride.  Decent scenery.  The history markers are quite interesting.

[evilted]

Hmm, think he's already done (or not) the ride as he said he was going December 29th.  Would be cool if he updated us with how it went (or not).  

I've ridden the southern section a few times (natchez to somewhere near jackson) since it's not too far from my home turf.

[2wTraveler]

Sorry for not updating....The weather turned crappy that weekend, so I turned south and rode to Key West, then up the Eastern coast of FLorida instead. This ride is still eating away at me, and I hope to have a chance to ride over that direction in a month or so....

[evilted]

Ah, yes.  The weather.  How is it that Weather.com is headquartered in Atlanta, and yet they never get the weather here right?  It was supposed to be sunny Saturday afternoon and all day today, for instance.  At least we got a couple hours of sun this afternoon after 3.

Well, I'll definitely be reading your trip report when you do that ride since it's exactly the sort of thing I would be interested in doing myself sometime.  Key West is another place I should go while I'm living in 'teh ATL'....

Sorry for not updating....The weather turned crappy that weekend, so I turned south and rode to Key West, then up the Eastern coast of FLorida instead. This ride is still eating away at me, and I hope to have a chance to ride over that direction in a month or so....

[gahdzila]

*yikes!*

sorry, I didn't notice the date on the thread  

[evilted]

Eh, no biggie.

I do that all the time actually.

*yikes!*

sorry, I didn't notice the date on the thread