Natchez Trace Parkway | GTAMotorcycle.com

Natchez Trace Parkway

BeastieGirl

Well-known member
Has this ridden this? My searches on some of the mc road sites turn up reviews ranging from awesome to boring. I'm looking to plan my next trip for mid-October - maxing out at 6 days - and I just came back from Blue Ridge-Deals Gap Nashville loop last week. There are some incredible roads between Knoxville and Nashville which I was not aware of and if you like live music (and don't think just country) you would love downtown Nashville for a night on the town.

But having said that - I was just there so I'm also tossing around the idea of revisiting Vermont and New Hampshire, which I haven't done in a while.

For my fall colours trips I am more interested in scenic than technical and going south opens up the option of camping as well, but to do the Natchez Trace will involve one day of interstate either going or returning to. Vermont NH would probably take that down to half a day highway riding - cutting off around Utica, NY.

I have heated gear so temps aren't a big riding concern for that early in the year.
 
It's on my Bucket List but partly because the name is cool IMO. If it was the Middle America Park Road I probably wouldn't care.

If you go to Google maps and use street view it gives you an idea of the scenery you will encounter. Reviews are good with lots of comments about the lack of commercial traffic and the reduced speed limits. Apparently the speed limits are brutally enforced particularly in the 40 MPH areas. Some areas are 50 MPH. One article said the fines were $100.00 per MPH over the limit. Ouch!

I don't mind going slower than what a road is safe for..........for a while. It starts out helping me unwind but after that it puts me to sleep.

444 miles.
 
I rode the Natchez Trace in 2010. I took it not from the bottom, but from Tupelo, Mississippi up to Knoxville. Since it is a bit of a ride to get there from Deals Gap, I stopped at Barber Museum in Alabama for a weekend.

The Natchez Trace is a bit slower. The curves are wide open sweepers and not tight and also no major elevation gains that I came across. There is a free campground at the Merriwether Lewis monument and I really liked that place. In hindsight I would say that I did like the road because it was scenic with lots of tees and some wide open views, but it did not excite me since I was looking for twister stuff. I only saw one cop on the road and I was riding my normal pace:)

When I was at that campground, I met a guy who had been cycling around North America since 1991!
 
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Hit me up if you need a riding buddy as I have some time booked off early-mid October.
 
I rode it last year (or was it the year before last?). It was a huge letdown for me. The best way I have of describing it is that it's like the most boring parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway without the mountains. It's interesting from a historical perspective (it's the route that northern farmers would use to WALK home after they had floated their goods down the Mississippi for sale) and a lot of things happened in that area, but purely from a riding perspective, it's not worth the effort. As has been said by others, it's also very popular with ...slower riders and is heavily enforced. Not that there's anything to get excited about anyway, wide turns that can barely be called sweepers and complete visibility. Not at all technical.

And really, from a fall colours perspective, the farther south you go, the less colour you'll see. More yellows and Browns because the tree mix is totally different. If you want that "fall experience" you're better off staying north.

For what it's worth, I'd take NH and VT. There's something about a cool fall morning, breath in the air and red in the trees that speaks to me.
 
For what it's worth, I'd take NH and VT. There's something about a cool fall morning, breath in the air and red in the trees that speaks to me.
I know what you mean, although it does tend to speak to me a lot more when I'm not camping :)
I've managed to book of the entire Thanksgiving week, so that expands my options a lot - 9 days instead of 6.
 
I rode it last year (or was it the year before last?). It was a huge letdown for me. The best way I have of describing it is that it's like the most boring parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway without the mountains. It's interesting from a historical perspective (it's the route that northern farmers would use to WALK home after they had floated their goods down the Mississippi for sale) and a lot of things happened in that area, but purely from a riding perspective, it's not worth the effort. As has been said by others, it's also very popular with ...slower riders and is heavily enforced. Not that there's anything to get excited about anyway, wide turns that can barely be called sweepers and complete visibility. Not at all technical.

This post is 100% accurate. About eight years ago, I drove Skyline Drive/BRP/Deals Gap/Natchez Trace, all the roads were the first time for me. After being awed by the first three, Natchez is an absolute bore. This picture from Wikipedia is exactly how I remember it, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Natchez-Trace-Parkway-Highsmith.jpeg. It is a decent way to get to New Orleans if you were planning on it.

If I had nine days beginning of October, I would be going to Colorado.
 
This post is 100% accurate. About eight years ago, I drove Skyline Drive/BRP/Deals Gap/Natchez Trace, all the roads were the first time for me. After being awed by the first three, Natchez is an absolute bore. This picture from Wikipedia is exactly how I remember it, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Natchez-Trace-Parkway-Highsmith.jpeg. It is a decent way to get to New Orleans if you were planning on it.

If I had nine days beginning of October, I would be going to Colorado.

Heading west did occur to me as well :) I generally drop down south a little and hit U.S. 36 around Hannibal Missouri and run U.S 36 out to Limon. And last year I was still scoring decent motel rooms for $50.00 U.S. when I didn't feel like camping. I did a ride between Rock Springs, WY to Vernal UT to Steamboat Springs CO that qualifies as my favourite ride ever. 3 separate times I pulled off at lookouts on Hwy 191 so I could turn around and ride a stretch over again - and not often I do that when I'm touring. I have done a ride to New Mexico and back in 9 days, so it is doable if I want to put in a couple of crush days.
 
Heading west did occur to me as well :) I generally drop down south a little and hit U.S. 36 around Hannibal Missouri and run U.S 36 out to Limon. And last year I was still scoring decent motel rooms for $50.00 U.S. when I didn't feel like camping. I did a ride between Rock Springs, WY to Vernal UT to Steamboat Springs CO that qualifies as my favourite ride ever. 3 separate times I pulled off at lookouts on Hwy 191 so I could turn around and ride a stretch over again - and not often I do that when I'm touring. I have done a ride to New Mexico and back in 9 days, so it is doable if I want to put in a couple of crush days.

If you don't mind some heavy days, I would absolutely do that. I would say bomb two ~1000km days each way, which leaves you five days to explore and enjoy. The weather at higher elevations may be tricky, but I would risk it. A route through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico would be amazing.
 
I rode part of it a couple of years ago. Started from the north end near Nashville.

It was super boring and it's the same old after the same old.
 
I rode part of it a couple of years ago. Started from the north end near Nashville.

It was super boring and it's the same old after the same old.

Seems to be the consensus.

My boss has suggested that I add an extra vacation day for the overtime I've put in on our merger and take the first week of October off so I can extend my vacation for the Thanksgiving day holiday - that now makes 10 days and riding out west a very viable option - though I haven't ruled out the NY/VT/\\NH option - maybe into Maine. The biggest problem is Leaf peeping season drives the prices of even the not so great motels up and its pretty chilly for camping (for those of us who aren't Shane). The nice thing is I really don't have to decide until the end of September - can just check out the weather forecast and decide the Friday before I go whether its south, east or west - at least I've ruled out north!
 
Hit me up if you need a riding buddy as I have some time booked off early-mid October.

I will pm you - but as you can see, none of my plans are set in stone yet - well not even set in sand. But will be the first or second week in October for sure.
 
If you don't mind some heavy days, I would absolutely do that. I would say bomb two ~1000km days each way, which leaves you five days to explore and enjoy. The weather at higher elevations may be tricky, but I would risk it. A route through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico would be amazing.

Okay - stopped kidding myself - as soon as I had the time to make a trip to the southwest viable I knew it was the top runner - now that I have ten riding days its a go.

The first day will be the killer - from Hamilton to Springfield, IL - its going to involve Interstate and riding in the dark (since its the first week in October) - neither my favourite things - and a couple of hours riding into the sunset - though I will be heading south-west the first day, so not as bad.

Second day from Springfield to WaKeeny Kansas - not a bad days ride really - I have ridden this stretch a few times and the biggest problem is there is so little traffic outside the towns, its sometimes hard to stay focussed. Just update some tunes on my GPS just take care of that :)

Day three and the fun begins - third night is booked in Canon City, Co - which should leave me with time to do a run up Pikes Peak - weather permitting. I'm trying not to revisit too many areas, because there are so many places I still haven't seen - but hey its Pikes Peak!

Nights 5 and 6 are booked in Panguitch Utah - central to some of the most spectacular scenic areas anywhere. I want to spend at least half a day hiking in Bryce Canyon - the best views cannot be seen from the overlooks and the last time I was there, it was hotter than hell and I had limited time - so this is a priority for me.

Day 4 and 5 I have left deliberately open - other than hitting the KOA in Panguitch Wednesday evening. Two things I have missed in previous trips are Monument Valley and Black Canyon of the Gunnison. One I hope to incorporate on my way from Canon City to Panguitch - the other on my way home. There are lots of places to stay for night 4 either way - and then the other will hit the itinerary for the ride home. Saturday, Sunday and Monday are again open-ended - the first week of October the weather is still pretty mild - but daylight is getting shorter and now heading east I will be losing time rather than gaining it.

I am doing a combination of motels and KOA cabins. Once I get out of Illinois I am getting motel rooms for around $60.00 Canadian so why not?

When I was looking at Vermont/New Hampshire/Maine during fall colour season - it turns out not only do the leaves turn - all of a sudden $100.00 US motels rooms turn into $200.00 US rooms - so I will do a weekend run down to PA or up to Algonguin or maybe both in the fall and enjoy the fall colours there.
 
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