Nashville to Natchez

Inspired by Boatdrinks , Mrs Bluej and I are going to do the Natchez Trace very soon.

She has logged over 2 thousand miles riding the river roads this year already and I am really proud of how good a rider she has become

We will trailer the bikes through most of Illinois and drop one once we get to around Shawnee national forest.

Our son lives about an hour south of Nashville and he is setting us up in a cabin on an old Hippy commune near him, base camp

Then the plan so far is to do a day loop up to Nashville and the next day pack up and head down to Natchez on just the bikes and find some where to camp.

Any suggestions???

Sounds like your son set you up on what they used to call "The Farm". It's near Summertown, TN. But that's a bit south of Nashville and a bit east of the Nachez Trace.

The Trace is a nice ride. I've only rode sections of it in Mississippi. I think the speed limit is 50 MPH and strictly enforced. There are camp grounds everywhere along the Trace. You have to get off if you want to eat in a restaurant.

I'd study a map or go online and plan well.

I'm riding to western NC from Houston in a few weeks. I just might make this my way to get there!

Back from vacation and we rode the Natchez Trace from Nashville to Jeff Busby national park , we had a great time and I will post a better report when I get caught up but I wanted to let mtbspeedfreak know that if you want a nice safe way to go take the Trace , no stop signs, billboards, pot holes or garbage the whole way we went.
We rode it during the week Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday and had the place all to our selves .
We checked out Jeff Busby and Merriwether Lewis camp grounds ( both primitive and free ) and would have been fine for me but we stayed at Davis Lake 20 miles below Tupelo for 20 bucks and Mrs Bluej appreciated the extra amenities.
The close gas stops are located on the trace map, usually a 1/2 mile off the road and every one that we stopped at sold snacks and ice cold beer :whistle:
Lots of places to stop, we rode at 55- 60 mph all day, don't try to drive it at night , too many deer

Vanmor, yes it was " The Farm" and our son showed us around , more later.

Base camp, Summertown Tenn


Nashville


Jeff Busby, Miss

What a great adventure to start out Mrs. BlueJ's motocycling! I am proud of you both but especially your Mrs. Tell her Forrest said so and we will connect soon to share our On The Road Adventure Stories soon!

Good stuff bluej! I'm packing up my ZRX tonight and departing Houston tomorrow. Taking an "off the beaten path" route from H-town to Natchez, then cruising up the Trace to Lawrenceburg, splitting off on US 64 into Franklin, NC. Thanks for reporting back - I've wondered how much riding I'll be able to do at night, looks like that should be minimized.

Gotta ask - did you see a lot of cops/park rangers?

Thanks for sharing!

Yes Forrest we need to get together soon, Cindy says ahhh

We didn't see many police except coming back from Nashville Tuesday afternoon, but we didn't see much traffic either unless we were near a big city around rush hour,
I hear that it gets real busy on the weekend with bikes and motorcycles , probably cops too.

We had heard that the deer come out of the woods and graze along the road at night and one night we were headed back from Jeff Busby to our camp at Davis lake after dark and there seemed to be 3 or 4 around every turn and there are a lot of turns, luckily they didn't like the sound of my Jardine pipes when I backed off the throttle and it sent them bounding back into the woods every time

You'll have a great time Speedfreak, just go with the flow

JD

The boarder


Davis lake


Typical Trace


Riding around Summertown

That's a pretty cool pic framed in the mirror.

I hope you had some mats packed in your gear. The camping pad would just about kill my back. I did that one night and got very little sleep. Next night I had an air mattress to lay on.

That looks like a fun way to travel. I can't even get my wife to ride on the back of my bike.

The Natchez Trace is beautiful! Got a night of camping in, just south of Jackson. It was hot and humid, I wish I would have sprung for a hotel, but it was fun nonetheless!

20140712_170037 by mmsmithgall , on Flickr

MMS_9445 by mmsmithgall , on Flickr

20140713_095116_Richtone(HDR) by mmsmithgall , on Flickr

We didn't make it to the swamps I wish we had that looks cool ,
Glad you dug it.
The wife hasn't had enough biking or camping so we are headed to the Galena territory to do 2 nights of camping real soon

JD

bluej58 wrote: We didn't make it to the swamps I wish we had that looks cool ,
Glad you dug it.
The wife hasn't had enough biking or camping so we are headed to the Galena territory to do 2 nights of camping real soon

JD

Scenic Ridge Road from Savanna up to Elizabeth is a nice road. Then from Elizabeth take the Elizabeth/Scales Mound Road; some of the best sweepers with nice views. Then turn left onto The Stage Coach Trail and go into Galena the back way(north end of tourist district). There is a great little Alsace Lorraine German Restaurant called Fritz & Fritas. It is located on that north end right as you would enter the shopping area. I suggest lunch or dinner there.

Let me know when and maybe Laura and I can ride out to meet you for lunch or dinner. Good to read she is gaining enthusiasm for riding places.

Just got back and read your post Forrest, it would have been nice to meet up with you guys.
We rode to the Palisades Thursday and found a nice spot to camp in the back of the park site 111 , very private the first night.
As usual the rain seems to follow us but we still got in a great day of riding on Friday , hit Galena and all the little towns and roads around there,including the ones Forrest mentioned , BlackJack RD between Hanover and Galena is a very nice route too, we even stopped in at Poopies and caught a band Friday night.

Pictures by Mrs Bluej











Galena hillbilly"s