natchez trace highway

[Luna18]

Looking at traveling the Natchez Trace highway from New Orleans to Nashville.....

Any thoughts about this road good or bad???

Places to camp or see ???

Thanks

[tagretired]

The northern most part of the Trace has lower speed limit (40) as you're getting in closer to Nashville.
There is not any direct interchanges from the Nashville interstates to the Trace, check your maps first. The northern exit is at on Hwy. 100 near the Loveless Cafe on the extreme SW side of Metro Nashville.

The NPS site has good info: https://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm

[fanrgs]

We loved driving the parkway with our 5th wheel despite the slower speed limits. We also agree that the Meriwether Lewis cg is nicely shaded and historically very interesting. And, if you haven't been there before, be sure to get a few miles off the parkway to visit the Shiloh National Battlefield. It is well-worth a day's stay in that area.

[lewisr]

We drove it 2years ago, Nashville to Natchez. The only rough spot was near the end for us, closer to Natchez. Sounds like they are fixing that. If you’re an Elvis fan at all stop in Tupelo, his birthplace. As others have said awesome historical sites every few miles.

[bgum]

A very senior RVer said he had traveled the trace hundreds of times and never saw any wild turkeys. We saw 4 or 5 within the first 5 miles on our first trip through there. We live somewhat close to the Natchez end and his wife and him would go often for a day or two just to get out of town. He camped into his 90s. Wish he had seen those turkeys.

[Matt_Colie]

We have run the whole trace about three times and parts many more. It is a great road to drive, there is no cross traffic for the 444 miles and there are no trucks, so the road is smooth.

My advice?
When you get to the big visitor center, BUY THE BOOK. There is literally an historic marker every other mile. Yes, 200+ of them and some other great stops too. At least if you read the book ahead, you know what to expect.

We didn't know what to expect the first time. I had done some research, but it was not adequate. We started at Nashville, and I didn't get the book until the south end (there is no visitor center at the north end). The second time we were on a schedule, so it took the third run to see a lot of what we finally got a chance to read about.

If you travel when the trees are full, it will be like a tunnel of trees, but if you get there early enough, you can see things on both sides for a lot of the travel. On the northern half (you have to have someone watching the map) you can see where the actual trace crosses the roadway. - So Neat!!

Next time we are going in that general direction, we will run the
Trace again.

Matt

[coolmom42]

As someone said, ticks will be a problem any time the weather is above freezing and you walk off pavement. Get a good repellent with DEET.

[SpeakEasy]

Lynnmor wrote:
The OP asked about good or bad, I found some poor road conditions in the southern end last year. Perhaps someone has current information on those bad spots.

The first 7 miles, starting in Natchez, are under construction. The rest of the 444 miles are excellent. Well. To be honest, I was off-parkway for a few of those miles. But only about 20 of them.

Excellent road. Very relaxing to drive. i wish we had more parkways like this one.

-Speak

[gloriebkj]

The NHP site in Natchez is the Melrose House. Also be sure to see the William Johnson House. It is a very interesting period of history before the war. We just finished volunteering there. You can spend a night or two free in the parking lot of the Natchez Visitors center. It has limited electric and water, but is a nice place to spend some time.

[Lynnmor]

The OP asked about good or bad, I found some poor road conditions in the southern end last year. Perhaps someone has current information on those bad spots.

[Scottiemom]

Just an FYI. The Trace doesn't go to New Orleans. It goes from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee. We are normally on it once or twice a year. DH was born in Mississippi and we travel part of it going to his family reunion every year.

Absolutely love it. It is my all-time favorite road to travel. While some people may find it boring, I enjoy the quiet, less traffic. The road is not wide though, and the driver must be vigilant. I hate the bicycle traffic, but the road it theirs to enjoy as well. Just wish they would put in a bike path. SpeakEasy did it right.

Dale

[SpeakEasy]

Just finished driving and camping it. We took five days. Did about 100 miles per day. Typical day started about 10:00AM and ended about 4:00. That's a SLOW pace. We stopped often to experience, see, feel, and learn what was there. There's a lot of history, and quite a bit of nature. We found this guide to be an indispensable resource.

We camped at a campground at the Natchez end, we camped at a commercial campground along the way, a Corp of Engineers campground along the way, and two of the three park service campgrounds on the Trace Parkway itself.

I'm in the process of writing about our whole trip (much longer than just the Trace) in my travel blog . I'll get to the part about the Trace in a few more days.

-Speak

[owenssailor]

We have travelled it several times. It is a peaceful drive with no commercial vehicles at all. Speedlimit is 50 MPH. The historical and scenic spots areinteresting to stop at. We have stayed at the campsites on the trace and also one off the trace ( I can't remember what one).

[azrving]

Merriwether Lewis is a nice campground. Clean restroom,water faucet, paved sites you must park on only, shallow rocky stream in walking distance, historical site and monument, hiking trails and TICKS. We had on problems when there in colder weather but the last time was in April iirc and ticks were out.

[Lwiddis]

If want to make miles, skip The Trace. If you want a beautiful, historical drive this is one of them.