Natchez Trace Parkway

If you have been on I10 and 85 before, that might be boring. We don't make reservations and quite often take the other way or old road and never find it boring.

We did the Trace with our 43 ft. motorhome towing a car. Many places to get off and camp. Follow the battlefields and history of the area. We ended up in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. before heading west to Cal.

WE slowed down after I retired a few years ago, which gave us more time during the summer to travel. We had no problems slowing down and taking our time with the Blue Ridge, which I suspect is something like the Natchez Trace. But only you know yourself well enough to say how you will do.

We still do a moderate push when we are headed for the west each year to get us by the boring to us part of the trip. On I-10 things don't get interesting until San Antonio. And going up US 287 isn't all that interesting until you get closer to `Amarillo where there are some interesting state parks. We tend to do 400-450 mile days for the first two to three days of our trips. But we've been doing this since the mid-1980's when we did 600 mile days and once 1200 miles in 30 hours. And then there was the North Florida to Yosemite run in 4 days...heh the bad old days.

We took the north route for us a couple years ago and took our time by driving on Iowa secondary roads and we have done the same in Texas, finding a very nice city park in Mason TX. In Iowa we found the awful city park in Atlantic...heh. In Louisiana we found that I-10 isn't the only horrible road surface in the state all the secondary roads were bad to worse. So you never know what you'll find only that it will be interesting.

I would suggest that you add Mammoth Caves to your itinerary if you haven't been there. You can spend a couple of days there and there is a lot of history in those caves.

We tend to now days to do a base camp for a week and thoroughly explore the surrounding 100 miles or so. Then move the base camp and repeat. We call it exploring a state. Northern Utah and Idaho are on our list for this summer.

If you are tired of going the same way every time, and you have plenty of time to get there, go for it. We've never been on the Natchez Trace but it sounds like it would a lot of fun. We have often taken the long way to get somewhere just because there is something we want to see. We have discovered really interesting and fun things in out of the way places.

Several years ago we started following the three three three rule when we are traveling in the RV. We travel less than 300 miles a day (less than 200 is even better), stay at least 3 nights in each place, and try to stop by 3:00 pm. We usually go to our destination one way, and return a different way so we can see more of our beautiful country.

We find that when we travel slower and stop to see things along the way we enjoy the trip a lot more.

Wishing you safe travels and happy trails!

We have traveled the Trace end-to-end several times, and served as volunteers at the Mississippi end for a while. Nice easy drive, no rush, but 50 MPH and they do enforce it. Traffic is very light except around Jackson and Tupelo. Watch out for bicycles and deer. Natchez to Mid-tennessee is all day trip. Plan on two -three days to enjoy. If you can get reservations, Davis Lake is a nice campground with power and water.. About halfway.

The Trace is on the list of things to do. Follow their facebook page for updates on conditions.

We restrict our travel days to 4 hours planned (5 hours actual) and stay at each stop at least 2 days. We tend to avoid interstates and take the older US route system wherever we can. You'll find that if there's an interstate going to your destination, there's probably a US route as well. US98 instead of I-10 through the panhandle is a great example of the difference.

I've done marathon pulls in the past. Non stop from Bristol TN to Houston. Houston to Walsenburg CO. Just got back last Sunday from a easy non stop from Tulsa. Driven up 287 a lot.
A bit of self psych analysis...if I have a "job" to do, I want to do it. In this case the job is to get to Richmond VA. I'm hoping the Trace Parkway will force me to slow it down. Maybe avoiding interstates will help.
Speaking of 287...one of my bucket items is to drive 287 from the south end to Glacier NP. If not this year, next.
Thanks for y'alls help with the self analysis.

We've run the Trace and it's a great run. We've run it in a 43' diesel pusher pulling a full size pickup and there are a few cautions. Although the Trace has a number of pull off's with various historical significance, you cannot get into AND OUT OF all of them with a big rig. All tight ones are marked, but the signs are carved wood, small and low on the grass. Watch CLOSELY for them. Another issue is overhanging branches. The Trace is only 2 lanes WITH ABSOLUTELY NO SHOULDERS. In some areas they do not keep tree branches cut back far enough and staying in your lane may get you a fair share of scratches and an occasional hard bump. Just be careful. Collect some travel guides and have the copilot keeping up with your travels. Makes for a much better experience. Finally, although the "rules" tell you you are not allowed to overnight at the many turnouts, we have done it repeatedly. We didn't put out awnings, BBQ's, lawn chairs and such but we saw numerous rangers pass us without a second look. It's a great run. ENJOY.

A bit off the Trace subject; but for your Louisiana portion of the trip you should consider using US190 to avoid the construction areas east of Lafayette and the east bound choke point at Baton Rouge.