Considering Natchez Trace trip. Thoughts? Experiences?

[SteveTN]

Thanks folks for the additional information. We're still in the planning stages so all the extra tidbits are very useful!

[SteveTN]

As I do a bit of planning I'm trying to figure out what a good daily run might be on the Trace? I normally run around 300 mi/day but that's usually on interstate. Was thinking 150 to 200 mi/day would be good on the Trace - any thoughts on that?

[Pam Dorris]

We traveled the Trace a few years ago with our older bumper pull. We loved it. Just be sure to stop and get out at different stops. There is a lot of history to explore and good picnic stops. One stop we enjoyed was French Camp. We have said if we do again would be sure to take at least a week.

[SteveTN]

That's good to hear, we are planning to take at least a week. We like to get set up at a camp site then spend a day or two exploring without the camper before we hook up and move on. Right now I'm trying to decide where our stops are going to be.

[tjfouch]

Spend 7 days on the NT in May 2019 but we picked a base camp and biked everday. Meriwethers visitor center area rarely open but the hiking trails there are great. If you are pulling rig higher than 12feet careful when you exit the Trace road as many side roads have low overpasses and notices are usually on the curves and not in time for you to stop. Saw a few rigs stuck under so be careful.
Last note the ticks were terrible and we picked up several just going from rig to car or while sitting around the campfire. Husband came down with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, spent 5 days in hospital recovering. So make daily inspections.

[SteveTN]

Thanks for the heads up on the low overpasses, we're just over 13' at the AC on top of the fifth wheel. Also the warning about ticks, we travel with our two dogs so we'll be extra careful.

[tortise]

Traveled the entire 444 miles of the Natchez Trace in Feb/March of 2019 with my Reflection 303. It was a wonderful trip. There were just a couple of pull out/overlooks that were NOT RV friendly. All were clearly marked except one (sorry..didn’t make note of which one). With the exception of the section from Hendersonville to Asheville because of the very low bridges, I also completed the Blue Ridge Parkway with the same RV. Found this road much more difficult because of the heavy traffic, no shoulders, overhanging/protruding rock shelfs, etc. If you drove this, Natchez Trace will be easy for you.

As a fellow veteran of the Blue Ridge considering a run down the Natchez next spring I thank you for the comparison.

[SteveTN]

We're back. We ran the trace with our 337RLS from mile 438 all the way down to mile 0. No problems at all with the bridges over the trace. Some of the smaller cross roads that go under the trace have low-height bridges; for example, we had to detour about 15 miles to get around one near Hohenwald TN where we wanted to get off to go camp.

All of the Natchez Trace roadside stops that we took accommodated us with our camper. There is not much traffic this time of year and I can see where it might get pretty crowded if there was more traffic. Non RV-friendly turnoffs were marked. Lots of easy on off sites with historical markers (we stopped and read most of them ) some sites have a short road to them and, fortunately, all of the ones we took had a nice loop at the end so it was easy to turn around with a trailer. We ran 150 miles a day or less so we had lots of time to stop for lunch and at all the roadside markers.

It was a pretty drive with a good road and the opportunity to take a lot of side trips to historical places. Some that we visited were Shiloh, Vicksburg, Franklin TN, and Natchez MS. It's a much easier drive than the Blue Ridge Parkway and well worth the time if you get the opportunity.

[tortise]

Nice summary, definitely adding this to our spring trip out west. Some of the campground stops looked a bit awkward to get to from the Trace, nit sure if the free campgrounds would be worth the risk of availability next April. Thanks again

[SteveTN]

We did not even try the free campgrounds as we wanted power and water. It was a bit difficult to choose campgrounds at the millage intervals that we wanted. Here are the places we stayed at, maybe this will help somebody who's in the planning stages:

1. Natchez Trace RV park in Hohenwald TN - very large Thousand Trails park, confusing pick-your-own-site kind of place. Ended up in a 30A site that was poorly prepared. Looked like they do maintenance poorly and only when they have to. OK but I would not go back there unless I really had no other alternative. I should mention that this is the one that was difficult to get to off of the trace, the turnoff goes under an 11'6" bridge (if I remember correctly) so we had to get off the trace at a different road and take a much longer way around.

2. Tishomingo State Park - Awesome park. Walking trails and a few things to see in the park. Would be a nice place to stay for a few days just for the park. We spent an extra day here and drove back up to TN to visit Shiloh.

3. Starkville KOA - Nice place on a lake to overnight. It was tidy and had a small dog run which was nice for our two Aussies.

4. Magnolia RV Park in Vicksburg MS, off the trace but we wanted to see the battlefield. Nice people, tight spots, lot of full-time working folks. OK to park at but definitely not a destination type park. They did have a great dog run! It served the purpose just fine while we visited Vicksburg.

5. Natchez State Park. Nice site, well kept up with lots of trees. There's a lake in the park but not much in the way of walking trails and the like. Still, we stayed there for a few days so we could explore Natchez and cross the river into LA; it was a great place for that.

6. On the way home we stayed at Pineview RV park in Attalla AL, it's only a few miles from Gadsden and we were able to crate the pups and go into town for a really nice last-night-on-the-road dinner. I only mention this park because it was great! Not at all crowded with very spacious sites, friendly owner and very well kept up. A big pond with pavilions and comfy seating around. Looked like they had a few boats if someone wanted to paddle around. They also had a great dog run!