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Natchez Trace

Beautiful:)

Nice bikes! We ride the entire length this year on the way to PA Rally:). What a neat ride and History learned:). 444miles:).
 

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Another cool shot:)

My Navy Daughter lives in Meridian,MS. and got to ride a 100 mile stretch of the Trace to Tupelo,MS with me on her F650ST. A very pretty ride up the Trace, thanks for the memories and your really fine ride pics:). Randy
 

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Sure thing, love the continuous riding end to end. Appreciate the service to our country your daughter provides.
 
THX:). I appreciate the kudo's;

Yeah, I loved the no interrupt riding of the Trace, end to end. I stopped at nearly every op to read the history too. Jessica, a fellow MOA member and Great Daughter started riding her F650ST a few years ago, as she attended UofAZ, Tucson. Her Aerospace Engineer Degree has her flying a F18 for the Navy today, just finishing her school in MeridianNAS for such. I smile at her ability, with much respect to her. Earning her way for sure:). Dad. Randy:usa
 
I rode the Natchez Trace several years ago from Jackson, MS to the end in TN. It was early spring and a cold front blew thru when we got to Jackson. Violent storms with tornadoes, followed by a 30 degree temp drop the next day. although the weather was not ideal, the trees and shrubs were beginning to bloom, and it was very scenic.

My riding buds are not into history like me, so I didn't get to stop as often as I would have liked. I plan to ride it again from end to end. I will go solo the next time so I can stop wherever the notion strikes me.

In places the road was very straight with few curves, and the low speed limit was sometimes difficult to obey.

The park service is to be commended for the route chosen because for the most part there is almost no intrusion of civilization on the parkway.
 
The Natchez Trace is a nice easy going ride thru the pastoral Ol South. Great way to get rid of all those worries and problems back in the real world.
 
I rode the Natchez Trace several years ago from Jackson, MS to the end in TN. It was early spring and a cold front blew thru when we got to Jackson. Violent storms with tornadoes, followed by a 30 degree temp drop the next day. although the weather was not ideal, the trees and shrubs were beginning to bloom, and it was very scenic.

My riding buds are not into history like me, so I didn't get to stop as often as I would have liked. I plan to ride it again from end to end. I will go solo the next time so I can stop wherever the notion strikes me.

In places the road was very straight with few curves, and the low speed limit was sometimes difficult to obey.

The park service is to be commended for the route chosen because for the most part there is almost no intrusion of civilization on the parkway.
Not trying to play gottcha here, but as you are into history, as you say, it is important to note that the park service didn't really choose the route, the native peoples did as the current pavement it lies adjacent to (& sometimes upon as I recall), their old traveling & trading route. The park service took our money and bought up the right of way & police that strip. It is indeed a nice spring & fall ride.
 
Not trying to play gottcha here, but as you are into history, as you say, it is important to note that the park service didn't really choose the route, the native peoples did as the current pavement it lies adjacent to (& sometimes upon as I recall), their old traveling & trading route. The park service took our money and bought up the right of way & police that strip. It is indeed a nice spring & fall ride.



I am aware that the NPS did not choose a route simply to build a nice scenic road across MS, AL, and TN. I assume that the NPS WAS responsible for selecting the route and securing the parcels of land required to build. This quote taken directly from the NPS Natchez Trace Parkway website I think confirms this.

"The modern Natchez Trace Parkway, covering a distance of 444 miles from Natchez, MS, across northwest Alabama to Nashville, TN, commemorates the historic Old Trace. The roadway, authorized by Congress in 1938, encompasses a traditional southern landscape that offers travelers manicured grassy roadsides and native tree plantings intermingled with a mosaic of hardwood and softwood forest communities, wetlands, prairie landscapes, agricultural croplands, abundant wildlife, and architecturally significant bridges and structures."
In that regard, I was attempting to say that I thought the route that was selected was successful at keeping the intrusion of civilization from the road itself.

It was not my intent to skip over the historic significance of the Natchez Trace or to imply that I am a brilliant scholar of history. To the contrary, I am looking forward to a return visit so that I can stop at the historic points of interest along the way that I wasn't able to on the original trip, and gain some additional insight.

I would like to do it the next time in the fall, especialy the stretch from Tupelo to Nashville. the rolling terrain there with the trees in fall colors should be spectacular.
 
Just do not get caught speeding on the parkway as it is a very expensive ticket. Federal speeding ticket and if you are fast enough they will tow.
 
I did a major portion of my growin' up less than a mile from "the Trace". Now I wanna go back and ride the whole thing - on my bucket list.
 
Tracing history:)

Growing up in Virginia and knowing the BRP so well, I had never done the Trace, so we did it, end to end this past Summer. A very nice adventure into the past with bikes thrown in:). From the(our) continents "First" womens college(Elizabethtown) of advanced study near Natchez to General Grants camp before his famed battles in Vicksburg, along the Trace further North and so much more, stop and read up all to offer on the Trace if you have the ops. We did most of it, stopping and read'in, taking in all the splendor of such a place. Choctaw Indians probably were the first to use these routes, as I learned. 444 miles of biker friendly pavement and yep, slower speeds with very few patrol cars seen if any:). JUST think how much faster we do it today, compared to horses of yesteryear! Randy:thumb:usa
 
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