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Any Intersting Routes to Lebanon from St. Louis

mike m

New member
I’m relatively new to STL and based on looking at Google maps, there aren’t many “great” looking roads between here and Nashville. Can anyone suggest an intersting route on backroads? Looks like there’s some nice roads south along the Mississippi River. Land between the lakes looks good. Best routes there and then to Nashville area maybe?
 
The ride alongside the Ohio River is always nice. I prefer the north side but maybe the south side works too.

Good luck.
 
Last year on the way home from Bardstown Kentucky we stopped at the Jefferson Davis Monument east of Hopkinsville Ky then cut thorough Land Between the Lake, took 160 from Doniphan, Mo to Alton, then up 19 to Cuba, Mo.
This will probably take 2 days if you have the time.
If you need a one day route a lot of the back roads in SE Mo are good.

KHCR 2018 (28).jpg
 
Hwy 150 in southern Indiana is good. There's a nice curvy stretch where the tree canopy covers the road.
I never remember where that section is. Seems like it's in the Prospect, Paoli area??
 
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A word of caution for those going thru LBL & Natchez Trace. When those speed limit signs say 35 or 40mph, they don't mean 38 or 44mph. Park Service tickets are NOT cheap either.

There's a bunch of ways from StL to Nashville. *I* would think about making my way through Bowling Green, KY & hitting the Corvette Museum. I see 2-3 highways that will connect StL to Bowling Green with a bit of planning.

Then, Hwy 109 at the KY/TN line to Lebanon will allow one to miss Nashville traffic.

For those keeping score, Nashville rush hours runs from around 3pm to around 6:30-7pm. Trust me when I say you do NOT want to be in that while on a bike.

For those who are ok for interstate, I-24 to Clarksville isn't bad for bikes. Then I would go to Springfield Hwy 49 to Hwy 25.

My advice is worth exactly what you paid for it................ :laugh
 
Road to Lebanon

From St. Louis I would go to Illinois Rt. 3 go south until you get to Illinois 146 go east until it ends at Illinois 1 go south to Cave-In-Rock cross the Ohio River on the free ferry.
Illinois 3 parallels the Mississippi River ( in Chester, Il. Good smorgasbord restaurant called the harvest house and lots of Popeye and Olive Oyl stuff. Also covered bridge on Il. 150 east of town a few miles)
South of Chester you start running in to Shawnee National Forest, when you hit Il. 146 ( Ware, Il. ) go east. If you need a BMW dealer Grassroots BMW is south on 146 in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Back to 146 east in Jonesboro, Il. Place called Dixie Barbecue also good eats, after you go through Jonesboro, Anna and Vienna you are soon in the heart of Shawnee National Forest you will hit the Ohio River at Golconda from there up River to Cave-In-Rock.
Camp or stay In Cave-In-Rock area or Land Between the Lakes area 1 1/2 hours further at either place you are a few hours from Lebanon, Tennessee
 
Riding through LBL on 68 to Russellville, then hwy 100 to Scottsville does not have much traffic.
Looks like you can take hwy 231 from Scottsville, Ky to Lebanon, Tn.
I have not been on 231.
 
A word of caution for those going thru LBL & Natchez Trace. When those speed limit signs say 35 or 40mph, they don't mean 38 or 44mph. Park Service tickets are NOT cheap either.

This is a good point, but my experience is that as long as you're not egregious, you won't get stopped.

That said, the park roads are not for making time.

ian
 
Riding through LBL on 68 to Russellville, then hwy 100 to Scottsville does not have much traffic.
Looks like you can take hwy 231 from Scottsville, Ky to Lebanon, Tn.
I have not been on 231.

IMHO, US231 is one of the better-kept US hiway routes for motorcycles. I've ridden it from Pell City, AL all the way into northern IN, both ways. Great road, a little short on services in places, no m/c dealerships that I can remember (and certainly no BMW dealerships), and no trucks to speak of! You will go through quite a few small towns, and, if coming into KY on US231, you'll go very near Nicky Hayden's hometown -- Owensboro. IIRC, the biggest city you'll actually go through is Lebanon!
 
Best thing to do is join the Gateway Riders. I'm sure a group will be riding to the Rally. they always have a group riding to the Georgia Rally so they know the best routes.
 
Route

The best route is the fastest, the least interstates, the most scenic,the most curves? What you did not tell us is how much time do you want to spend getting to the rally. If you want to make trip in one day and get to rally and still have enough daylight left to check-in, look around pick out camp site, than hop on the interstates pick your route through Nashville and go. I assume no one wants to do that so the 2 day ride.
I live in Staunton Illinois and plan to leave Friday morning June 7th than head north to Pontiac Illinois for the Illinois airhead campout than Sunday head for Lebanon. ( May send Sunday night home )
I have a sister that lives in Murray, Ky. about 15 miles from Land Between The Lakes so most likely will meet her Monday and will have a campsite set up in Redd Hollow area of LBL, look for the airhead flag.
 
Stuff MY Disappear

Last year on the way home from Bardstown Kentucky we stopped at the Jefferson Davis Monument east of Hopkinsville Ky then cut thorough Land Between the Lake, took 160 from Doniphan, Mo to Alton, then up 19 to Cuba, Mo.
This will probably take 2 days if you have the time.
If you need a one day route a lot of the back roads in SE Mo are good.

View attachment 72151

In these days of political correctness if you are in the monuments neighborhood you should go see this before it is vandalized or gone. A couple of years ago I met my sister and her daughter at Mammoth Cave Nat. park. On the way back to Murray Kentucky they went by this monument stopped and later sent me some pictures asked if I had ever been there and said it was worth seeing
 
Thanks for all the great reply’s.

I wanted to make it to Lebanon on a one day ride due to time away from work. I’ll be leaving STL on Friday early, arriving in Lebanon in the mid to late afternoon and setting up camp. Then Saturday, I’ll either take a long or short loop ride and back to the rally. Sunday, I’ll figure an interesting ride back to STL.
 
The 5 hour 21 minute route takes Nashville out of picture

I wonder if you're seeing a different map?
The map I see only has one route. 7 hours and 7 minutes, 385 miles.

Here is a screenshot of the route I see in my link.
Screenshot_2019-01-26 St Louis to Lebanon.png
 
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