Natchez Trace map, north part (MS line to Nashville) - where should we go?

[John E Davies]

Here is a very nice map showing the north part of the Trace and attractions along the way.

 

https://www.nps.gov/natr/planyourvisit/upload/NATRmap_336_444_web-2.pdf

 

We plan to collect our new Ollie on Monday morning, May 15, stay the night at nearby Fall Hollow, and explore the immediate area over the next two days, testing out all the systems and putting some miles on the trailer. If we need any fixes we will be close to Hohenwald.

 

We will try to get a spot at Merriweather Lewis one night, and I do want to revisit Shiloh battlefield. It has been 45 years since I was there. Otherwise we are wide open to suggestions. What is good? What should we avoid? We won't need or want hookups other than the first night.

 

Tishomingo State Park, just over the MS border, looks very cool. Has anyone stayed there?

 

We have to head north to Nashville to pick up our kids at the airport on Thursday afternoon, for a weekend family reunion at Fall Creek Falls. It would be nice to follow the Trace to Nashville, my old home town.

 

Thnks for your suggestions.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[Mike and Carol]

John, good questions and nice map.  When we picked up we headed north to LBL/KY after a couple of days in Hohenwald.  When we go to the rally, we want to come from the south and have been looking at places in MS - Tishomingo SP is on our list.  We want to do the Trace up to Hohenwald.  Steve lives in Tupelo and might be able to offer us some advice.  Mike

[Maverick]

John:

 

 

 

According to the Natchez Trace web site there is a section of the Trace that is closed due to construction from Merriweather north about six miles.  Their web site says the construction is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2017.

 

Our plans are to camp in Hohenwald on May 15, 2017 at the Fall Hollow campground for some corrective issues on our trailer the next day.

 

Hopefully we will see you in Hohenwald on May 15.

 

 

[donthompson]

John,

 

I camped at Tishomingo State Park in March, 2016 after I picked up my Oliver.  It's a beautiful state park and worth a visit.  I also visited Shiloh--well worth your time.  I recommend that you also visit Corinth, Mississippi to get the full story of the Shiloh battle.  The interpretive center/museum in Corinth is very interesting despite its unimpressive appearance from the outside.

 

Here's one of my experiences at Tishomingo: " First afternoon in Mississippi. I was getting ready to back into my camping space with the Oliver and a fellow about my age wearing an NRA cap walked up and asked if I'd like him to help guide me into to my spot. I eagerly accepted his offer. After getting the Ollie parked, we talked for about 30 minutes. He and his wife live in southern Mississippi. He's a retired Methodist minister. We talked about Civil War battlefields in the area, the Civil War, stereotypical views of people in the North have about people in the South and the opposite.

He grew up in Mississippi in the 50's and 60's. His father was very "country"--he shot squirrels for meat with a slingshot until getting his first .22 caliber rifle. He mentioned that his only exposure to the Klan growing up was when the Klan came to their house out in the country and tried to trick his Dad into coming outside to help them with a pickup supposedly stuck in a ditch. Earlier in the week Klan members had visited his Dad at a garage/service station his Dad owned. His Dad employed a black man and the Klan told him he had to fire his employee. His Dad refused, hence the night-time visit by the Klan."

 

An experience at JuJu's Shrimpboat Cafe in Corinth, MS:  "After I sat down at a table in the restaurant, a rather disheveled man in his early 70s walked in and complimented me on my choice of headwear. He asked where I was from, and I told him Iowa City, Iowa. He surprised me by telling me, in a thick southern accent, that he lived in Iowa City in the 1940s. His mom and dad both graduated from the University of Iowa. His dad was a MD and had a PhD in chemistry. His mother had A PhD in English literature. At some point, his father had a chemical company located in Dubuque. He decided to move the company to Jackson Mississippi. His mother knew Faulkner, Carson McCullers, Walker Percy and others. He still owns a farmland in Iowa and travels to Iowa City couple of times a year. We had a very interesting conversation for about a half hour."

 

I found people in Tennessee and Mississippi to be very friendly and interesting.  I hope you have a wonderful adventure like I did!

[Mainiac]

We took the Trace detour in December and it was well marked and we thought it was easy. It started just above the OTT sales office. Hopefully they had a mild winter and are ahead of schedule...

[hardrock]

John

 

Not sure where your interests are, but two locations I would recommend are visiting Lynchburg, Tennessee home of Jack Daniels Distillary and then venturing a little south to Huntsville, AL.  You mentioned gong to Fall Creek Falls.  There is a great old grist mill there that still stone grinds all types of flour, corn meal, and other ground products.  The mechanics of the mill is spectacular with three floors of all kinds of water driven machines.  The outdoors  is scenery that many photographers come to create a real work of art around the mill, the stream and all the trees.

 

To the East of Falls Creek is the only Jack Daniels Distillary located in Lynchburg, Tenn. If you visit there make advance reservations to eat at Ms Mary Bobo's boarding house.  It is a large house that housed distillery workers decades ago, but now just serves some of the best Sothern cooking found in the Deep South.

 

South of Lynchburg is Huntsville, Al, my hometown.  It is home to Redstone Arsenal, NASA Marshall  Space Flight Center, Alabama Space and Rocket Center, and about 9 US military command centers.  There is a mountain within Huntsville and on top is Montsano State Park,  a really nice state park and campground.

 

The Space and Rocket Center is one of the best museums in the US with many rockets and missiles on display.  In my career, I supported the US Army missile systems, NASA,  and some of the other command centers.  You can see the many rockets and missiles on display that were built and launched over many years. I am enclosing a picture below of the entrance  to the museum with a SR 71 Blackbird sitting at the side entrance.  Enjoy your trip to the Deep South !

 

 

 

 

[John E Davies]

Thanks for the comments. I am actually pretty wide open in terms of stuff to do, but OTH I hate developed campgrounds. It seems as if most places have slabs, playgrounds and full hookups for $30 per night. I am hoping to stay at COE or low cost commercial sites, or at free state forest or WMA campgrounds.

 

Unfortunately there seems to be a serious lack of the latter in Tennessee.

 

I moved away in 1981 to seek less populated regions on the west. Camping in a crowded part of the country will be a very different experience for me.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[KarenLukens]

A good app to use for boondocking is  "ultimate us public campgrounds" or the icon says UC. If you type in UC public, it's the first thing that comes up. We use it all the time. It's in the app store on your phone.

[John E Davies]

A good app to use for boondocking is “ultimate us public campgrounds” or the icon says UC. If you type in UC public, it’s the first thing that comes up. We use it all the time. It’s in the app store on your phone.

Wow, that is amazing. I bought the bundle that includes Canada. Thanks very much for the tip.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[donthompson]

Adding my thanks for the tip, Karen. Also, want to thank you for posting great photographs of your travels--you are taking a great maiden voyage in your Ollie!

[Mike and Carol]

A good app to use for boondocking is “ultimate us public campgrounds” or the icon says UC. If you type in UC public, it’s the first thing that comes up. We use it all the time. It’s in the app store on your phone.

Thanks for the tip on this app.  I also downloaded the military version.  I thought I found an error on one of the Texas state parks and I emailed the developer - within 30 minutes I had a reply and an explanation.  The app was right and he explained where to look for the info I thought was missing.  Good support and worth the $3.99.  Mike

[John E Davies]

I also downloaded the military version.  

 

?  The regular app has military campgrounds, is there another one?

 

BTW you can filter with great results, for example selecting only places below 3000 feet in winter to avoid all those high altitude Rockie Mountain places, then re-enable them in Summer when the snow is gone. Cool and very user friendly.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[topgun2]

Agree with Carol and Mike on the user support.  I do not have a cell phone nor do I have a lap top computerand most places I travel to do not have WiFi for internet service.  However, I do have a tablet that I take on trips and emailed support asking if I had to use my Garmin GPS or was there some way I could use my tablet.  Within a couple of hours they (Ted) were back to me with details as to how to import POI data into the Maps with Me program on my tablet so that I would not need an internet connection.  Certainly worth the price of admission in my book.

 

Bill

[Mike and Carol]

Mike and Carol wrote:

I also downloaded the military version.

? The regular app has military campgrounds, is there another one?

Yes, there is a military version.  I downloaded it when I bought the regular version - the military campground version is free. It will be helpful when just looking for military campgrounds.

 

After I emailed them about the discrepancy I thought I found, I had a nice conversation with Ted.  He thanked me for my input and asked that if there was anything else I noticed to let him know.  I also had an email from Bill, saying the same thing.  All within an hour of my first contact with them on a Sunday morning.  Not bad.  Mike

[snowlakemike]

Website for the Trace does list four current alerts and many more closures affecting hikers.

 

https://www.nps.gov/natr/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

 

 

[John E Davies]

Hmm, the Trace is closed at Meriweather State Park. I hope it is still accessible from TN Hwy 20 for camping. They would have mentioned that, if it were not. One would hope.

 

Maybe having the Trace closed there will give me a better choice of campsites. It is on my list.

 

I don't mind the "rough pavement", that sounds like Spokane roads.

 

LOL.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[hardrock]

Meriweather Park is easily accessible from Hohenwald without getting on the Trace.  If you are at the Oliver factory, it would   Be going backwards to go to the Trace.  From the factory, it is not far and the county  road is good

[SeaDawg]

We've never been crowded at Meriwether Lewis CG. It's usually quite empty.

Neal and Sheri at Fall Hollow get a lot of business from bicyclists on the trace.

Even if you don't plan to spend a night with them, they'd probably give you the info on the roads. They're really nice folks, and I'd plan to spend a night there if you can. They're not expensive, and though the campsites are pretty open/unshaded, there are a number of hiking trails along the river that will get you shade. You just have to walk.

Nice pavilion. Good food. Nice folks. Limited cell phone connection... Ok with me.

[John E Davies]

Thanks for the info on Meriweather Lewis camping. Maybe if we like it we will come back for an extra night.

 

For those who can't drive the entire Trace, here you go... 13 hours condensed into 21 minutes:

 

 

LOL, unfortunately my patience for driving left right left right left right and watching trees go by gets thin after a couple of hours. I will just sample a few sections. There is not a lot of elevation change in this part of the country.

 

https://www.natcheztracetravel.com/images/stories/bikeroutes/444-342.jpg

 

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Laps]

I've ridden the entire Natchez Trace twice, although on my Harley, and camped out along the way. Its a southern version of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which I've ridden several times the entire length. The Blue Ridge of course has all the mountain views, but the Natchez Trace makes up for it with the amazing history that a traveler can learn about every few miles. I also learned that riding the Natchez in August one year wasn't such a good idea, temps were in the upper 90's with humidity to match. If I was to do it once again I would elect for the Spring or Fall.

 

I highly recommend it to my motorcycle riding friends.

[JWalmsley]

Thanks for the info on Meriweather Lewis camping. Maybe if we like it we will come back for an extra night. For those who can’t drive the entire Trace, here you go… 13 hours condensed into 21 minutes:

LOL, unfortunately my patience for driving left right left right left right and watching trees go by gets thin after a couple of hours. I will just sample a few sections. There is not a lot of elevation change in this part of the country. https://www.natcheztracetravel.com/images/stories/bikeroutes/444-342.jpg John Davies Spokane WA

 

This is a neat video! I have been on the Trace a ton, from Hohenwald to Nashville but never the whole Trace. Thanks for sharing!

[ScubaRx]

Besides Natchez Trace and Fall Hollow are there any other campground alternatives within ~ 30 min. from Oliver Factory? Full hookups and paved? Roomy sites? Natchez Trace was blocked off when we tried to go to the campground. I wonder when this spring the roads will be back up and open? *** Wouldn’t it be great if we could talk Oliver to set up their own mini-campground that is paved, full hookups, and bathhouse close to the factory? Surely they are making money hand over fist and could more than afford their own accommodation to make it easier for first time shakedowns and returning owners. *** No doubt at some point we will need to go back to the motherload to get some sort of mod or repair before the 1 year warranty runs out. Fall Hollow was a muddy mess and it looks as though Natchez Trace is limited on the comforts. (See our Mud Hollow images.) Pretty rough camping and not very clean. Didn’t have even gravel in the campsite. Not impressed but at least 1 night was free. Thank you Oliver for that part. No other maker I know puts people up for the night and are willing to repair and help with the first step up.

 

Meriwether Lewis park - 7 miles from Hohenwald, Free, Water available, no hookups, dump station, woody all shade, no gravel, paved road or stay at the sales office, hook to electricity, water available, free, not level, did I mention free or go over to Wal-Mart.

 

As far as money hand over fist, if they are profiting anything, it's a recent event. These trailers cost a bundle to produce.

 

The Natchez Trace is only closed between Fall Hollow and Meriwether and it will reopen this year sometime. Unless you're coming in from the South, that's irrelevant and, if you are going to Hohenwald, you will turn at Meriwether and it's still irrelevant.

[Hikegsm]

A good app to use for boondocking is  “ultimate us public campgrounds” or the icon says UC. If you type in UC public, it’s the first thing that comes up. We use it all the time. It’s in the app store on your phone.

 

Thanks for the tip.  Just got the app and looks great!