Best Route?

[kyjohn]

Will be heading to Gulf Shores from Mayfield, Ky. Thought we would take I-24 to Nashville then might take 65 but does anyone have a good route to take in the RV to Gulf Shores? Would it be bad going through Montgomery in our Class A RV? We will be staying at the RV camp site for a month. This will be our first time camping in the RV. We have a 2004 33' Four Winds. Thanks

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    If you have never done it, I would recommend coming down the Natchez Trace Parkway.  It is 2 lane, but it is such a beautiful drive, and the last time we were on it, it was in great shape.  It is also shorter than the route you indicated, and keeps you out of the big cities.

Ed

 

[kyjohn]

Natchez Trace Parkway? Not really sure where that is. Where does it start and where does it end? Thanks

 

[codgerbill]

http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm  &  http://www.nps.gov/natr/planyourvisit/parkway-maps.htm

These should help with all you might want to know about the "Trace"

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    Thanks codgerbill, you were quicker than me in getting the URL's

Ed

 

[codgerbill]

Your welcome.....eh!

 

[kyjohn]

Looks good but what if you broke down? Do not really want to go to Mississippi. But I do like the (not much traffic and missing big cities). Does 65 have any bad driving conditions except for road repair and big rigs? They all seem to have that. Natches Trace is beautiful! Any other good routes? Just want to see all our options.

 

[RVTom75]

Natchez Trace is a beautiful road, but max. speed limit is 50mph. They do monitor hwy closely, anything over can result in a ticket. Be careful.

 

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

Natchez Trace Parkway? Not really sure where that is. Where does it start and where does it end? Thanks

We recently spent almost a month on and along Natchez Trace Parkway.  At the risk of seeming self serving, I'll mention that we did several blog entries with many photos from that portion of our trip.  If you are interested, you'll find them here: http://pastorscott.com/travel/tag/natchez-trace-parkway.

 

[kyjohn]

Thank you. Love all the infomation and we are now thinking more and more about taking this route on Natches Trace. Where does it start at in Nashville? We will be starting in Nashville on the parkway heading south. Do you just put in Natches Trace on your GPS? We have been through Nashville many times and just can not remember a road called Natches Trace. Looks like you had a great time. Yes, it was too bad the Goverment had to close down. Hope they learned from it. Not to do it again. Thanks again for all the help on this.

 

[kyjohn]

Oh yes, how much do they charge to stay at the parks? Do not know if we will be staying one or two days and sites.

 

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

Thank you. Love all the infomation and we are now thinking more and more about taking this route on Natches Trace. Where does it start at in Nashville? We will be starting in Nashville on the parkway heading south. Do you just put in Natches Trace on your GPS? We have been through Nashville many times and just can not remember a road called Natches Trace. Looks like you had a great time. Yes, it was too bad the Goverment had to close down. Hope they learned from it. Not to do it again. Thanks again for all the help on this.

Remember that it's going to take longer to run the Trace rather than stay on the Interstates.  And as Tom says, they are serious about the 50 mph speed limit.

Here's a great website for traveling the Trace: http://www.natcheztracetravel.com/natchez-trace-parkway-maps.html - you'll find maps, etc. there.

The Mississippi state parks were $18 (no sewer) or, at Tombigbee with sewer, $20.

We drove the Trace in 4 sections of 100 to 200 miles each tow with a stop of 3 days to 10 days between each move.  If I just wanted to go south I probably would have driven on it for awhile and then departed to the Interstate so I could make better time.  We're full time and we're going to spend every night in the camper somewhere, so there's no hurry in our schedule!  The slower pace of the Trace fit our travel style just fine.

As they say, "your mileage may vary."  (Speaking of mileage, my pickup really liked the 50mph speed limit. )

 

[kyjohn]

We are going in February and would like to know if the camp grounds are open that time of year? Appreciate the information. John and Linda

 

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

We are going in February and would like to know if the camp grounds are open that time of year? Appreciate the information. John and Linda

Mississippi campgrounds are open year round - they may fill up on the weekends.

 

[kyjohn]

Are there any in Alibama. that would be open that you know of?

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

If you can do Nashville, you can do Montgomery. Don't do either in the rush hour. You won't find many campgrounds in the Deep South closed in the winter, although you will periodically encounter cold blasts of air from time to time.

The only place in three years of fulltiming, including most of that out West at elevation, that I ever had water freeze was in Gulf Shores, AL. Just proving there are no guarantees!

In my opinion, you may find the Natchez Trace very bleak in the full of winter (although I did not catch when you were going). It is a better late fall or early spring trip, but to each his own.

We normally winter in the Orange Beach area, but this year will only be there in January. It can be blustery at times, but as far as we are concerned, the off season is the most enjoyable time in that area. And if you go hungry for lack of places to eat well, it's your own fault!

 

[kyjohn]

Leaving the first part of February. Be there for a month

 

[GR 'Scott' Cundiff]

In my opinion, you may find the Natchez Trace very bleak in the full of winter (although I did not catch when you were going). It is a better late fall or early spring trip, but to each his own.

Good point!

 

[kyjohn]

Yep, guess all the leaves will be gone and the trees will be bare. Would guess not as pretty in Febuary. Guess will just have to put up with the traffic. Might check it out next fall.