I'm planning our annual bike trip for my NY/NJ Harley Davidson crew (around 16 of us), and this year we'll be flying into New Orleans and renting HD's. The typical trip is 5 1/2 days of riding, and we generally do a circuit where we end up where we started (New Orleans in this case).

What route and roads would you suggest for the best riding? What towns/cities would you recommend. We normally average 250-300 miles/day, but have on occasion ridden much longer days and miles.

The original plan was to ride the Eureka, AR area, but the dealer didn't have enough bikes for our group, and finding flights was difficult, so we switched to NO. I suppose we could still head North to AR, or do you think it would be better heading east towards FL or west toward TX; ie the 3 twisted sisters? Should we consider the Natchez Trace Parkway towards MS?

BW, I've been to NO on a bunch of trips (not motorcycle trips) and love it, but have never had to route out a bike trip. Just trying to come up with the best plan in terms of riding, fun town/cities and good scenery. So, any suggestions and ideas would be real helpful. Thanks!

 

East can be a pretty ride along the beaches, but the beaches are not continuous and the roads are straight. Pretty beaches along the MS coast, water is not pretty, but there are casinos. The beaches and water get better as you go east, Gulf Shores, Pensacola, Ft. Walton Beach, Destin and Panama City.


The Natchez Trace is a nice ride, especially if you are into history. Lots of historical markers. It is a SLOW ride. 50mph I have not ridden the northern end, which they say is the best. Ride to Nashville, back down through the hills of AL to Birmingham, do Barber Motorsports, and back to NOLA.


I would say you are a good days ride from Arkansas and Texas riding. If you are going to ride TX, fly to TX and rent bikes. Go make a loop through Ozarks and back to NOLA.


I am not familiar with the South LA riding.


It will be hot in the summer.

 

I can't help you much with this except I have ridden the Natchez Trace Parkway and thought it was a very pretty road to ride. My buddy and I did a cross country ride in May of 2011. We had planned on crossing the Mississippi at Memphis. But strong thunderstorms flooded the approaches to the bridge over the Mississippi and the crossing at Memphis was closed.

We headed south into Louisiana and then came north on the Natchez Trace Parkway. It was a fun ride but a weird one for us. In the spring of 2011 there were some terrible tornadoes in the south. As we headed north under this canopy of lush foliage, suddenly we were in a clearing where all the trees were broken and it seemed like total nuclear devastation. Then we were back into the forest. A few miles later the same thing happened. All of a sudden there was a clearing and all the trees were broken.

As you probably have surmised, those two spots were where tornadoes touched down. To see so many trees broken like twigs was humbling. If you ride the Natchez Trace Parkway, you will likely come across those two stretches. It is probably a lot cleaned up now but it is just under four years since that ride and I doubt if the forest had much of a chance to grow back yet.

 

The Trace is a nice ride all the way up. I have a co-worker that rode it this year with his dad and they went all the way up to Nashville then through Kentucky and Ohio and came back down kinda in a big circle. If you are interested I am sure her would be glad to give you points of interest and such if you want. He is helping me plan my ride to Sturgis this year. He loves planning that sort of stuff and he can find some neat things to do.

 

If ya ever watched swamp people and want to see some of that country? A lot of straight roads but some different than NY scenery. Morgan City, Abbeville. Where the swamps turn to marshes, great to see. Also top of the Atchafalaya basin, 3 rivers area, some interesting areas as well. LA 1 and 15 east of Alexandria....Alec as the locals say. Big swamp of the Atchafalaya is awesome. No idea the condition of these roads. Haven't been there since the 90s. Some great spots along the big river but once again...some long straight roads.

with the trace, Vicksburg is very cool if you like history. Battlefield. Longwood in Natchez. The Mississippi side of the big river has hills and curves and history.

Some of the areas I mentioned could be rough neighborhoods up along the mississippi river. Either side. Poor towns. Lot of very cool tourist areas tho. Unique local cuisine.

Natchitoches has a lot of history...very old town. Some river and plantation areas. West of there are little hills. We used to do a lot of east TX as well just west of Toledo Bend. TX roads were in better shape back then.

When is important. Along the coast is going to be humid. Painfully so in the summer. and BUGS

I would think AR would take too much time getting there from N'awlins. Might try us from Dallas or another city another time....but come see us.

 

I can give you a few options, however I will not make any recommendations because everyone is different on likes/dislikes.

History ride - Take the Natchez Trace to Nashville (remember Trace is 50mph). While in Nashville you can also visit Lynchburg (Jack Daniels). A couple things to consider when on the trace is plan gas stops and not many places to stay on/near the trace. Suggest planning nights in Jackson Ms, Tupelo Ms, or Florance Al. Fill with gas when you get a chance to avoid going 20 mi. from the Trace only to get gas. From Nashville you can head West to Memphis Tn. and take Hwy 61 back to N.O. Hwy 61 is considered the Blues Highway which will take you right back to N.O. Harley (imagine this is where you are renting bikes).

Fun stuff - You can take Hwy 90 out of N.O. and follow the Gulf Coast to Florida. You will ride along the Coast in Ms. with lots of casinos, through Mobile Al. where you can take a ferry across the bay and travel the Al. and Fl. coasts. Depending on time if you need you can hop on I-10 and make good time back to N.O.

Just riding - There are lots of country roads throughout La. and Ms. that offer a lot of things to see and do depending on time of year. Nice rides toward Lake Charles, Monroe, Tx. Coast etc.

If you have any questions or need any assistance just let me know and I'll try to help.

 

It all depends on your schedule. Just NW of Baton Rouge is hwy 61 (61 runs through N.O. also). That'll run you through St.Francisville where there are plenty of plantations to see. Then you can continue up 61 to Natchez Ms. if you want to catch the trace.

You could run East to Galveston Tx (6-7 hrs), hang there and enjoy a few cold one's, next day head North and make your way to Arkansas Ozarks, through to Tn and catch the trace. Lots and lots of options. Wanna see the swamp....there are route for that too.

 

IMO, I wouldn't go to New Orleans unless that is just your starting point and your leaving only to come back and turn the bikes back in. We went down there 2 years ago. The roads are terrible. But that sounds like what you have planned.


as others have said, you have many options. We rode to Panama City Beach, Fl. this past summer. you can read my post in the "Trips" section to get an idea about that area. Here is a link: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/road-...ridin-pcb.html


Giving us a time frame as to when you are coming and maybe places you've already been and don't want to go to again could help us out in giving you some ideas. For example, I would not suggest south texas in July or august. Too Hot.

Let me add one more thing. If thinking about Florida Coast, if you can do it before Memorial Day, it will not be near as crowded and much more enjoyable on a bike. After that (especially once all the schools are out), riding through those coastal cities (ie, Destin, PCB, etc.) would be torturous. I'm not for sure, but I would assume after Labor Day would be better as well.

You can't beat the riding around Eureka Springs. You could be there in one hard day of riding. There is more riding you can do in that area in the time frame you have given. The Natchez Trace is something we have on our list to do sometime, so I think that would be good. Might end up in some good riding in the east Tennessee region as well.

 

flights to Dallas are cheaper. They rent bikes in Dallas. Dallas is closer to north AR... in fact north of D into OK is great also..... just sayin ; )

I wuddin do Eureka from N'awlins and spend a day up and a day back at least

Your mileage may vary

 

The trip up Hwy. 61 is nice. Try the Angola Rd. There is some nice "back roads" up to Centerville Ms. I have traveled 61 north many times through the years. They recently 4-laned it all the way to Natchez.