Four of us took a mid-September trip which hit roads in six mid south states. I started out in Arkansas on my Ultra and met three riding buddies along the way who were riding a variety of bikes; one on a new Indian, a Gold Wing, and one glutton for punishment on a KTM 990.

On my way east across central Arkansas I stopped atop Petit Jean Mountain for a break at the State Park Ranger Station. Petit Jean is a destination of itself for those traveling Arkansas, my wife and I have spent a number of weekends there and the rustic State Park Lodge is one of my favorites places to stay. This time I was just passing through.




I traveled east from Petit Jean Mountain and rode through Little Rock which wasn't too bad, having grown up there I was familiar with the traffic. As soon as I got through town I jumped off Interstate 30 onto US Highway 70 and rode through all the little farm towns across the Arkansas grand prairie in east Arkansas. I took a couple of rest breaks in a couple podunk farm towns along the way, then on through West Memphis to cross the Mississippi River into Memphis. There just hardly isn't an easy way through or around Memphis without fighting the traffic. Once I got around Memphis I picked up US Highway 72 near Collierville and was soon crossing the state line into Mississippi.

It was nearing lunch time and I was supposed to meet a couple of my riding buddies in Corinth, Mississippi, around noon. I stopped for gas and checked my phone and was rewarded with a text that said they'd found a place for lunch and were waiting for me there. I met them at the Slugburger Café that apparently is a burger joint of some repute locally. I had a regular burger and fries seated at the old time pharmacy bar & stool and it was pretty good.




After lunch we mounted up and headed east on US 72 towards the Alabama state line to meet another buddy who was riding up from Atlanta to meet us. Just short of the Alabama state line we detoured into downtown Iuka, Mississippi for a look see. We stopped for a break in the shade at the local National Guard armory.

 

Back on US 72 we stopped again for a quick picture at the Alabama State Line and to check the map. I got a tip that the National Coon Dog Cemetery was near Cherokee, Alabama, and was worth the 20 mile detour to check out. I plotted us a course into Alabama to Cherokee and was surprised to see a highway sign as we entered town pointed "this way" to the coon dog cemetery. It was well worth the detour, we turned on Mt. Hestor road for a quarter mile or so then on to White Pike for 10 or 12 miles of rolling hills and twists on a newly paved county road. The coon dog cemetery was worth checking out too, and don't forget to sign the guest book in the pavilion.





After checking out the headstones and inscriptions at the cemetery, we loaded up and went north back to US 72, then east to Muscle Shoals, Alabama and met our final riding partner at Natchez Trace Harley Davidson. We ended up staying in Muscle Shoals for the night.

Next morning we made a long ride diagonally in a north northeast direction, crossed the Tennessee River in Alabama and on into Tennessee to Savannah. We ran diagonally across eastern Tennessee, skirted to the east of Jackson, Tennessee, and on up to Union City where we stopped for lunch and then short visit to Abernathy's Harley Davidson. Was surprised to find such a large HD store in Union City which is not exactly a metropolis of size.

We headed west out of Union City, and after twenty minutes or so crossed the state line and was soon in the old river town of Hickman, Kentucky. Our goal was to catch the Dorena - Hickman Toll Ferry and cross the Mississippi River into Missouri.

 

Lucky for us, the ferry was just pulling in to unload a couple of cars and there was only one car ahead of us wanting to load up for the trip across big muddy.



Being a toll ferry, we weren't sure what the toll was going to be. Seems I'd had someone tell me back home who had been across that it was about $15 per vehicle, but was pleased to see the toll menu once we rode up on the ferry that it was actually $14 per car and motorcycles were only $5 each.




This wasn't my first ferry ride with a motorcycle, I've ridden Peels Ferry across Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas a number of times, also the one across Mobile Bay, and across the Ouachita River at Moro Bay before they replaced it with the new bridge. This one was pretty cool, though, going across the Mississippi River and I recommend it.

Once we disembarked on the Missouri shore, we took the old Levee Road that paralleled the Mississippi River on the west (actually north) side and rode about twenty-five miles into New Madrid, Missouri, epicenter of the infamous earthquake of 1812. New Madrid is an old river port town and saw some action in the Civil War. Right next to the town levy is the New Madrid Historical Museum and we stopped and spent a couple of hours checking it out. It was well worth the $5 admission ticket.



After spending the afternoon in New Madrid, we started looking for a place to stay. Not really finding anything in New Madrid, we headed north to Sikeston, Missouri, and spent the night there. We had a very good dinner at Lambert's Restaurant, home of the throwed rolls.

We got up early the next morning and took a different route back to the Mississippi River to catch the Dorena - Hickman Ferry back into Kentucky.





We backtracked as far as Union City, Tennessee, then we cut east southeast until we picked up Highway 13 in Waverly, Tennessee. Wasn't much impressed with the ride across west Tennessee until we hit Highway 13, then it was all giggles and grins as we turned south. We had a great ride south on Highway 13 to Collinswood, Tennessee, where we transferred over to Natchez Trace, which is one of my favorite rides in the south.

We took our time as we rode south on Natchez Trace, making stops often and seeing the sights. The weather was clear with temps in the mid -70's which made just about perfect riding weather, especially this time of year. We ended this awesome ride day in Tupelo, Mississippi.

 

On the fourth and final day we all split up and headed different directions towards home. Instead of going east northeast to Memphis to cross the Mississippi River back into Arkansas, I decided to make a run across north Mississippi and cross the river at Helena, Arkansas. That decision turned out to be a mistake. I traveled west out of Tupelo on US Highway 278. The ride wasn't too bad from Tupelo through Oxford and on to Batesville, Mississippi, but from there on the roads were bad. Real bad. The closer I got to the Mississippi River the worse they got to the point I couldn't hardly travel more than about 45 miles per hour without getting the snot beat out of me and the bike. The road was just plain rough.

I was never so glad to finally get to the river bridge and cross into Arkansas and some decent roads to travel on.



From Helena, it was about a three hour run across Arkansas to get home. I picked up a nice tail wind from the outer fringes of Hurricane Irma that I could tell really helped the fuel mileage. I felt sorry for my buddy heading back to Atlanta who was probably fighting the same wind as a head wind.

Overall, it was a great four day ride with some super riding buddies. We're already planning another trip next spring.

 

Nice trip & really good Pictures. I rode in a Funeral persession for Hound 1 time, you was really close to the Raddle Snake Saloon to get a good meal also.
you can google Coon Dog cemetery & Raddle snake saloon Tuscumbia, Al. watch the Video.

 

Nice write up and pics---looked like a great trip--have been to Petit Jean area 3 times, beautiful area[my step brother lives in Morrilton]
May have to head that way again

 

Wish you had asked first because I could have given you some great twisty routes through W Tenn. Lot's of them here, you just have to know them.

 

Great story and picts. I will need to find that ferry one day.

 

Yeah, me too. I know the great roads in Arkansas but I'm just not as familiar with the area just across the river in west Tennessee.

 

Great trip report w/ great pics. Thanks for sharing, looked to be a great adventure.