Any one live in Central or west Tennessee? I am going up on April 3-16 with the family to visit Family and will be bringing the bike to ride around while there and was wondering if there were any good rides to take while i'm up?

 

Natchez Trace...

 

Depends upon where. If you're in Nashville then the Cumberland Plateau is east of there and has some nice rides along the Cumberland River. West and south of Nashville is relatively flat compared to Eastern Tennessee, rolling hills. More to the point it's much further from my home so I don't know the area. US-70 is a good ride from Jackson into Nashville. It will take you right into downtown Nashville for the night life

 

If you want to get off the beaten path, get out into the hilly country side on back roads that surround lower/central Tennessee and greater Nashville area:

1. Lynchburg area, hit the town square and Jack Daniel's Distillery for free tour, go by way of highway 129 thru Petersburg to Lewisburg, then down to Pulaski via hwy 11.

2. If have time, state route 166 up to Pleasant Grove, or branch off and even better, go up 245 to Columbia, these are both very small state roads, not highways but in very good condition (as is all of Tennessee's roads).

3. Leiper's Fork area, Fly, and Sante Fe, just east of the Natchez Trace.......this is AWESOME riding area. Basically, hit one of these areas, and start hanging rights and lefts..........beautiful hilly country side. Pleasant Grove is nice. So is Hwy 31

4. If you get north of Nashville, Little River Road up to Ashland City is pretty nice......

5. I like the Natchez Trace, but unless you are hitting the wine-dees between Franklin and Nashville (endless switchbacks the entire way, posted speed limit is 40).........it can put you to sleep. Very little traffic at all, no trucks........very good and relaxing ride. Just not the most exciting.

6. Bellbuckle and Wartrace are great destinations too......

7. And yes, getting over onto the plateau towards Cookeville, and travel south from there, awesome area to ride, esp. if you can get over on the Cherohola Skyway or over towards Maryville.

8. Don't even get me started on riding around the Smoky Park!! Words cannot describe, esp. in the fall........

9. Chatanooga rocks too, hit both Look-out and Signal mountains, then travel north towards Nashville via 8/127 or better yet, hwy 27 and get up to Sewannee, Monteagle, and Tracy City.........

Man, just too many to list. I can tell you two things for sure: Go to google maps on the interweb, zoom in, and find a destination, and choose all the squiggely lines/roads, and you will have a great ride. Just try to keep it around the speed limit and watch for over-hill hair-pin turns, etc. that won't necessarily have a road sign warning you of what's coming ahead. Also buzzards, turkeys, roosters, dogs, loose hogs or goats........ no signs for those either!!

Best of luck and have fun...........Tennessee rocks for riding, pretty much all over the state.

 

Thanks for the advice. I am going to be in the Lebanon and Dickson area then riding over to Knoxville to visit Family over there as well. I grew up every summer on the east side of tenn. Im from Knoxville but moved to Fla when I was young but spent every summer at my Grandparents in knox. so been around that side of the state but was wanting to do some riding over on the west side just to to see what on the other side so to speak!!

 

Google Earth is a great tool. You can get satellite images of the road and surrounding area so you can get some idea how developed it is. They are also working diligently on filling out the street view. They run a van down the roads with a camera mounted on top taking 360 pictures every ten yards or so. It would be nice if they automated it so you could just do a slide show down the road. As it is it's better for spot checking a road than viewing the length of it.

 

o.k. dude, got a good one for you.....from Dickson, go up 48 to Charlotte, then pick up 49 up to Erin then all the way up to Dover, TN. You can hit the civil war park and look for the bald eagles that nest and fly along the river.........
then either continue up 49 into Land Between the Lakes (KY), OR.........take 79 Over to Clarksville, neat downtown, then you could take 48 straight down back to Dickson.
Have done this rid a few times, it's a great one, portions of 49, esp. north of Erin, can be dangerous so watch your speed and slow down over hills..........some hairpins over hills with no signs......

If you get over to Knoxville, head down to Maryville and ride the Dragon and/or Cherohola Skyway......... I prefer the latter, it is approx. 57 miles across the mountain ridges for Natahala national forest, no gas stations, driveways, etc. just scenic pull-offs the entire route. One of the best rides i've done actually.........

You owe me a beer.

Joey

 

Thanks for the routes and as far as the beer you got it!!