From the trail
Real riders. Real phones. Real trip.
Ten thousand years of history. One perfectly quiet road. Ride one section or the whole 444 miles.
Before it was a road, it was a footpath. The Choctaw and Chickasaw walked it for centuries. Then came the Kaintuck boatmen — traders who floated their flatboats down the Mississippi to New Orleans and walked the 500 miles home. The same worn corridor through the Mississippi and Tennessee wilderness, used by armies, explorers, and outlaws, is now a National Scenic Byway managed by the National Park Service.
"By Day 2 you stop waiting for the roar that never comes. The silence is the whole point."
For cyclists it's close to perfect. The grades are gentle, the pavement smooth, and the towns along the way still run on Southern time. Ride the lower 100 miles as your first self-guided tour, or commit to the full 444 and finish at the double-arch bridge outside Nashville.
Spanish moss, ancient mounds, and the town Grant called "too beautiful to burn." The most dramatic history on the Trace. Best starting point for first-timers.
The quietest stretch. French Camp, the cypress swamp, and the rolling hills of central Mississippi. Long days, few services, deep forest.
The hilliest and most rewarding section. Meriwether Lewis, the Tennessee hills, and the northern terminus at the iconic double-arch bridge outside Nashville.
All three segment guides in one purchase. Every campsite, every B&B, every resupply point from Natchez to Nashville — mile by mile.
Real riders. Real phones. Real trip.
Second largest Native American ceremonial mound in the US. Built around 1400 CE. Sunrise here is worth an early start.
23 haunting Corinthian columns in a field. All that remains of Mississippi's grandest antebellum mansion.
A boardwalk loop through a water tupelo and bald cypress forest. The Trace at its most otherworldly.
A historic inn that's been hosting Trace travelers since 1812. Still operating, still taking cyclists.
The gravesite and death site of the famous explorer. One of the most moving stops on the entire Trace.
The northern terminus. Two soaring concrete arches over Highway 96. The finish line every full-Trace rider earns.
Start with the Lower Trace or commit to all 444 miles.
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