Overview Map. New Orleans is the starting point, Cave
In Rock, Illinois on the Ohio River is my northern terminus.
September 21 just a little past 6am. All packed up and ready to start what will be a
1600 mile trip that lasted five weeks.
Between the I-55 bridges at Ruddock, LA from near Old Highway 51.
Old Highway 51. One of few ways out of New Orleans as we are surrounded by water.
I have biked this road more than 200 times on local bike tours.
Bridge over Manchac Pass Old Hwy 51. A great place to catch a breeze and a snack.
Manchac Pass looking northeast from Old Highway 51.
Sept. 22 at The Market in Abita Springs, LA. A great lunch stop.
This is a scan of my original map which was also used on a bike tour from
New Orleans to Memphis, TN with my baby sister. But that is another slideshow.
This part of the map shows my route from Hwy 51 to Natchez, Mississippi.
I know it is hard to read this small.
Camp Moore Confederate Cemetary near Tangipahoa, LA. Those poor souls burried here
are believed to have perished from Malaria and other diseases - not bullets.
Museum at the Confederate Cemetary near Tangipahoa, LA.
Confederate Cemetary just off of Hwy 51 near Tangipahoa, LA.
Camping at a religious retreat near Kentwood, LA 100 miles from New Orleans.
It was a weekday so the place was really peaceful. The owners fed me a hot supper too.
250 quiet acres to roam. Nice to stretch my legs off the pedals.
A black sheep among the white. And a rather famous shepherd in the background.
More peace and quiet away from traffic and spewing diesels.
Still more peace and quiet...yawn.
Amen brother.
A wild passion flower finds daylight from under
the pine needles.
Reflection place in the shape of a cross. Divine coincidence?
Hungry catfish.
Catfish being fed by the owner of the retreat where I camped this evening.
Amite River
Mississippi state line. I hate when a nice shoulder ends.
Homochitto National Forest just north of
Gloster, Mississippi on Hwy 33.
Homochitto River from Hwy 33.
The Mighty Mississippi River from the bluffs of Natchez, Mississippi.
NTP Milepost 7. The Natchez Trace Parkway started about seven miles north of
Natchez, MS due to incompletion of the road from Natchez to The Trace.
Graves dating back to the 1800s made entirely of Italian marble.
Map section of the NTP. Notice the link in the left column to a free pdf
of this map so you can actually read it.
Emerald Mound. Made by aboriginal peoples of the past. Just off The Trace
near milepost 10.
Emerald Mound and an enthusiastic cyclist.
Kudzu vines eating the landscape on the NTP.
Natchez Trace State Park right on the original Trace.
Notice the depression slicing through the woods top left.
Loess Bluff is made from windblown topsoil blown in from the Midwest eons ago.
Loess soil is very easily eroded as you can see here and will see much more of
in future photos.
September 26. Kicking back watching hundreds of migrating hawks overhead near
Cole's Creek on the NTP.
Butterflies are very attracted to my blue luggage.
Kudzu vines near Port Gibson, MS.
The Sunken Trace and a great example of eroded
loess soil. NTP Milepost 54 near
Rocky Springs Campground.
More Sunken Trace and eroded loess soil from
foot traffic 200 years ago.
Blooms along the NTP.
Magnum Mound near NTP Milepost 45 looks like a green hill to the right.
Grindstone Ford. This is why I tour on an ATB now. I can leave the road behind
whenever the spirit moves me.
Grindstone Ford old bridge structure in background.
Magnum Mound looking back toward the bridge where a previous photo was taken.
Another NTP map section showing the stretch of road where my photos were shot.
Rocky Springs Church
Rocky Springs and some cyclists from New Orleans.
Cyclists really know how to eat!
Saturday September 27 leaving Rocky Springs on a crisp morning.
NTP map section through Jackson, Mississippi.
Tenth floor of the Ramada Inn Towers in Redmond, Ms.
Checking out of the Ramada Inn Towers in Redmond just north of Jackson
on September 28th.
Ross Barnet Reservois north of Jackson, MS at NTP Milepost 105.
Ross Barnet Reservois north of Jackson, MS.
Pearl River Wildlife Managment Area north of Jackson, MS.
NTP Milepost 115
Birdwatching Blind at Pearl River WMA.
Cypress Swamp NTP Milepost 122.
River Bend picnic area NTP.
NTP is the green north to south line.
River Bend picnic area.
100 year old pine trees at the Upper
Choctaw Boundry near NTP Milepost 128
Looking for birds along The Trace a mile south
of Robinson Road picnic area Milepost 135.
Wildflowers on the NTP a few miles south of Kosciusko (koz-ee-es-ko), MS.
This photo says it all about why I love bicycle travel.
The landscape near Kosciusko.
NTP Milepost 160. Pizza and salad (on rear pannier)
at a motel in Kosciusko. The room was equipped
with a fridge and a microwave so I was STYLIN'
Inside my room. No tent tonight. A real bed is golden.
Jeff Busby overlook near NTP Milepost 193.
Jeff Busby overlook.
Map section with Jeff Busby Campground at the bottom.
September 30 on the NTP north of Jeff Busby where I camped last night.
Intersection of The Trace and Hwy 46 near Mantee, MS.
River scene near the NTP.
Cemetary barely visible from The Trace. I don't think motorists would have
much chance of seeing this one from the road.
Headstones date back to the 1830s.
Bynum Mounds near NTP Milepost 232.
Getting close to Tupelo, MS - birthplace of Elvis.
Studying maps in Tupelo hotel. Someone stole the fine art?
My "washing machine"...
...and my clothes drier.
October 1st at Elvis Presley birthplace.
Inside Elvis Presley birthplace.
The King was born and lived here until he was three years old.
Then the house was repossessed by the bank.
Begonias in front of the Elvis birthplace, Tupelo, Ms.
Two story Victorian style home furnished to 1900 historical status.
Located at the fish hatchery in Tupelo, MS.
Feeding the fish at Private John Allen Fish Hatchery in Tupelo, MS.
Reed's Bookstore in Downtown Tupelo, Mississippi.
Legion Lake in Tupelo. I took the day off and the panniers.
Hiking/biking trail in Tupelo.
Temp today is 81 degrees with
32 percent humidity. Wonderful!
Confederate gravesites on the Old Trace
just north of Tupelo at NTP Milepost 269.
Temperature was in the mid 50s this morning.
The Old Trace
Dogwood Valley Trail NTP Milepost 275.
The Dogwoods were over 100 years old.
Twentymile Bottom Overlook near NTP Milepost 277.
Map section showing Alabama on the horizon.
Pharr Mounds Indian mound site near NTP Milepost 287.
Notice the placement of the road reflector.
EXACTLY where a bike wheel wants to be.
Ironically, the reflectors were often painted over
or burried under the tarmac.
Tenn-Tom Waterway from the Jamie L. Whitten Bridge at NTP Milepost 292.
Jamie L. Whitten Bridge over the Tenn-Tom Waterway.
Bay Springs Lake on a freakin' BEAUTIFUL day.
Side trip near the Tenn-Tom Waterway.
Another view of Bay Springs Lake.
Click the thumbnail for Page 2.

The first one hundred photos of this presentation covers about 500 miles. I start from New Orleans, Louisiana USA on my loaded touring bicycle, pedal westward for a couple hours to Laplace, LA where I point the front tire northward and stay on that bearing for the rest of this page. The last photo finds me on the Natchez Trace Parkway in northern Mississippi on a glorious blue sky day. So saddle up and come along for the ride! The photo captions will serve as your tour guide.

Check out my Interactive Bicycle Touring Gear Checklist

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