Customer Reviews

Guide to the Natchez Trace Parkway

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having just returned with my wife from a fabulous trip along the entire 444-mile-long Natchez Trace Parkway I can highly recommend this book. "Guide to the Natchez Trace Parkway" by F. Lynne Bachleda is an excellent resource both for planning and enjoying your trip. Having traveled widely in all 50 states and many countries, and having read countless guidebooks, I can say that this one is definitely better than most. It is accurate, easy to read, and chock full of information that is both practical and interesting. The descriptions of historical and natural features along the Parkway greatly enhanced our enjoyment of the trip. Even the printing and binding of the book are superior.

I would recommend that those traveling the Parkway do so from South to North if possible. Following the Trace in either direction would be fun, however most travel during the heyday of the Natchez Trace was from South to North and the guidebook also follows it in that direction.

A person could drive the entire Parkway in one day, but he/she would miss a lot. We took three days, and five would not have been too much time to fully explore all the many fascinating natural and historical points of interest along the way.

Both the Guidebook and the Parkway itself surpassed our high expectations.

It was like traveling with our own expert! We started in Nasvhille and stopped at virtually all of the recommended top 20, either on the way down or the way back, and each was worth the stop. We stayed at a B&B in Natchez, toured some of the awesome antebellum mansions and had a delightful time.
The book had useful lists of places to stay along the trace - we stayed in Tupelo on the way down and Jackson on the way back at places Lynne listed. We even had occasion to need the emergency phone number for the Trace when we came upon 4 horses, in the dark, also traveling towards Natchez. The number was easy to find in the index.
I am so glad that we waited until this book came out for our trip. We learned so much about the history of the region and it made the experience much more rich. This book really made the trip special for us - I HIGHLY recommend it! Thank you Lynne.

If you are a fan of the Natchez Trace, you are probably gratified (as I am) when a new book becomes available. Based on the favorable reviews I ordered it and was not disappointed.

The first physical property you notice about the book is that, though it is a soft-cover, the cover is stiffer than most paperback books and looks to be coated with a material that is water-resistant. This makes it an excellent book to take along with you as you travel, as opposed to a book that may be damaged easily by the elements.

The author quotes other works extensively thoughout, which I consider a strength for the simple reason that is allows you to sample the works of other authors, therefore appraising what other books you may wish to read. Additionally, the pictures are among the best of those that I have found of any book on the Trace. Finally, I found the organization of the book to be very user-friendly, and it accomodates the reader whether your purpose is to use it on-site as a guide or as a tool to learn more about the Trace.

The one flaw that this book has (and it is significant) IMHO, is in the choice of fonts and printing backgrounds. In some areas (Such as the chapter that outlines the chronology of the Trace) you almost have to get out a magnifying glass to read the text. In still other passages (encompassing a significant portion of the book), the text is printed in black on a maroon background; these matching shades are unfortunate as they can cause an unneccesarily difficult time in reading these otherwise interesting sections of the book.

All-told, I would buy this book again, but if it is reprinted I hope the above is corrected so that future readers will find this book even more enjoyable than it currently is.

Lynne captures the true essence of the Trace in this book. As a native Tennessean, I am grateful for the history of this great road and it's role in the story of our country. Buy the book, make the drive, and discover a little known but ever important and adventurous chapter of our nation's story.

I really enjoyed this book. The layout was easy to follow and made me anxious to take a trip on the natchez trace. Detail was written great and historical information was well described. The book was solid, not to large so you can easily take it with you as a great guide book.

One of my favorite pass times is to take a Saturday or Sunday and get on the Natchez Trace. Where I end up isn't important. It's what I find while I'm going. This book is a great companion to bring along and I highly recommend it. Simple as that.

This is a MUST HAVE guide to enjoying the Trace. We found it absolutely invaluable on our tour. No other guide compares to it!

We got this book a couple months before hitting the trace. We used the book to plot our stops and depended upon the recommendations. The pictures and the map are great and helped in our decisions. We are sure we didn't miss anything we would have wanted to see. Well written and highly recommend if you plan to tour the trace.

The book arrived in just a few days and it is in like new condition. This book has been so very helpful to us in planning our trip. We are going to drive the entire Natchez Trace. This book has just been a wonderful tool to help us plan our trip. The book tells the history of the Trace, and milepost sigh-seeing. It also gives the top 20 sights to see on the Trace. I feel our visit to the Trace would not be near as enjoyable without the book. Plus, we would have missed things that are a great interest to us. If you are going to travel along the Natchez Trace we recommend you get this book before you go.

This is a MUST HAVE guidebook! My husband and I just got back from touring the entire Trace in our motorhome. This book made our trip unforgettable! I literally held it in my hands and read it outloud as we traveled. It tells you, in detail, where to stop and the history behind each noted milemarker. We loved the side stops that the author recommended as well. I was so thrilled with the quality of this guide that I found the author on FB and thanked her for her wonderful guidebook!