The entire Natchez Trace Parkway is 444 miles long and is a bike-friendly route with low speed limits, light traffic, and limited access. Many riders spend a week or more traveling the route back to their starting point in Natchez or Nashville, but here’s a little secret. You can see some of the most scenic sections in just one day of riding with the Natchez Trace Century Ride!
The Natchez Trace Century is an annual cycling event in Ridgeland, Mississippi, This event takes place the first weekend in May and gives riders the opportunity to experience the road with local law enforcement officers who direct traffic.
The mild Mississippi spring gives cyclists of all abilities a chance to kick off their cycling season, with ride lengths ranging from 8 to 25 miles, 50 to 65 miles, and 100 miles. The eponymous 100-mile ride features about half of its route along the Trace, six water/food stops, and 12 miles of waterside biking along the 33,000-acre Barnett Reservoir. After the ride, enjoy a picnic lunch and live music at the finish line, and it’s easy to stay in town for the ride. Santee South Wine and Food FestivalMississippi's largest wine and culinary event.
Riding the Natchez Trace Century: Early Morning Start
Although early May is mild, you’ll still want to get out on the trail before the intense afternoon heat sets in. That means the full race starts at 7:00 a.m. It’s a big mass start, with about 700 riders lining up at Old Trace Park. Individual groups just start to break up when they reach the three-mile-long waterway at the south end of Bartlett Reservoir. That’s more than three times the length of the Big Dam Bridge in Little Rock and a beautiful sight as the morning mist rises off the water.
After the first SAG stop at Goshen Springs Campground and a long stretch through the Mississippi countryside, you cross the water again. If you join a new group of riders, be sure to check if they are doing the full or metered ride at the second SAG stop (Zion Church), where the trails split 2.5 miles after the stop. After the split, the trail is very quiet, with 12 miles of country riding and only one turn. You don’t need much signage to follow the trail, but you start to doubt yourself after a while without seeing any trail markers or other riders. After a while, you see a well-marked turn that takes you a half mile back to the Trace and to the SAG station shortly after.
Ride the Natchez Trace Century: Ride the Trace
The second half of the hike is entirely along the Trace except for the last mile to the finish line. The first part along the Trace is about 8 miles round trip. It is a great trail design to reuse the stops and a chance to see the grace, beauty and coordination of the lead groups as they return from the turnaround.
After the out and back, the ride is fast, dropping 100 feet over six miles, with plenty of trees lining the trail to keep out crosswinds. It's also a short section, only 13 miles to the River Bend picnic area. I assume there are limited stops along the way large enough to accommodate a SAG stop since the distance between the last SAG stop at the Yockanookany Trailhead and the finish line is only 4 miles.
The last ten miles were great as the trail snaked along the western edge of Bartlett Reservoir. Our platoon decided to bypass the last stop at SAG and quickly split into two groups of faster and slower riders. The slower group wasn’t forming fast enough to keep me from getting off the back foot and pedaling as fast as I wanted. I was ready to enjoy all the usual finish line party treats: burgers, beer, and country music.
Things to do in Ridgeland: Eat delicious food
Dining at Ridgeland is a classic Southern experience not to be missed. If you love speedboats and open water, Pelican Bay On the shores of The RizBarnett Reservoir) is the place to be. It has everything you would expect from dockside dining, including plenty of fried seafood and blended drinks. If you want to be a little healthier, order a basket of Royal Red ShrimpWith its size and taste that is somewhat similar to lobster mixed with scallops, it is no wonder it is considered the jewel of the Gulf!
Local Urban Kitchen 463 This restaurant features award-winning chef Derek Emerson’s unique take on Southern comfort food. The Dr. Pepper-glazed short ribs melt in your mouth, and my riding partner, George, said the honey-rosemary fried chicken was the best he’d ever tasted.
You can also have Gulf seafood and fine dining for breakfast as well. I survive Everything you’d expect from a chef who was personal chef to a French foreign minister and a location just 200 miles from the Big Easy. The Biloxi omelet stuffed with crabmeat, shrimp and mushrooms, topped with hollandaise sauce and served with a cup of French onion soup is a great way to refuel after a long flight. If you’ve already covered a hundred miles, you might have room for the delicious homemade zucchini fritters with creamy feta cheese.
If all that sounds too good to be true, you can take a one-night tour of Ridgeland's culinary scene at Santee South Food and Wine FestivalIt’s Mississippi’s largest wine and food event, featuring over 120 exceptional wines and food samples from many of the state’s best restaurants. Luckily for riders, the event coincides with the Natchez Trace Century weekend. I’d consider taking an Uber so you can take full advantage of the generous wine tasting. I tend to be a bit light-headed after a full day of riding.
Things to Do in Ridgeland: Explore the Natchez Trace
The drive home via the Natchez Trace is just a short detour for many visitors. Located a hundred miles to the southwest, Natchez is Mississippi's first state capital, where the Trace joins the Mississippi River. Elvis's birthplace, Tupelo150 miles to the northeast.
In between there are several roadside stops, such as: Cypress Swampwhich is just 20 miles outside of Ridgeland. There are plenty of non-professional cyclists strutting up and down the course on any given weekend, so you'll be in good company if you're looking for a post-race recovery ride to round out your weekend.
Training for the Natchez Trace Century Race
The Natchez Trace Century is an early season race, so your training profile will depend on how much cycling you can do during the winter. I live in Huntsville, Alabama, which allows me to continue mountain biking through the winter and start group rides once daylight saving time starts.
The rule of thumb is that you want your final training runs to be at least 80% of the course length, or 80 miles for a full century. My longest training run was only 70 miles, which is probably why I came out on the back foot on the final stretch. I also need to be able to slide smoothly back into the pace line after the pull, especially since I didn’t have enough power to catch up and jump back.
I have used Farm to Fork Trip in Hattiesburg As a final training ride for the Natchez Trace Century Race, this is a great combination for a bike race. If I had the time, I would have spent a full week cycling along the Gulf Coast on the Tammany Trace, New Orleans, the Mississippi coast, and maybe even the Gulf Coast.
A week of cycling between Farm to Fork and the Natchez Trace Century makes for a great bike vacation, especially for northern cyclists who have cold weather waiting for them back home.
Final Thoughts on Riding the Natchez Trace Century
Ridgeland is an affluent suburb of Jackson, Mississippi’s capital and largest metropolitan area. It has more excellent restaurants than you can possibly visit in one weekend and enough hotels to book on a budget. Hotels fill up on this weekend, so you should book well in advance.
Early booking This is especially important if you prefer a particular brand or want to make sure that the hotel you are staying at offers breakfast early enough for the race to start at 7:00. There are enough people coming into the city that many hotels offer a special breakfast on race day for early riders.
Food and wine festivals in Rez, Trace and Santé South are reasons enough to spend a weekend in Rigeland. Another fun stop was William Louis Bell Waller Craft Centerwhich features displays by local artists and handmade items for sale that I would actually put in my house. A week or two after the Natchez Trace Century, the Bill Waller Mississippi Craft Center hosts tours to see some of the South's most impressive residents. Synchronous fireflies “fast synchronous”This could be a reason to return to Ridgeland or extend your stay. You could even take the Gulf Coast bike tour we discussed earlier between Century Ride and Snappy Sync Fireflies. Part of the beauty of Ridgeland is the abundance of options and opportunities!
Hi! We’re Jen and Ed Coleman, aka Coleman Concierge. In short, we’re a Gen X couple from Huntsville sharing our stories of amazing adventures through transformative, experiential, activity-based travel.
