USA road trip route advice: New Orleans to New York

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This was published 7 years ago

USA road trip route advice: New Orleans to New York

By Michael Gebicki
The Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia, US, takes you across the high ridges of the Appalachian Mountains.

The Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia, US, takes you across the high ridges of the Appalachian Mountains.

WE ARE TWO COUPLES IN OUR MID-60S PLANNING TO DRIVE FROM NEW ORLEANS TO NEW YORK OVER TWO TO THREE WEEKS. CAN YOU ADVISE US OF MUST-SEE ATTRACTIONS AND A SUITABLE ROUTE?

K. CLARKE, COFFS HARBOUR

The first road I would be taking out of New Orleans is Highway 10 to Baton Rouge, then Highway 61 which more or less runs parallel to the Mississippi River to Natchez. From here, I would set my wheels spinning on the Natchez Trace Parkway (nps.gov/natr) a 710-kilometre route north to Nashville, Tennessee, which will have you whistling Dixie all the way. As well as a beautiful drive, the parkway is one of the touchstones of US history, a natural corridor through the Old Southwest as it was known at the time, and designated as a postal route as early as 1801. America's native people, explorers, traders, missionaries, soldiers and settlers all used the Trace, especially during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the route is interlaced with the memories of their passing. The Trace also passes several battlefields from the American Civil War. This is a sensational and relaxing drive, and the names of some of its attractions – Red Dog Road, the Loveless Cafe, Hurricane Creek, Buzzard Roost Spring and not forgetting Browns Bottom – give you an idea of its character. Access to the parkway is free and since speed is restricted to a maximum of 65km/h-80km/h, the two-lane road is used only by drivers who want to enjoy its scenery and history.

After absorbing the music scene in Nashville for a few days, you might head east across the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Asheville in North Carolina where you pick up the Blue Ridge Parkway (blueridgeparkway.org). This is another humdinger of a drive, taking you on a roller-coaster ride across the high ridges of the Appalachian Mountains with never a dull moment in all its 750 kilometres. The views are incredible, take your time and savour the ride.

The Blue Ridge Parkway ends near Waynesboro in Virginia and don't even unbuckle your seatbelt because at Rockfish Gap just about a kilometre south-east of Waynesboro is the start of another blacktop blockbuster, the 170-kilometre Skyline Drive (visitskylinedrive.org) through Shenandoah National Park.

This drive ends at Front Royal, Virginia, from where you are an easy drive from Washington D.C., and no doubt you will want to explore the national capital and its wonderful cultural and political institutions.

From Washington D.C. I would be inclined to hustle to New York City, although you could also take a detour to the west to drive through Amish country around Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

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