Family biking the Natchez Trace in late December to raise money.

From December 24 to December 31, Miranda Muir (age 10), Marybeth Hamilton, and Stuart Muir, are riding their three-person bike down the Natchez Trace 444 miles from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi.

Their goal is to raise $5000 for Bikes Not Bombs. This grassroots organization takes in more than 5,000 bikes each year and re-uses them in innovative youth programs, international development projects, and its vocational training/retail shop. Its international program has shipped more than 40,000 bikes since 1984 to Nicaragua, South Africa, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Tanzania, Ghana and other countries to establish micro-enterprises in bicycle sales and appropriate technology.

For information and photos of their trip, please follow their blog at:  noelonthenatchez.blogspot.com

America’s Best Idea: National Park Getaway

National Park Service News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 2010

Contacts:
Terry Wildy, Natchez Trace Parkway, Terry_Wildy@nps.gov, 662-680-4017
Elise Cleva, NPS Headquarters, elise_m_cleva@nps.gov, 202-208-6843

Natchez Trace Parkway
America’s Best Idea: National Park Getaway

 TUPELO, Miss. – “It’s not so important where you end up; what’s important is the road that takes you there.” This tidbit of conventional wisdom rings doubly true when one’s destination is, in fact, a road. This week’s travel article in the National Park Getaway series takes you to the Natchez Trace Parkway—a National Scenic Byway and an All-American Road that is so much more than an artery for transportation.

 “The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile drive through exceptional scenery and 10,000 years of North American history,” says Superintendent Cameron Sholly. “It commemorates a historic travel route used by American Indians, settlers, and future presidents.  Visitors can not only walk in the footsteps of Meriwether Lewis, Andrew Jackson, and U.S. Grant, but also can enjoy numerous recreational opportunities along the Trace.  It offers something for everyone.”

 A bias-cut from the eastern border of Louisiana through Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, the Natchez Trace Parkway runs from jazz territory to the epicenter of country music in Nashville. The Trace’s
 programming—demonstrations of the dulcimer, pioneer days, and more—helps visitors appreciate the musical and other dimensions of the region’s rich cultural heritage.

 The Trace will dazzle your eyes as well as your ears, whether with spring blossoms or fall foliage. Ride on horseback, hike, bike, or boat past redbuds and dogwoods abloom in pink, purple, and white, or past maples, hickories, and other hardwood trees ablaze with yellows, oranges, and reds.

Scenic driving is always an option, of course, as is camping—a stationary way to enjoy the Trace!