Upper South

States: Tennessee · Alabama

Start near: Nashville (starts here) · Huntsville (about 1 h 35 min to Muscle Shoals)

The Middle Tennessee Pike

Franklin to the Shoals on the old roads

The Middle Tennessee Pike is a ~140-mile back-roads route from Nashville to Muscle Shoals on US 31 and US 43, driven in 2 days, that stays off I-65 through the Upper South.

Open the interactive map →

Drive

Nashville → Muscle Shoals

Distance

~140 miles

Time

2 days

Highways

US 31 · US 43

Avoids

I-65

Region

Upper South

The old turnpike south of Nashville carries the war's most concentrated tragedy and the state's best mule jokes within twenty miles of each other. Franklin's 1864 charge broke against the Carter family's back yard; Columbia crowns a Mule Day tradition that traces to 1840s livestock markets; Ethridge's Old Order Amish farm the same fields by buggy; and the pike runs out at the Shoals, where the Muscle Shoals route takes the baton at the river.

📍 Civil War Trails saturate Franklin and Spring Hill; the mule statuary handles Columbia.

The drive, segment by segment

Franklin

Nashville → Spring Hill · ~30 mi

The Carter House's bullet-scarred yard, Carnton's field-hospital porch, and Spring Hill's famous missed chance.

• ⚔️Carter House & Carnton — Franklin

  The November 1864 charge, bloodier per hour than almost anything in the war, fought through one family's farmyard; Carnton's back porch became the surgeons' floor. Tour both.

• ⚔️Rippavilla — Spring Hill

  The plantation beside the spot where Hood's army let Schofield's slip past in the dark, the blunder that set up Franklin the next day.

Mule Country

Spring Hill → Lawrenceburg · ~55 mi

Polk's Columbia, the Mule Day tradition, and Amish farms along the Ethridge lanes.

• 🏛️James K. Polk Home — Columbia

  The only surviving private residence of the eleventh president outside the White House; small house, continent-sized consequences.

• 🛸Mule Day Columbia — Columbia

  The Mule Capital's first-April tradition traces to 1840s stock days: parade, pulls, and a town that takes its mules with total seriousness.

• 🏘️Ethridge Amish country — Ethridge

  One of the South's largest Old Order settlements: buggies, farm-gate stands, sorghum and baskets. Buy directly, photograph fields not faces.

Down to the Shoals

Lawrenceburg → Muscle Shoals · ~55 mi

Crockett's mill town, then US 43 to the Tennessee River and the studios.

• 🌲David Crockett State Park — Lawrenceburg

  Crockett ran mills on this creek before Texas called; the park keeps the story and the swimming.

Tips and best time to go

• Book Franklin's houses as a combo ticket and give them a full half day.
• Mule Day week (early April) reroutes and fills Columbia entirely.

Frequently asked questions

How long is The Middle Tennessee Pike and how many days does it take?

The Middle Tennessee Pike is about 140 miles and takes 2 days at a back-roads pace.

Where does The Middle Tennessee Pike start and end?

It runs from Nashville to Muscle Shoals.

Which highways does The Middle Tennessee Pike follow?

It follows US 31 and US 43.

Which interstate does The Middle Tennessee Pike replace?

It avoids I-65, using US 31 and US 43 instead.

How many stops are on The Middle Tennessee Pike, and what are the highlights?

6 stops are mapped, including Carter House & Carnton, Rippavilla, James K. Polk Home, Mule Day Columbia and Ethridge Amish country.

When is the best time to drive The Middle Tennessee Pike?

The atlas’s seasonal note for this route: “Mule Day week (early April) reroutes and fills Columbia entirely.”

Worth a detour

• Natchez Trace double-arch bridge — The Parkway's 155-foot double arch over TN 96 near Franklin, the modern Trace's signature engineering.
• Meriwether Lewis Monument — The explorer's grave and broken-column monument on the Trace at Hohenwald, where he died mysteriously in 1809.