Journey Summary
| Starting Location | Nashville, TN |
| Ending Location | Memphis, TN |
| Total Distance | 264 miles (425 km) |
| Total Driving Time | 5 hours 15 minutes |
| Journey Days | 2 – 4 days |
| Suggested Number of Journey Stops | 12 stops |
| Number of Overnight Stays | 3 – 5 nights |
You should be able to “share” the above map to use on your smart phone for easy turn by turn directions for the whole journey.
Suggested Itinerary
Day 1
- Nashville
Day 2
- Breakfast in Nashville
- Carton Plantation
- Carter House
- Lunch in downtown Franklin
- Lotz House
- Assault on the Cotton Gin Park
- Winstead Hill Park
- Dinner and Overnight in Spring Hill
Day 3
- Breakfast in Spring Hill
- Battle of Spring Hill
- Rippavilla Plantation
- Lunch along your route to next stop
- Shiloh Military Park
- Dinner and Overnight in Savannah
Day 4
- Breakfast in Savannah
- Memphis
Driving Directions
| Beginning Point | Nashville, TN | Begin in Nashville at any location but you want to navigate to I-65 South towards Huntsville |
| 1st Stop | Carton Plantation | Follow I-65 South for 18 miles (29 km) to exit 65 (TN-96 W / Murfreesboro Rd). Turn right at the top of the off ramp and proceed 1.1 miles (1.77 km) to Mack C Hatcher Memorial Pkwy (TN-431); use the left 2 lanes to turn left onto Mack C Hatcher Memorial Pkwy and follow along for 1.4 miles (2.25 km) to Lewisburg Pike. Make a right-hand turn on to Lewisburg Pike (BUS TN-431) and drive for approximately 1 mile (1.61 km) to the entrance to the Carton Plantation on your left. |
| 2nd Stop | Carter House | From the Carton Plantation, turn left on to Lewisburg Ave. / Lewisburg Pike (BUS TN-431) and drive 0.8 miles (1.29 km) to E. Fowlkes St and turn left. Drive 0.2 miles (0.32 km) to Columbia Ave. Turn left again, Carter House will be on your right about 500 feet. Follow the signs for parking. |
| 3rd Stop | Lotz House | Stay parked in the Carter House parking lot and walk across Columbia Ave. to the Lotz House. |
| 4th Stop | Assault on the Cotton Gin Historic Park | Still parked at Carter House, walk down Columbia Ave. to the Assault on the Cotton Gin Historic Park. |
| 5th Stop | Winstead Hill Park | Exit the Carter House parking lot and turn right on Columbia Ave. Drive 2 miles (3.22 km) on Columbia Ave. Directly behind the Tractor Supply Company store is the entrance to Winstead Hill Park. |
Side Stop | “White Hall” | Address: 2536 Duplex Rd, Spring Hill, TN 37174 NOTE: This is private property and no admittance is allowed. This location is added only to add context to the Battle of Franklin story. Please see below. Exiting the Winstead Hill Park parking lot to the right onto Columbia Ave. (US 31) heading South. Drive 9.6 miles (15.45 km) to Miles Johnson Pkwy, turn left onto Miles Johnson Parkway. The next stoplight is Duplex road, turn right onto Duplex road for 0.2 miles (0.32 km) and “White Hall” will be on your left. There may be some off street parking on the right side of the street where you may be able to pause for a few minutes to take some photographs. |
| 6th Stop | Battle of Spring Hill | From “White Hall,” continue West towards Main Street (Columbia Ave / US 31) for 0.2 miles (0.32 km); at the stoplight, turn left and follow Main street for 0.5 miles (0.8 km) to Kedron Rd. / Ave. Turn left onto Kedron Rd. and drive 1.0 miles (1.61 km) to the intersection of Kedron Rd. and Reserve Blvd. The battlefield is on your right and there is a small strip mall on where you can park to explore the park. |
| 7th Stop | Rippavilla Plantation | Exit the parking lot to the right onto Kedron Rd. (South) and follow the on-ramp for Saturn Pkwy (TN-396). Drive 4.3 miles (6.9 km) and follow the exit for Columbia / US-31 South (Main St.). Merge onto US-31 South and take US-31 0.5 miles (0.8 km) to the entrance to Rippavilla Plantation. It will be on your left. |
Side Stop | Stillhouse Hollow Falls | Exiting Rippavilla you will turn left onto US-31 South (you may actually need to turn right to find a place to turn around to head South on US-31). Once you are on US-31 (Main St.) heading South, drive 8 miles (12.8 km) to US-412 / US-43 S and turn right. Stay on US-412 / US-43 for 21.4 miles (34.4 km) to the entrance to Stillhouse Hollow Falls parking lot on your right had side just past the Judge Workman Bridge. NOTE: The entrance is VERY difficult to see. |
| 8th Stop | Shiloh National Military Park | If you are not stopping at Stillhouse Hollow Falls, continue on US-412 / US-43 for another 1.8 miles (2.9 km) to the junction with TN-240 and turn right onto TN-240. Take TN-240 for 22 miles (35.4 km) to US-64 West in Lawrence County. Turn right onto US-64 and drive for 50.7 miles (81.6 km) to TN-22 South in Crump, TN (there will be a sign for Shiloh National Military Park on US-64 just past the town of Savannah, TN). Continue 6.2 miles (9.9 km) to the entrance to the park. |
| Ending Point | Memphis, TN | Exiting Shiloh National Military Park, turn left onto TN-22. Drive for 7.3 miles (11.7 km) to TN-57 and turn right onto TN-57. Follow TN-57 for 73.1 miles (117.6 km) to I-269 S. Follow I-269 S for .8 miles (1.3 km); keep right at the fork to continue on TN-385 S, follow signs for Tennessee 385 W / Collierville / Memphis. Drive 15.4 miles (24.8 km) and merge onto I-240 W towards Jackson. After 8.6 miles (13.8 km) use the right 2 lanes to merge onto I-240 N / I-69, this will take you into the heart of Memphis. We highly recommend that you use your GPS / smartphone to help you arrive at your final destination in Memphis. |
Nashville, tn
Nashville is a whole adventure unto itself and one we will probably do a post on at a later time. “Music City USA” always has something going on; from concerts to nightlife and from restaurants to sight seeing, you can do it all in Nashville.
A walk down Broadway is definitely a must. Even if bars and nightlife are not your thing, there are gift, clothing, boots, ice cream, and candy shops along the way. Every bar has live music and the windows opened so you can hear some fantastic music just by walking down the street. Children are not allowed in the bars after 6 pm but during the day they are and it can be a great way to cool off and grab a bite to eat out of the Nashville heat.
There are some great places to eat on Broadway; a few that we enjoy are The Mellow Mushroom [Pizza] (South side of Broadway just East of 5th), Acme Feed and Seed [Variety of food types] (on the corner of Broadway and 1st), and the Nashville Underground [Unique bar fare] (next to Acme Feed and Seed). There are too many to list and we have not had a bad meal when visiting Broadway. There are tons of places to eat around the area off of Broadway depending on what you enjoy.
There is also a ton of history here in Nashville, but as we mentioned earlier, we will have to dive deeper in another post.
Franklin, TN
Franklin, Tennessee is known for a number of things but most notably, we think, for the Battle of Franklin. Here you can experience a number of Civil War locations:
- Carnton Plantation
- Carter House
- Lotz House
- Assault on the Cotton Gin Historic Park
- Winstead Park
The Battle of Franklin Trust curates and manages a number of these locations and their website allows you to learn about them, fund out about tour times, special events, and purchase tour tickets. This information can change so it is best to check before you make plans.
If you would like to read a little more about the Battle of Franklin here are some resources:
Winstead Park offers a nice remembrance to soldiers of the battle and has a good bronzed map of the battlefield set on a hill. It affords a great view of the current landscape intermingled with the battlefield points of interest.
Spring Hill, TN
Spring Hill, Tennessee the location of the Battle of Spring Hill (duh) is a precursor and sets the stage for what happens in the Battle of Franklin.
White Hall has an interesting history associated with it and is the reason the Battle of Franklin happened the way it did. Here is an article from the Spring Hill Historic Commission that provides some context. It is because of the gathering of John Hood at White Hall and the merriment that ensued that the Union Army was able to move tons of men and munitions down Main street (2 blocks to the West) and into Franklin without being seen.
Rippavilla Plantation is also curated by the Battle of Franklin Trust and as mentioned already, their website is the best resource for tours, hours of operations, and special events.
We recommend staying the night here in Spring Hill. The next leg of your journey is a 2.5 hour drive towards Shiloh Military Park and if you want to stop and see the Stillhouse Hallow Falls, it will be even longer.
There are 3 nice hotels in Spring Hill: Holiday Inn Express, Best Western Spring Hill Inn & Suites, and The Hampton Inn Spring Hill. As of this writing, all three are serving complimentary breakfast with your stay. There are a number of restaurants within a short distance of any of these locations as well as your typical shopping options should you choose.
Shiloh military park
Shiloh Military Park
Memphis, tn
Memphis, TN