Community Forums

redtop · 01-14-2012, 01:25 PM

I plan to travel to Texas from central Ohio soon and wonder if anyone has an opinion on how good the Western Parkway ( in Kentucky) is for RV Travel.
i'll be coming down Rt. 71 to Louisville,then down Rt.65 to the Parkway. I'll travel west on the Western Parkway, then south on the Purchase parkway , then to Rt 40 west from the Memphis area.
thanks

sdennislee · 01-14-2012, 04:18 PM

I just made that run (Middletown, OH to La Porte, TX) 2 weeks ago and will do so again at the end of the month. Route was very good other than close to Louisville, some construction traffic but not bad.

southland · 01-14-2012, 04:31 PM

Have not been on the parkway to Louisville lately but can say the Purchase is in very good shape. The roads in Tn. to Memphis are in good shape and four lane divided. I40 in Ar. has been beaten to death by trucks. One route to miss 40 is to cross the bridge and take I55 North to the Marion (64) exit. Go west on 64 to Searcy and then go down to LR.
Road is two lane to Searcy but in good shape. Down side is a few speed traps in the little bergs.

wa8yxm · 01-14-2012, 05:29 PM

Can't help you with the parkways.. But stay off KY rual roads.... Dang near cashed in my insurance policy on one of those, Narrow, deep ditches, got lucky and kept her upright and got it back on the road w/o incident save the need for some clean undies. And a bit of cleaning of the underside on the rig (just earth).

George Schweikle · 01-15-2012, 06:51 AM

redtop,

The I-64 bridge (westbound) in Louisville is still closed, so there is a lot more traffic on the I-65 bridge (southbound). If you use this route, be sure to avoid rush hour in the morning and afternoon. Or, you may want to bypass Louisville completely by coming down I-75 through Cincinnati, past Lexington, then taking the Bluegrass Parkway to the Western KY Parkway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by redtop

I plan to travel to Texas from central Ohio soon and wonder if anyone has an opinion on how good the Western Parkway ( in Kentucky) is for RV Travel.
i'll be coming down Rt. 71 to Louisville,then down Rt.65 to the Parkway. I'll travel west on the Western Parkway, then south on the Purchase parkway , then to Rt 40 west from the Memphis area.
thanks

redtop · 01-16-2012, 05:28 PM

I did use the trip routing from Good Sam's club. Printed the rout and was surprised that it didn't show any rest areas on the parkway. I tryed the Kentucky tourism site to see if there was a place to ask questions but I didn't see one. Can anyone that's been through there tell me if there our any rest areas there? I like to stop every couple hours to walk around. I'll
probably need gas and get in one stop then.
Thanks

George Schweikle · 01-16-2012, 06:14 PM

Western KY Parkway has at least one that I remember in 155 miles. The Bluegrass Parkway doesn't have any, but it's only 73 miles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by redtop

I did use the trip routing from Good Sam's club. Printed the rout and was surprised that it didn't show any rest areas on the parkway. I tryed the Kentucky tourism site to see if there was a place to ask questions but I didn't see one. Can anyone that's been through there tell me if there our any rest areas there? I like to stop every couple hours to walk around. I'll
probably need gas and get in one stop then.
Thanks

Windecker · 01-16-2012, 07:47 PM

I travel to Memphis from Cincinnati several times a year, 75/71 to 65 to 40 in the Monaco, thinking there are a few stops along the way but can't remember. There are some truck stops though which have room for rigs.
I will say though that the road is rough on 71 in areas however I think they finished some of the construction recently so it is better than eariler this summer. It was strange, sort of a repaving project gone wrong??
I-40 can be tough near Nashville, don't run that route during rush hour. Although I think the construction is done there which helps. I think it might be worse headed East during evening rush though.
Windecker

nuthut · 01-20-2012, 06:53 PM

Redtop, I hope this is not too late for your trip. The Western Kentucky (WK) Parkway (also called the Wendell Ford Parkway) is an excellent road. The exit for it from I-65 is slightly confusing as I remember, just follow the signs to Paducah. The parkway has been resurfaced within the last year or so and is very smooth as I remember. There is only one Oasis on the route, close to Beaver Dam, KY, and has an Arby's and Fuel. The fuel is expensive, so go about 1/2 mile past the Oasis to the next exit where there are two fuel stops with a little more reasonable prices. The Purchase Parkway is also a good road, but I cannot remember any rest areas along the way. Have a safe trip.

Marv