Tennessee Hills and Stills Bike Tour

Location

Lynchburg, Tennessee

Group Size

8 people per guide

Duration

19 hours

Few names are as synonymous with Tennessee as Jack Daniel. And few parts of the South are as scenic as the landscapes you’ll enjoy on this ride.

From Jack Daniel’s in Lynchburg to George Dickel in Normandy to Nearest Green in Shelbyville, you’ll enjoy slow travel, true southern charm, delicious southern meals, and a landscape rich in culture and natural beauty. 

As you stop in towns–many little more than hamlets–the local folk will welcome you with Southern hospitality and, when you leave, wish you a warm and hearty “Y’all come back!” And they’ll mean it.    

At each day’s end, gracious innkeepers will welcome you home, eager to share your lodging’s rich history. 

For much of the ride, you’ll see a Tennessee that looks much as it did in the late 18th century, when Scottish and Irish immigrants made their way west. Rolling hills draped with forests. Farms sprawling across the flatlands. Brooks and streams filtered by limestone ledges and often overflowing their banks, bringing fresh nutrients to the farmlands. Conditions perfect for settlers who brought with them the distilling practices of their homelands.

Barely a century ago, Tennessee had hundreds of distilleries–most on farms but many of a more “informal” type hidden in the dense forest. (And oh, the stories these backroads could tell!) This ended with Prohibition, and only two whiskey producers–Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel–survived the period. In recent years, thanks to changes in Tennessee law, many smaller distillers have emerged to continue the Tennessee whiskey tradition. And to offer tours and samples to eager visitors.

One of our favorites: Prichard’s Distillery in Kelso, where the family tradition extends back five generations to the 1820s, when Benjamin Prichard passed along his tubs, utensils, still and–most important–his techniques to his son Enoch. Another favorite: Nearest Green Distillery, named for Nathan Green, a former slave credited with teaching Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. If you’re lucky, you may meet Victoria Eady Butler, Green’s great-great-granddaughter and the first female African-American master blender in history.