The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale

Find Americana Here

 

The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale creates a frenzy. A buying frenzy. In the most crowded areas, you’ll see it firsthand. Bigger eyes, faster body movement. Almost like shoppers move to the twitching beat of late-night clubs. Cash is changing hands quickly with little regard to actual values. Only later, after shoppers come down from overcharged shopping endorphins, will they realize if they paid too much or got a steal. If you enjoy watching people, this is the event for you. People come from all over America to be a part of this. You’ll see license plates from almost every state, and even people worldwide come to participate. For some, this is a big social event. For others, this is the best place to see and buy unusual items not customarily seen every day.

 

 

Some might go just for the journey to experience Americana at its best. A journey of seeing America and discovering what’s around the next bend of the road ahead. They might be going at their own relaxing slow pace listening to folksy music like John Denver, or maybe to the silky soulful voice of Chris Stapleton.

 

 

 

The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale is on the first Thursday through Sunday in August of each year. It covers 690 miles from Addison, Michigan, to Gadsdon, Alabama. It’s almost entirely on Highway 127 through the six states of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Hundreds of thousands of people participate each year from all over the country. Occasionally, you’ll even run across visitors from other countries. 

 

 

 

Tips For The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale

 

We live right off Highway 127 in the Tennessee area where it originally started. We have experienced this for fifteen years. Hopefully, we can add some local insight to help you out.

 

The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale days are officially Thursday through Sunday. But most people usually set up much earlier than that. Locals set up their yard sales at least a week before, sometimes two. It’s common for some to set up a month before.  If you started as early as Monday you will find a lot of the out-of-town vendors set up and ready for shopping. By coming early you’ll be able to look over all the neat and unique items without many crowds.

 

 

 

Make sure your hotel or camping reservations are booked about a year in advance. In the busiest areas will be next to impossible to find a room. Some people must stay in towns a little further away and drive back each morning. This might be a little inconvenient, but you might find better rates. Keep in mind that Highway 127 goes through rural America, and many areas don’t have services such as hotels, gas, food, ATM, and cell reception. Check your route for these services before you leave.

 

 

Driving and shopping The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale alone is not easy. You should take someone else and do it together. We have a few tips to make it easier and more fun.

 

 

Whether you fly in, rent your vehicle or drive there, you should know these pointers.

 

First, choose suitable vehicles. Take the vehicle with the most room and can hold the most boxes. You can organize your items in different boxes to make it much easier when purchases start to fill up your vehicle. We see a lot of strategies to team up with friends or family to take two or more vehicles. Take a larger SUV or van that can hold more people and stuff, then have someone drive a pickup truck for the more oversized items.

 

 

Another good idea is to take a small motorhome or camper. Doing this gives you a place to stay and store all of your items. Since there aren’t a lot of places to stay, you can stop just about anywhere that’s convenient along your route. Also, many small towns have Wal-Mart stores, and most allow people to stay overnight for free in their parking lots.

 

It’s common to tow a trailer. If you don’t have a trailer, renting one or even borrowing one from someone you know is easy. Small trailers are easy to work with and are not very hard to learn. Just remember to park it somewhere you can pull forward and not have to back out. Highway 127 goes through rural America, so there’s usually plenty of room to turn around or park.

 

 

Backing up with a trailer isn’t as difficult as some think. Follow this advice from U-Haul.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo0MLjY8ppU

They are the experts for helping and renting trailers for drivers that aren’t as experienced. Their cargo trailers are the most common rented ones you’ll see. This short video can help you find more helpful advice about backing up a trailer from U-Haul. 

https://www.uhaul.com/videos/Safety/Safe-Trailering-Pt-8-Backing-Up-A-Trailer/

 

 

Next, have a strategy for each person. Driving The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale, can be tricky in places. The driver must focus on the road, traffic, and people. Many areas have stop-and-go traffic. We always see impatient people dart across the road in front of traffic in busy spots. They assume that you’ll see them and stop just for them. We all know what happens when you assume, so be careful.

 

One passenger should act as a spotter. They can scan the sales as you drive up to see if there’s anything you would be interested in. If you have more people helping, each could look for specific categories like antiques, food vendors, craft items, furniture, car parts, etc… Have the smaller vehicle lead so they can help determine where to park bigger ones.

 

 

  Food bloggers have a lot of fun searching for photo props too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many places advertise vendors are open from 8 am to 6 pm. This information isn’t reliable. 9 or 10 is a more accurate time to plan for. Some will open earlier, but they are a minority. On the reverse side, many will stay open later than 6 pm. This varies more than the opening times

 

 

 

Everyone has the types of sellers they’re interested in. Most sellers can be in antique, actual family yard sales, artisans, retail or boutique type, and concessions categories. The actual family type of yard sales are typically alone or in small groupings along The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale route. Antiques and concessions are usually in large clusters with extensive parking areas nearby. The artisans, retail, or boutiques can be mixed anywhere. If you see a large number of vendors, there probably will not be yard sellers since those spots charge a higher amount to rent spaces. But, you will probably still find many neat and unique items at these.

 

 

 

Speaking of concessions, we love kettle corn! We always go back to get more fresh bags for family and friends. We have tried a lot of different vendors, searching for the best. Our favorite anywhere is in the Clarkrange, TN Park. They are simply the best. Look for the red and yellow canopy of Poppin’ J’s. They set up at other local events in the area too. We don’t get any benefits or discounts from them; we love kettle corn and are somewhat knowledgeable about the popcorn industry. We love popcorn that much. If you’re looking for their next event, you can email jonesjw@highland.net.

 

127yardsale.com lists the hubs with 25 or more vendors and where they are located along the route.

 

 

Midwest states of Michigan and Ohio don’t have as many sellers but still have excellent items for sale, along with some beautiful drives in rural America. Tennessee and Kentucky have the highest concentrations of sellers. Especially in Tennessee, Crossville goes north through Jamestown to the Kentucky border. Jamestown, where The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale was started, is in Fentress County. Jamestown to Crossville is only 36 miles and is packed with sellers and shoppers.

 

 

 

Crossville to Signal Mountain is also a popular route with many sellers and is only 70 miles.

 

 

 

Bring a lot of cash. Most sellers will not take credit or debit cards. You will be driving a rural highway with very few towns that have banks and ATMs handy. Planning where banks and ATMs are located along your route is a good idea.

 

 

 

If it’s antiques you’re looking for, you should be prepared to pay full antique store prices. Plan on more in most cases. You’ll find a lot of unique items for sure though.

 

 

 

Church sales are usually cheap, so don’t pass these up if you’re looking for a bargain.

 

Negotiating is expected. You’ll usually get fewer discounts the earlier it is in the sale. Saturday is when you can negotiate the best deals. Sundays are questionable since most sellers are packing up but still might be open.

 

Don’t stick just to Highway 127. There are many good yard sales off Highway 127 on some of the connecting roads.

 

 

Cracker Barrel And American Pickers Shop The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yardsale

 

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurants headquarters and corporate office are just down the road from I-40 in Lebanon, TN. If you’ve been to their restaurants, you’ll see many items were bought at The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale. They frequent this every year to stock their warehouse with old things used in decorating new store openings.

 

The American Pickers, from their popular TV show on The History Channel, have been looking for items in the Crossville area. They also have one of their Antique Archeology stores in Nashville.

 

Plan For The Weather

You will want to plan for all types of weather. Usually, it’s hot and sunny with a good chance of afternoon storms. Don’t forget your sunscreen. You’ll be in hot weather most of the day so wear clothing you’ll be comfortable in. This isn’t an event you’ll want to make a fashion statement at either. After a long day in the heat and sun, your body will thank you for wearing comfortable shoes and loose clothing. If those afternoon storms start, have rain jackets and rain boots handy. Most of the sites are grassy fields that could be worn down into muddy areas.

 

Common sense goes a long way for your safety. The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale is in August; it’s hot in August almost everywhere, so bring plenty of fluids to stay hydrated.

 

 

 

History

The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale started in Fentress County, Tennessee, in 1987. The founders wanted tourists to visit local communities and towns, not on the interstates. By doing this, travelers would discover scenic drives, state parks, attractions, outdoor and natural activities, festivals, and small businesses for shopping. Once again, small towns and communities could benefit from tourist dollars lost when interstates bypassed them.

 

 

Initially, The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale began in Covington, Kentucky, and ended at the base of Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Tennessee. From Chattanooga, it later expanded into the corner of Georgia along the Lookout Mountain Parkway, into the city of Lookout Mountain, and then onwards to Gadsden, Alabama.

 

 

In 2006 it expanded again from Covington, Kentucky, through Ohio to the Michigan border. In 2010 and 2012, it expanded further north to the current location and official end just above Addison, Michigan.

 

 

 

Things To Do And See Along The Route

 

A big part of The Highway 127 World’s Longest Yard Sale fun is taking a road trip through rural America. There’s so much to see and do along the route. Some day, we’d like to take this road trip without the sale happening. Another favorite road trip of ours is to New Glarus, Wisconsin. 

 

  The Jamestown, TN Chamber of Commerce has created a website 127yardsale.com loaded with information. This page lists many things on the route, broken down by each state.