Protected sheet with Select Locked Cells deselected

I've got a worksheet that is going to be a template for many people to use. The top 16 rows are locked, except for some header fields the users will populate. All rows below that have the Format Cells > Protection > Locked option deselected so users can enter thousands of rows of data.

When I set protection for the sheet I want to deselect the Select locked cells option. The problem is that when that is done, the users are not allowed to move freely in the unlocked cells using the arrow keys. The cell selector moves only within a limited area defined by where I've inserted data or formatted the cells. They can select any cell in the unlocked area below row 16 with the mouse, but arrow keys and tab are limited. This is not the case if I allow them to select locked cells.

Couldn't find anything searching ... thanks for any suggestions!

I found a lame solution that seems to work, but I would still like to hear from anybody who might have a more elegant solution. Although my workaround works even after closing and reopening the workbook, I don't know if it will "stick" over time.

Workaround: Went down to cell AH1000000 and made an entry, then deleted it. Moved back to the top of the sheet and saved/closed the workbook. Reopened it and everything appears to be fine. The file size didn't increase, the arrows move and Ctrl-End doesn't take the cell pointer to row 1000000.

Anybody got anything better???

Nope. I was wrong. That solution didn't work. Still looking for HELP!!