Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail

The Sunken Trace, at milepost 41.5, is still highly visible
due to the passage of thousands of travelers

Photo by Jan Kronsell via wikimedia.org

Photo by Beckwan via wikimedia.org

Rocky Springs Trail, Mississippi

10 miles -- near Port Gibson, MS -- from Parkway Milepost 59 south to Owen Creek pull-off at Milepost 52.4.

Tupelo Trail, Mississippi

6 miles -- from the Visitor Center (Milepost 266), south to West Jackson Street in Tupelo, MS, near Milepost 260.8. The trail passes through the Parkway pull-off areas of Old Town Creek Overlook and the Chickasaw Village Site.

Photo by Beckwan via wikimedia.org

Ridgeland Trail, Mississippi

24 miles -- from Milepost 131 south to Milepost 108. Along the way the trail passes by the River Bend scenic area (Pearl River) and the beautiful Cypress Swamp at Milepost 122.

Leipers Fork Trail, Tennessee

24 miles -- from Milepost 427 south to Milepost 408. This trail takes you through some of the most scenic areas of the Parkway.

The Natchez Trace has been used for thousands of years, first by the native Natchez, Choctaw and Chickasaw, and then by people from the Ohio River area. Known collectively as "Kaintucks," farmers and boatmen from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky in the early 1800s floated agricultural products, coal, and livestock down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers on flatboats. Upon reaching the markets in Natchez and New Orleans, the goods were sold, and the farmers went home. In the days before steam power, it was easier to walk home than to return up the river. The boats were dismantled and sold for lumber, and the men followed the Old Trace by foot northward to Nashville. From there, more established roads led them north and east to home. The trip usually took about 35 days.

The Trace became the most heavily traveled road in the Old Southwest, and by 1820, more than 20 inns had been built to provide simple food and lodging for the travelers. The steamer New Orleans had arrived in Natchez in 1812, however, and the foot travelers preferred the quicker, easier, and safer method of returning to their homes in the north. Soon the Old Trace fell out of regular use.

Image is in public domain at nps.gov

Mount Locust at milepost 15, the only
remaining frontier inn on the Trace

Photo by NatalieMaynor via flickr.com

The Old Natchez Trace became a unit of the National Park Service in 1938, and the Natchez Trace Parkway was completed in 2005. Over 400 miles long and only 800 feet wide, the park encompasses 52,000 acres. From the lower Mississippi River bluffs to the foothills of Tennessee, the parkway passes through four ecosystems and eight watersheds. Visitors enjoy streams, lakes, swamps, woodlands, prairie, and cropland, and a variety of oak-beech-pine-hickory mixed stands. Many preserved sections of the Old Natchez Trace can still be seen.

Facilities along the parkway include picnic areas, restrooms, fuel stops, and camping, and the road passes through Tupelo and Jackson, Mississippi.

Photo by jbcurio via flickr.com

Natchez, MS
Jackson, MS
Tupelo National Battlefield, MS
Nashville, TN
Photo by Brent Moore via flickr.com

Natchez Trace Trail, NPS
Natchez Trace Parkway, NPS