Natchez Trace Parkway

The Natchez Trace Parkway runs for 444 miles from Natchez, Mississippi to just southwest of Nashville, Tennessee. As National Park Service Parkways go, it is second in length to the Blue Ridge Parkway but lacks the amazing views that the Blue Ridge Parkway offers.

The “original” trace was a footpath used by the original inhabitants of the area as far back as 8,000 years. More recently, it became a route used by settlers moving from Tennessee (and points east) to the southwest including the lower Mississippi River and Texas.

Today, the Parkway follows the approximate route of the original trail, often crossing it or passing within a few hundred feet. I entered the Parkway at its southern end near Natchez, Mississippi – a town I had visited on my third trip just over a year ago. My intent was to follow the entire route, leaving it three times to visit Park Service sites nearby, then rejoining where I left off. I was mostly successful in doing this.

The Natchez Trace Parkway trades its lack of great scenery for an abundance of history from its days as a major route to the southern Mississippi.

I passed a line of trees that had been designated over 200 years earlier as the boundary between the Choctow lands and United States land…a boundary that was violated almost immediately as the Choctow were eventually forced into “Indian Lands” in Oklahoma. I later stopped by the grave site of Meriwether Lewis, near the place where he died “under mysterious circumstances”.

Only a handful of buildings remain from the times when the Trace was a major route for settlers and travelers. Most of the buildings were farmhouses with a few inns included.

As I passed Jackson, Mississippi, I left the Parkway to visit the Medgar and Myrlie Evers National Monument. I had originally planned to leave the parkway near their home, then visit the museums in downtown Jackson, and return to the Parkway where I had left, but I was running a bit behind schedule, so I left the Parkway just south of Jackson, visited the museum, then the home, and ultimately returned to the Parkway about five miles north of where I left. Thus, I guess I will not have traveled on all 444 miles of the Parkway.

My second departure was in Tupelo where I visited the Tupelo National Battlefield, Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site, and the Parkway Visitor Center. In this case, I returned to the point where I left and continued north.

My final departure was just across the state line into Tennessee, where I took some backroads to the west, ultimately reaching the Shiloh National Military Park near Savannah, Tennessee. The following morning, I returned to the Parkway about 10 miles north of my point of departure, continuing to the end of the Parkway near Nashville.

Though there are no stunning vistas along this Parkway, there is a variety of landscapes from dense woodlands to swamps to farmlands. The speed limit is a nice 50 mph and, with little traffic, made for a relaxing drive. I wish I had planned even to take more time to enjoy it. That is a lesson I will use when I drive the Blue Ridge Parkway in the future.

Steve