THE NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA & TENNESSEE

Chatting to a Canadian/English lady she told us about this road, and it sounded the perfect way to get from Natchez to Nashville.
Here's its story:

 The Natchez Trace Parkway leads you 444 miles through three states and 10,000 years of North American history.
Established as a unit of the National Park System in 1938, the Parkway commemorates the most significant highway of the Old Southwest.

The natural travel corridor that became the Natchez Trace dates back many centuries. It bisected the traditional homelands of the Natchez, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations. As the United States expanded westward in the late 1700s and early 1800s,growing numbers of travelers tramped the rough trail into a clearly marked path.  In 1801 President Thomas Jefferson designated  the Trace a national postal road for the delivery of mail  between Nashville and Natchez.

 In the early 1800s, “Kaintucks” from the Ohio River Valley floated cash crops, livestock, and other materials down the Mississippi River on wooden flatboats. At Natchez or New Orleans, they sold their goods,  sold their boats for lumber, and walked or rode horseback toward home via the Old Trace. As the road was improved, stands (inns) provided lodging, food, and drink to Trace travelers.

Today the Natchez Trace provides a near-continuous greenway from the southern Appalachian foothills of Tennessee to the bluffs of the lower Mississippi River. Along the way are sites like Emerald Mound, a national historic landmark and one of the largest American Indian mounds in the United States; and Mount Locust, the only surviving stand.

Designated as a National Scenic Byway and All-American Road, the parkway  encourages modern travellers to experience historic and scenic landscapes at a leisurely pace.

Emerald Mound

Roy with a "Kaintuck" at Mount Locust Inn

Mount Locust Inn

Part of old Trace

So we took the easy life and spent four days travelling at 50 mph along this peaceful road.
We saw Emerald Mound, built by Natchez Indians around 1400, the second largest temple mound in US.
 Interesting to read about, but it was just two big grassy hills! Still, we climbed to the top and imagined we could hear the ghosts of the Natchez Indians!
We walked a few miles of the Old Trace and imagined travelling along it back in the 1800s - they must have been tough folk.
Saw more burial mound sites, called into Tupelo but just to shop, pass the Battlefield site and a statue of Elvis then back to the peace of the Trace.

Tupelo - Baldcypress Swamp on the Trace Parkway

Think these cypress trees look like elephants feet!

Beautiful Dogwood tree

13 unknown Confederate soldiers graves on the Trace

Pretty Red clover and our trailer on the Parkway

 There are three campgrounds on the Trace itself and we managed to get on them all, they're free, so fill up quickly. According to one man, people arrive at 9am to get the sites - the snowbirds are heading slowly back north after wintering in the south - mainly Canadians.

Tishomingo State Park at the side of the Parkway

Roy being hassled by ducks

Jackson Falls and Roy

A Mississippi Redneck's Rig

End of the Natchez Trace Parkway

Roy being hassled by a goose

Our last full day on the Parkway was a washout! Severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings the whole day. We had to stop during torrential rain and then
spent our time checking the map each time they gave a tornado warning area. Thankfully, yet again, the tornado dogged our heels but missed us.
 Near miss as we arrived at the last site and Roy tried to wrap the trailer round two trees - but I'm not one to tell tales!
 Onwards to Nashville for my birthday weekend.