Natchez Trace Parkway

The road is maintained by the National Park Service and has been designated an All-American Road. Commercial traffic is prohibited along the entire route, and the speed limit is 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), except north of Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, and Ridgeland, Mississippi, where the speed limit is reduced to 40 miles per hour (64 km/h). The total area of the parkway is 51,746.50 acres (209.4 km²), of which 51,680.64 acres (209.1 km²) are federal and 65.86 acres (0.3 km²) are not.

Unlike the older Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina, the Natchez Trace Parkway does feature direct interchanges with Interstate Highways.

The parkway is headquartered in Tupelo and has nine district offices: Leipers Fork, Meriwether Lewis, Cherokee, Tupelo, Dancy, Kosciusko, Ridgeland, Port Gibson, and Natchez. The parkway also manages two battlefields: Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site and Tupelo National Battlefield.^[7]

The gentle sloping and curving alignment of the current route closely follows the original foot passage. Its design harkens back to the way the original interweaving trails aligned as an ancient salt lick-to-grazing pasture migratory route of the American bison and other game that moved between grazing the pastures of central and western Mississippi and the salt and other mineral surface deposits of the Cumberland Plateau. The route generally traverses the tops of the low hills and ridges of the watershed divides from northeast to southwest.

Native Americans, following the "traces" of bison and other game, further improved this walking trail for foot-borne commerce between major villages located in central Mississippi and middle Tennessee. The route is locally circuitous, but by traversing this route, the bison, and later humans, avoided the endless, energy-taxing climbing and descending of the many hills along the way. Also avoided was the danger to a herd (or groups of human travelers) of being caught en masse at the bottom of a hollow or valley if attacked by predators. The nature of the route, to this day, affords good all-around visibility for those who travel it. At all times, the road is on the high ground of the ridge dividing the watersheds and provides a view to either see or catch the scent of danger, from a distance great enough to afford the time to flee to safety, if necessary.

 

By the time of European exploration and settlement, the route had become well known and established as the fastest means of communication between the Cumberland Plateau, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico settlements of Pensacola, Mobile, and New Orleans. In the early post-American Revolutionary War period of America's (south) westward expansion, the trace was the return route for American flat-boat commerce between the territories of the upper and lower Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland River valleys. The Americans constructed flat boats, loaded their commerce therein, and drifted upon those rivers, one-way south-southwestward to New Orleans, Louisiana. They would then sell their goods (including the salvageable logs of the flat boats and including enslaved people), and return home via the trace (for the middle section of their return trip), to as far away as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Improved communications (steam boats, stagecoach lines, and railroads) and the development of ports along the rivers named above (e.g., Natchez; Memphis, Tennessee; Paducah, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; and Louisville, Kentucky) made the route obsolete as a means of passenger and freight commerce. As a result, no major population centers developed along the trace, because of its alignment, between its termini in Nashville and Natchez. The two cities of note, near or on the trace's alignment (Jackson and Tupelo, Mississippi), developed only as a result of their alignment along axes of communication different from the trace. Thus, the trace and its alignment are today almost entirely undeveloped and unspoiled along its whole route. Many sections of the original footpath are visible today for observing and hiking the parkway's right-of-way.

The Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail includes five sections of hiking and horse-riding trails.

 

Construction of the parkway was begun by the federal government in the 1930s, one of the many projects of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. The road was the proposal of U.S. Congressman T. Jeff Busby of Mississippi, who proposed it as a way to give tribute to the original Natchez Trace. Inspired by the proposal, the Daughters of the American Revolution began planting markers and monuments along the trace. In 1934, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration ordered a survey. President Roosevelt signed the legislation to create the parkway on May 18, 1938.^[7] Construction on the Parkway began in 1939, and the route was to be overseen by the National Park Service. Its length includes more than 45,000 acres (182 km²) and the towering Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge in Williamson County, Tennessee, completed in 1994 and one of only two post-tensioned, segmental concrete-arch bridges in the world.

The Emergency Appropriations Act of June 19, 1934, allocated initial construction funds and established it as a parkway under National Park Service by the act of May 18, 1938.

 

For many years in the later 20th century, most of the trace had been complete, but owing to a lack of funds, two gaps remained, both in Mississippi. One was a several-mile-long bypass of Jackson, between Interstate 55 at Ridgeland and Interstate 20 at Clinton. The other was between Liberty Road in the city of Natchez and U.S. Highway 61 near Washington. These final two segments were finally completed and opened on May 21, 2005.

In 2013, a new law required the National Park Service (NPS) to convey about 67 acres of property in the Natchez Trace Parkway to the State of Mississippi. It also adjusted the boundaries of the parkway to include 10 additional acres. The two pieces of land in question originally belonged to Mississippi and were donated to the NPS when it was trying to determine where to end the Natchez Trace Parkway.^[8][9][10]

 

Numerous historical sites on the Parkway include the Meriwether Lewis Museum, the refurbished Mount Locust stand, Historic French Camp, MS, and the Mississippi Craft Center in Ridgeland, Mississippi, which focuses on promoting Mississippi's native art. Between the Parkway and Old Port Gibson Road is the ghost town of Rocky Springs that thrived in the late 19th century. The old Rocky Springs Methodist Church, the cemetery, and several building sites still exist and are accessible from the parkway. Cypress Swamp is located at mile post 122. Also, several cascading waterfalls can be viewed; for access, some require a bit of hiking from the parkway. Besides, parts of the original trail are still accessible. The history of the Natchez Trace, including the parkway, is summarized at the Natchez Trace Visitor Center in Tupelo.^[11]

Emerald Mound, the second-largest Native American ceremonial mound in the United States, is located just west of the trace and north of Highway 61 near Natchez. It offers a unique look at the ingenuity and industry of native culture. Two smaller mounds rise from the top of the main mound and rise above treetops, offering a wide view. Travelers can reach Emerald Mound with a five-minute detour from the main trace highway. Emerald Mound measures 770 feet (230 m) by 435 feet (133 m) at the base and is 35 feet (11 m) in height. The mound was built by depositing earth along the sides of a natural hill, thus reshaping it and creating an enormous artificial plateau.

The Ackia Battleground National Monument (established August 27, 1935, and now called Chickasaw Village) and Meriwether Lewis Park (proclaimed as Meriwether Lewis National Monument February 6, 1925, and transferred from the War Department August 10, 1933) were added to the parkway by the act of August 10, 1961.

Highlights include:

• Milepost 10.3 Emerald Mound
• 15.5 Mount Locust
• 41.5 Sunken Trace
• 54.8 Abandoned Town of Rocky Springs

• Milepost 105.6 Ross Barnett Reservoir Overlook
• 107.9 West Florida Boundary
• 122.0 Cypress Swamp
• 203.5 Historic settlement of Pigeon Roost
• 232.4 Bynum Mounds
• 261.8 Chickasaw Village Site

• Milepost 266 Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center
• 269.4 Old Trace
• 286.7 Pharr Mounds
• 327.3 Colbert Ferry, also site #12 on the North Alabama Birding Trail
• 330.2 Rock Spring Nature Trail, also site #10 on the North Alabama Birding Trail

• Milepost 385.9 Meriwether Lewis Monument and Grave Site
• 391.9 Fall Hallow Trail
• 401.4 Tobacco Farm and Old Trace Drive
• 404.7 Trail to Jackson Falls and Baker Bluff Overlook
• 438 Bridge at Birdsong Hollow

Mileage based on physical mileposts along the parkway. All exits are unnumbered.

State	County	Location	mi[12]	km	Destinations[12]	Notes
Mississippi	Adams	Natchez	0	0.0	Liberty Road	Southern terminus; at-grade intersection
		​	4	6.4	Elizabeth Female Academy
		​	8	13	US 61 – Fayette, Natchez	Partial cloverleaf interchange
		​			Old Trace Exhibit
		​	10	16	MS 553 – Emerald Mound site, Natchez State Park	At-grade intersection
	Jefferson	​	12	19	Turpin Creek
		​			Loess Bluff
		​	15	24	Mount Locust
		​	17	27	Coles Creek
		​	18	29	Bullen Creek
		​	20	32	MS 553 – Natchez Trace Trail (Potkopinu Section), Fayette	One-quadrant interchange
		​			Mud Island
		​	23	37	North Fork Coles Creek
		​	27	43	Coonbox
		​	30	48	MS 552 – Windsor Ruins, Lorman, Alcorn State University	Two-quadrant interchange
	Claiborne	​	37	60	US 61 – Port Gibson	One-quadrant interchange
		​	39	63	Port Gibson District Office
		​	41	66	MS 18 – Port Gibson, Utica, Grand Gulf Military State Park	One-quadrant interchange
		​			Sunken Trace
		​	45	72	Grindstone Ford and Mangum Mound
		​	52	84	Owens Creek Waterfall
		​	54	87	Rocky Springs
		​	59	95	Fisher Ferry Road – Utica	One-quadrant interchange
		​	61	98	Lower Choctaw Boundary
	Hinds	​	66	106	MS 27 – Utica, Vicksburg	One-quadrant interchange
		​	73	117	Dean Stand Site
		​	78	126	Battle of Raymond
		​			MS 467 – Raymond, Edwards	One-quadrant interchange
		​	82	132	Airport Road – John Bell Williams Airport
		​	86	138	Clinton Pullout
		Clinton	86– 87	138– 140	I-20 – Vicksburg, Clinton, Jackson	Partial cloverleaf interchange; I-20 exit 34
			87	140	Cowles Mead Cemetery
			88	142	Pinehaven Drive – City of Clinton Visitor Center	One-quadrant interchange
			89	143	Ridgeland Pullout
		Jackson	92– 93	148– 150	US 49 – Flora, Jackson	Partial cloverleaf interchange
			93	150	Osburn Stand
	Madison	Ridgeland	100	160	Choctaw Agency
			101	163	I-55 – Madison, Jackson	Partial cloverleaf interchange; I-55 exit 105A
			102	164	US 51 – Parkway Information Cabin	One-quadrant interchange
					Ridgeland District Office
			103	166	Old Canton Road – Madison, Ridgeland, Bruce Campbell Field	Partial cloverleaf interchange
			104	167	Old Trace and Brashears Stand Site
		​	105	169	Reservoir Overlook
		​	106	171	Boyd site
		​	107	172	West Florida Boundary
		​	114– 115	183– 185	MS 43 – Canton, Pelahatchie, Ross Barnett Reservoir	Two-quadrant interchange
		​	122	196	Cypress Swamp
		​			River Bend
		​	128	206	Upper Choctaw Boundary
		​	130	210	Yockanookany
	Leake	​	134– 135	216– 217	MS 16 – Canton, Carthage	Two-quadrant interchange
		​	135	217	Robinson Road
		​	140	230	Red Dog Road
		​	145	233	Myrick Creek
		​	146	235	MS 429 – Thomastown	At-grade intersection
	Attala	​	154	248	Holly Hill
		​	159	256	Kosciusko District Office
		​	159– 160	256– 260	MS 19 – Kosciusko, Carthage	Two-quadrant interchange
		​			Kosciusko Welcome Center
		​	164	264	Hurricane Creek
		​	165	266	MS 12 – Ethel, Kosciusko	Two-quadrant interchange
		​	169	272	CR 2247 to CR 2101	One-quadrant interchange
		​	175	282	Cole Creek
		​	176	283	Bethel Mission
Choctaw	French Camp	180	290	French Camp South
				MS 413 to MS 407	At-grade intersection
				French Camp
		181	291	French Camp North
	​	189	304	Byway Overlook
	​	190	310	MS 415	Northern terminus of MS 415
	​	193	311	Jeff Busby
	​	195	314	MS 9 – Choctaw Lake Recreation Area, Eupora, Ackerman	One-quadrant interchange
	​	198	319	Old Trace
	​	201	323	Ballard Creek
	​	203	327	Pigeon Roost
Webster	​	204	328	US 82 – Eupora, Mathiston	Partial cloverleaf interchange
	​	210	340	MS 765 to MS 50	Western terminus of MS 765
	​	213	343	Line Creek
	​	214	344	MS 15 – Maben, Houston	One-quadrant interchange
	​			Dancy District Office
Clay	​	219	352	MS 46 – Mantee, Montpelier	One-quadrant interchange
Chickasaw	​	221	356	Old Trace
	​	226	364	MS 389 – Houston, Montpelier	One-quadrant interchange
	​	229	369	MS 8 – Houston, Aberdeen	One-quadrant interchange
	​	232	373	Bynum Mounds
	​	233	375	Witch Dance
	​	235	378	Old Fossils
	​	239	385	MS 32 – Houston, Okolona	One-quadrant interchange
	​	241	388	Chickasaw Agency
	​	243	391	CR 413 – Owl Creek Mounds	One-quadrant interchange
	​			Hernando de Soto
	​	245	394	Monroe Mission
Pontotoc	​	246	396	MS 41 – Pontotoc, Okolona	One-quadrant interchange
	​	249	401	Tockshish
	​	251	404	Chickasaw Council House
Lee	​			Pontocola Road – Pontotoc, Shannon	One-quadrant interchange
	​	252	406	Black Belt Overlook
	​	255	410	Palmetto Road – Pontotoc, Verona	One-quadrant interchange
	​	256	412	US 278 / MS 6	Partial cloverleaf interchange
	Tupelo	258	415	Cliff Gookin Boulevard – Tupelo High School	Two-quadrant interchange
		259– 260	417– 420	Main Street – Tupelo, Pontotoc, Tupelo National Battlefield	Two-quadrant interchange
		261	420	Chickasaw Village Site
		262	422	MS 178 (McCullough Boulevard) – Elvis Presley Birthplace	Two-quadrant interchange
		263	423	I-22 / US 78 – Tupelo, Fulton, New Albany, Tombigbee State Park, Elvis Presley Lake	Partial cloverleaf interchange; I-22 exit 85
				Old Town Overlook
	​	265– 266	426– 428	Parkway Visitor Center
	​	266	428	MS 145 – Tupelo, Corinth	Two-quadrant interchange
	​	269	433	Old Trace and Confederate Gravesites
	​	270	430	MS 363 – Saltillo, Mantachie	Two-quadrant intersection
	​	275	443	Dogwood Valley
	​	275– 276	443– 444	Friendship Road	One-quadrant interchange
	​	278	447	Twentymile Bottom Overlook
Itawamba	​	281– 282	452– 454	MS 371 to MS 370 – Marietta, Mantachie, Baldwyn	Two-quadrant interchange
	​	283	455	Donivan Slough
Prentiss	​	286	460	Browns Bottom
	​			Pharr Mounds
	​	288	463	Siloam Road – Whitten Lock and Dam, Bay Springs Lake	Partial cloverleaf interchange
Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway		292	470	Jamie L. Whitten Bridge
Tishomingo	​	293	472	Tenn–Tom Waterway
	​			CR 1 to MS 4 – Fulton, Bay Springs Lake	One-quadrant interchange
	​	295	475	Jourdan Creek
	​	297	478	MS 4 – Belmont, Booneville, Bay Springs Lake	One-quadrant interchange
	​	300	480	McDougal
	​	302– 303	486– 488	MS 25 – Tishomingo, Belmont	Two-quadrant interchange
	​	303	488	CR 90 – Tishomingo State Park	One-quadrant interchange
	​	307	494	MS 30 – Booneville	One-quadrant interchange
	​	308	496	Cave Spring
	​			Bear Creek Mound
Alabama	Colbert	​	309	497	CR 1 (Allsboro Road)	One-quadrant interchange
		​	311	501	Rock Creek
		​	312	502	Bear Creek
		​	316	509	Freedom Hills Overlook
		​	320	510	US 72 – Cherokee, Iuka	One-quadrant interchange
		​			Buzzard Roost Spring
		​	323	520	Sinkhole
		​	326	525	CR 21 (North Pike) – Cherokee	One-quadrant interchange
		​	327	526	Colbert Ferry
	Tennessee River		327– 328	526– 528	John Coffee Memorial Bridge
	Lauderdale	​	328	528	Lauderdale
		​	329	529	CR 2	One-quadrant interchange
		​	330	530	Rock Spring
		​	331	533	CR 14 – Florence, Waterloo	One-quadrant interchange
		​	336	541	SR 20 – Florence	One-quadrant interchange
Tennessee	Wayne	​	343	552	Cypress Creek
		​	346	557	Holly
		​	350	560	Sunken Trace
		​			SR 13 – Florence, AL	One-quadrant interchange
		​	352	566	McGlamery Stand
		Collinwood	354	570	Broadway Street – Wayne County Welcome Center	One-quadrant interchange
		​	363	584	Sweetwater Branch
		​	364	586	Glenrock Branch
		​	365	587	Upper Glenrock Branch
		​	367	591	Dogwood Mudhole
		​	369– 370	594– 600	US 64 – Lawrenceburg, Waynesboro, David Crockett State Park	Partial cloverleaf interchange
		​			Trail of Tears Bell Route
	Lawrence	​	372	599	Brush Creek Road – Laurel Hill Lake	One-quadrant interchange
		​	375	604	Old Trace Drive
	Lewis	​	377	607	Jacks Branch Road	One-quadrant interchange
		​			Jacks Branch
		​	380	610	SR 241 (Napier Road)	One-quadrant interchange
		​	381	613	Napier Mine
		​	382	615	Metal Ford
		​	385	620	SR 20 (Summertown Highway) – Hohenwald, Summertown	One-quadrant interchange
		​			Meriwether Lewis, near Grinder's Stand
		​	386	621	English Creek Cascade
		​	390	630	Phosphate Mine
		​	391	629	US 412 (Columbia Highway) – Columbia, Hohenwald	One-quadrant interchange
		​			Fall Hollow
		​	392	631	Swan View Overlook
		​	394	634	Devil's Backbone State Natural Area
		​	397	639	Old Trace
	Hickman	​	400	640	Sheboss Place
	Maury	​	401	645	Tobacco Farm and Old Trace
	Hickman	​	403	649	Old Track Walk
		​	404	650	Jackson Falls
		​	405	652	Baker Bluff Overlook
	Maury	​	407	655	Gordon House
	Hickman	​			SR 50 – Columbia, Centerville	One-quadrant interchange
	Maury	​	411	661	Water Valley Overlook
		​	415	668	SR 7 – Columbia, Dickson	One-quadrant interchange
	Williamson	​	423	681	Tennessee Valley Divide
		​	425	684	Burns Branch
		​	426	686	War of 1812
		​	427	687	Garrison Creek
		​	428	689	SR 46 – Leiper's Fork	One-quadrant interchange
		​	435	700	Carroll
		​	437	703	Timberland Park
		​			SR 96 – Franklin	One-quadrant interchange
		​	437– 438	703– 705	Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge
		​	438	705	Birdsong Hollow
		​	439	707	Bending Chestnut Overlook
		​	442	711	SR 100 to I-40	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

•  
  Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge over SR 96 in Tennessee
•  
  Rocky Springs Methodist Church
•  
  Rocky Springs Cemetery
•  
  Cypress Swamp
•  
  Scenic waterfall
•  
  Meriwether Lewis National Monument and gravesite at Grinder's Stand
•  
  Mount Locust

• Blue Ridge Parkway

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Natchez Trace Parkway.

 

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Natchez Trace Parkway.

• "Guide to records (general administrative files) of Natchez Trace National Parkway". OurArchives.wikispaces.net. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013.
• "Natchez Trace Parkway". National Park Service.
• "The Natchez Trace Compact". ScenicTrace.com.
• Federal Highway Administration's photo of the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. MS-15, "Natchez Trace Parkway, Between Natchez, MS, and Nashville, TN, Tupelo, Lee County, MS", 95 photos, 10 color transparencies, 15 measured drawings, 106 data pages, 8 photo caption pages