We traveled from Huntsville, (Madison actually), AL to pick up the 'Trace'. It actually starts in Nashville, TN but we needed to head south. I can't believe we both have lived our whole lives in the south and never explored any part of this historic route.
We first got on heading south and immediately noticed there was very little traffic. At each entry point there is a sign that posts no commercial traffic of any kind, also a speed limit of 50 mph, strictly radar enforced.
This route was originally used by Native Americans and later by settlers as a return route to the northeast after floating thier crops down the rivers to New Orleans and other southern ports.
The Native Americans, The Chickasaw and Choctaw, use was mostly for hunting and was basically a series of paths. The French and Spanish soon dicovered these paths and linked them together and soon paths became beaten down trails and then wagon roads with some commercial buildings along the way for housing and supplies. This is a really simple explanation, there is so much history it would take a book, and it has, to relate it all. As we traveled the 'Trace" as it is called, we stopped along the way and read the roadside plaques and boards that told a small portion of the history.
We planned on dividing the 430+ miles of the route into 3 days, taking our time and staying along the way in the camping areas provided. (As it turned out, we toured for only 2 days, more on that later) I'll try and share some of this great experience with you and also some pictures of the beauty we found.
Day one, March 18
We started on the Natchez Trace at mile post 320 about 2pm. As I said the first thing we noticed, after getting off of State Hwy 72, was the lack of traffic, noise, commerce, litter and fences ! It was almost as if we had gone into another dimension.
Here is one of the first signs we saw, these signs tell what is coming up in the next 1/2 mile. There are also mile posts every mile starting in Natchez, MS, the beginning of the route.
Mo took these pictures through the windshild, if you look close you will see splattered bugs,...just ignore them.
The picture below shows some of the trees and the pink blooms that have started popping out. There were lots of wild flowers, actually mostly from weeds, that were coming out also.
Mo took this picture to show the blooms again later down the road but when I looked at it I noticed the two cars, this was probably one of only a few times we would see two cars at a time on the Trace !
So you can kind of get an idea of what the Trace looked like, believe me, a picture can not show how gorgeous it is. We took several more on the first days ride but as we went along, the windshield got pretty gross so I'll save those.
As the day went on we got to a park named Jeff Busby Park at mile post 193. This is where we planned to spend the first night. There are a few of these parks along the Trace and they allow camping in tents or Rv's up to 42 ft. They don't have utilities but do have fresh water available and very clean restrooms. You're allowed to stay up to 14 days. Lots of folks take advantage of these free sites but few stay more then a day or two.
Short history lesson:
The campground is named for Thomas Jefferson Busby, the US Congressman form MS who introduced the bill in 1934 authorizing the survey of the Old Natchez Trace. On May 18, 1938 the Trace was authorized as a unit of the National Park System. The park is at one of MS highest points, "Little Mountain" elevation 603' ! There are 18 camp sites, only two were left when we got there. After we got set up, we took a hike on the nature trail, about 1 mile or so of winding, gravel path, to the top at the overlook. Below is a picture Mo took looking out from the highpoint.
Here I am, on top of the 'mountain' !
We talked to the camp host when we got back about his duties there and he practically did nothing. He was planning on being there for a year, he said winter was a bit cold with 8" of snow at one point, but it was worth it. Sounded good to me but there was no pay just a free site and utilities for the host. The next morning I cleaned the bugs off the front and we left about 11am.
Day two, March 19
We got on the road about 11am all bright eyed and bushy tailed. When it turned dark the night before a silence fell over the area like a blanket. We both had slept great. Our next stop was to be Rocky Springs at mile post 54.8. This is another campsite with 22 sites.
Today, again, we were amazed at the beauty of the Trace. All along the way there were fields of grass that looked as though it were planted and maintained like a golf course, I'm sure it was planted and most likely cut during the summer but now it was just greening up and looked fresh and neat. The Natchez Trace Parkway doesn't exactly follow the original Trace, close but I guess logistics and private ownership wouldn't allow it. So along the way there would be places where the original trace would cross or be beside the road and it would be noted and a pull off would have signs and pictures of the history and what it would have looked like then. At one spot we pulled off to read about some Indian Burial Mounds. Now we thought they would be maybe in the 16 or 1700's. these mounds dated back to between 100 and 300 AD. they covered an area of about 100 acres and I think 8 mounds were still standing visibly above ground level. Back in 1960 or so, a scientist uncovered a couple of the mounds and dated the artifacts. Amazing! Mo and I got to thinking how this could have been in relation to the bible gospels and such. To think that while Jesus walked the earth there was a completly different civalization on the other side of the world ! We figured that God didn't need to send these people His Son, they were living a wholesome life with respect of all of Nature. Who really knows?? Enough...enough !! Sorry, got a little carried away there...
Anyway there is history on this Trace that goes way way back, in fact in one area there is soil that dates back to the ice age, supposedly blown there by winds.
OK, here's a couple more pictures Mo took while we were driving.
A tunnel of trees. We had read that there were areas that were very low, trees overhanging and even low bridges, but we had no trouble. I did hit one branch that was hanging down but I think it was just a fluke and had not been trimmed yet from a storm a week before.
Here is some of the grass that I mentioned, everything was almost pristine.
This is a picture of the Pearl River Resevoir
and below is a picture of another motorhome, we saw very few in fact, we saw more.....
Bicyclists riding the Trace. There were touring bikes and road bikes. It was a perfect place to ride as there was so little vehicle traffic.
We stopped here for lunch, just a rodeside pulloff with a sign telling the history at this location. This was at the original Florida boundry, I think it was lattitude 32'. Above it was Illinois territory.
I gotta wrap this up ! I told you there was enough for a book!
So we moved on to our next camp site, Rocky Springs. There were 22 sites and everyone of them were taken. The Boy Scouts had about three with about 30 tents set up. We circled it twice hoping we had missed an empty spot but it wasn't to be. It was a shame, we were both planning on staying here. The Trace Trail crossed here and I was going to run some miles and Mo wanted to work on some knitting she had started. She got on the computer and we had no service so we looked on the map and found a state park down another 40 miles and east a couple of miles so we went there. By the time we got there we got the last site available for our size rig. WHEW!
That night there was supposed to be the largest full moon since 1962 and the next would be in 2029. I really wanted to do a full moon run so about 8:30 I took off and got a good 10 mile run in. Only used the flashlight to signal cars I was there.
This morning we went to Mass in Natchez, MS and got back on the road. Tonight we're in Kinder, LA.
Stay tuned, more to come.
Here we are, finished ! My wonderful wife had me an ice cold beer for my reward, how much better can it get ?
