The Natchez Trace Parkway is a limited-access national parkway in the Southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Natchez Trace and preserves sections of that original trail. Its central feature is a two-lane road that extends 444 miles (715 km) from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee. Access to the parkway is limited, with more than 50 access points in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. The southern end of the route is in Natchez at its intersection with Liberty Road, and the northern end is northeast of Fairview, Tennessee, in the suburban community of Pasquo, at an intersection with Tennessee State Route 100. In addition to Natchez and Nashville, larger cities along the route include Jackson and Tupelo, Mississippi, and Florence, Alabama. Historian and preservationist Paul Hardin Kapp describes the Parkway as "the most enjoyable and romantic way to arrive in the city," and the "greatest legacy" of the Natchez Garden Club activist group, but "not the real Natchez Trace," rather a "masterpiece in both landscape design and narrative" constructed of "carefully planned vignettes...rolling topography, landscaped with live oaks and hanging Spanish moss."

Maintenance

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 , except north of Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, and Ridgeland, Mississippi, where the speed limit is reduced to . The total area of the parkway is , of which are federal and are not.

Unlike the older Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina, the Natchez Trace Parkway features 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. 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&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) 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.

Gaps and completion

thumb|The Natchez Trace Parkway seen from Twentymile Bottom Overlook, milepost 278.4, about 20 miles northeast of Tupelo

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.

Historical sites

thumb|right|[[John Gordon (militia captain)|Captain John Gordon's house sits on the site where the Natchez Trace crosses the Duck River. Originally, a ferry operated by Gordon and Chickasaw Chief William Colbert was located here. Gordon and his wife built this Federal-style plantation home, which is one of the oldest structures along the trace.]]

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.

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 by at the base and is 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.

Parkway highlights

Highlights include:

Natchez to Jackson

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

Jackson to Tupelo

  • 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

Tupelo to Tennessee state line

  • 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

Tennessee

  • 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

Exit list

Mileage based on physical mileposts along the parkway.

<gallery>

File:Natchez Trace Parkway bridge.jpg|Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge over SR 96 in Tennessee

File:Biketrip2005 0038a.jpg|Rocky Springs Methodist Church

File:biketrip2005 0036a.jpg|Rocky Springs Cemetery

File:biketrip2005 0044a.jpg|Cypress Swamp

File:biketrip2005 0070.jpg|Scenic waterfall

File:Meriwether Lewis National Monument and Gravesite.jpg|Meriwether Lewis National Monument and gravesite at Grinder's Stand

File:Mount Locust 537.jpg|Mount Locust

</gallery>

See also

  • Blue Ridge Parkway

References

  • Federal Highway Administration's photo of the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge