Like many public lands corridors, the Trace takes advantage of nearby parks, wilderness management areas, and other types of preserves to magnify the wilderness effect. Most of those miles are in Mississippi, so I was looking for a hike a little closer to home. One notable exception is the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail, a series of trail segments totaling around 60 miles along various segments of the Trace. There are hiking opportunities all up and down the Trace, though many of them are short jaunts into the woods, just enough to give you a break from the car. It’s uncommercialized - though there are some campgrounds along the Trace run by the NPS, there are no hotels, stores, gas stations, or restaurants, though many such establishments have grown up not far from the Parkway. The Parkway is paved, usually two lanes winding through lovely scenery, with pulloffs every few miles for picnics, hiking, camping, and sightseeing. Like the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Natchez Trace Parkway links many historic and natural sites. Parts of the original Trace are still visible along the route - you can even hike portions of it. Today, the route is roughly recreated by the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is a unit of the National Park Service. with what was then the frontier, and between 1801-1809 the trail became a wagon road. Thomas Jefferson wanted to develop the trail into a road to link the eastern U.S. It was originally a game trail used by prehistoric animals, expanded by native Americans and later emigrants and explorers to run over 440 miles. The Natchez Trace, in case you don’t know, is a fabled route that links Nashville and Natchez, Mississippi. ![]() I won’t say that Spring has sprung, but looked like it would be a nice day for a ramble. ![]() Finally, a weekend day that wasn’t cold and/or rainy! I had been thinking about a road trip up into Tennessee to check out a hike along the Natchez Trace, and opportunity was knocking.
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