Unique Things Along Natchez Trace

An Overview of Natchez Trace

Also known as the Old Natchez Trace, this is a historic forest trail and Native American hunting route which was eventually paved. The route, which extends from Nashville Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi, roughly follows the route of buffalo herds, Native travelers, “Kaintucks,” European trappers, slave traders, soldier columns and famous historical figures. Now, the route is fully paved, devoid of advertisements and remains one of the most beautiful scenic drives or treks in the United States. The route is beautiful throughout the year, but it’s especially glorious during the autumn. Thanks to it’s rich and varied history, there are many unique things along Natchez Trace.

Unique Things Along Natchez Trace

Cypress Swamp

Just outside of Jackson on the Trace, huge cypress trees grow straight from a shallow channel.  It’s easy to reach by parking at a turn off and going on foot. The area contains some small hiking trails and boardwalks extending over the water. If guests are quiet there are many of lizards and turtles in the area.  This channel will only exist for another 70 years or so before foliage fills it and non-water-born trees take root.  

Choctaw Nation Upper Boundary

The is the marked boundary line which was drawn when the Choctaw Nation was forced to give up nearly a third of their ancestorial territory. The line marker is near a short loop trail with takes hikers through a short stand of pine trees.

Yockanookany Section Scenic Trail

This is a free, very easy hiking trail going through swamplands with multiple trailheads.  The full trail is 24 miles, but a short jaunt can take a visitor past the channels, through a forest of collapsing swamp trees and into the draining plains.

Kosciusko

This is a very beautiful area in the fall, particularly along the Parkway.  The town itself is an important pit stop for hikers and bikers enjoying the Trace, but the small town is worth a short drive through as well.

Old Trace

This is an intact part of the original Natchez Trace Hunting Trail, with very impressive geological markers. This portion of the route is now nearly a millennia old, with prehistoric American Indians and Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Natchez using the route during points throughout history. There are several areas which have intact portions of Old Trace, the most popular being  the deeply eroded or “sunken” Old Trace (Sunken Trace) at Milepost 41.5.

Witch Dance

This unique stop on the Trace has a poem on the sign, worthy of Halloween.  Hopewell Indians (a now-extinct Native American Tribe) escaped doom while carrying the bones of their ancestors. These sacred bones were reportedly buried in the Indian Mounds (ceremonial, earthen hills) which can be found nearby. There are numerous legends about the area, including a story where local witches gathered at the site for a dance, during which, the grass beneath their feet died. Supposedly, there are patches of dead grass scattered around where the reside of the dancing ritual continues to hold potency.

Owl Creek Mounds

Natchez Trace is filled with sacred Native American platform mounds. The Owl Creek Archeology Site contains such mounds, thought to be the site of a ceremonial temple or elite residence. The site is located within Tombigbee National Forest, slightly to the West of the main trail route.

Tupelo, Mississippi

Most famously known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley, this small town pays the King of Rock has numerous homages dedicated to him. His childhood home is filled with 1930s furniture, there are small Elvis museums nearby and there are statues around the city. The small town is also home to Buffalo Park and Zoo, which is home to bison, tigers, zebras and giraffes. Nearby, visitors can also visit the Tupelo National Battlefield, a small memorial ground with a monument describing the American Civil War Battle fought in the region. The city and its many attractions contain some of the most unique things along Natchez Trace.

Old Town Overlook of Tupelo

This is a relaxing lookout point which grants access to the Blackland Prairie Trail, a series of small ponds and trails heading down to the small Town Creek. The site is also fairly close to the Chickasaw Village Site.

Tupelo National Battlefield

The Battle of Tupelo, also known as the Engagement at Harrisburg, was a American Civil War military action which saw Union forces victorious over Confederate defenders of a ridge. This forced the Confederates to retreat to Harrisburg and ensured the safety of General Sherman’s supply lines during his extended Atlanta Campaign.

Elvis Presley Center

This center contains the birth-home of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock. The area includes a small museum, memorial chapel and several statues.

Confederate Gravesites

During the Civil War, much of the Old Trace had been abandoned , and no longer served as a major route through the Americas. However, the conflict did leave its mark on the area, as soldiers often camped, marched and fought along portions of the historic route. There are portions of Old Trace which contain the graves of 13 unknown Confederate soldiers.

Bear Creek Mound

Native American Mounds were and still are unique sites sacred to the Native Tribes of the region. The areas around Natchez Traces have some of the largest numbers of theses artificial hills, thought to have been built in the mysterious Middle Woodland Period between 100 BCE-100 CE. These mounds were thought to have been created by moving handheld buckets of dirt into enormous, packed and sculpted piles.  They’re artificial religious hills and crude temples with incredible green grass atop.  Bear Creek Mound is relatively small, but it’s an easy and interesting stop along the Trace.

Wichahpi Commemorative Stone Wall

A unique construction project commemorating the journey of a woman from the Yuchi Tribe. Also referred to as “Te-Lah-Nay’s Wall,” this is one of the largest unmortared walls in the United States. This is one of the most unique things along Natchez Trace to visit. The wall is built to have the appearance of faces, placed strategically to deter evil spirits which pass through the world at sunset.

Rock Spring

This is a short, beautiful nature trail leads to a small natural spring which bubbles free from the ground. The area has small pools, limestone rock curves, native vegetation, over-water stepping stones and schools of minnows.

Sunken Trace

This is a part of the original Old Trace footpath that has sunken deep into the ground thanks to epochs of foot traffic, carriage wheels and animal migrations.

Old Trace Drive

This is a very small detour attatched to the main route of Natchez Trace. The Old Trace Drive follows the original Natchez Road route for stunningly scenic views of the area.  The drive is narrow and has a dense canopy overhead, so large vehicles cannot navigate this road.

Double Arch Bridge

The Double Arch Bridge is a uniquely designed, concrete, double-arched route which spans Birdsong Hollow. The elegant structure offers pleasant views of the surrounding region and stands as a symbol for the Natchez Trace route.

Jackson Falls

Jackson Falls along Natchez Trace is one of the most beautiful and popular features of the route. Water cascades down a series of stone “steps” after following a moderately challenging 0.4-mile out-and-back trail near Duck River.

Meriwether Lewis Monument

Natchez Trace has a long history, and much of that history is shrouded in stories, folk legends and mysteries. The Trace was the death and final resting place of famed explorer Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Historical accounts support the probability of suicide, but the true cause of Lewis’ death is still debated.

Emerald Mound

The Emerald Mound is an enormous artificial hill which covers eight acres containing two smaller mounds atop the primary mound. The Native American construct was one of the largest mounds in the North America, created by depositing earth around the sides of a natural hill. The creators of the Emerald Mound were the precursors and ancestors of the Natchez Native Americans. This is one of the most unique things along Natchez Trace to visit.

Mississippi Petrified Forest

This petrified forest is a spectacular sight, with fir and maple logs turned to stone after 36 million years of petrification. The area is surrounded by living trees, wildflowers, pines and birds, but the large collection of old stone logs found along short dirt trails are especially unique.

Mississippi River Basin Model

This strange attraction serves as a large-scale hydraulic model of the entire Mississippi River Basin, covering over 200 acres of territory. The model was created from 1943 to 1966 and was operations until 1973. These models had practical purposes: They were used to demonstrate large-scale construction projects and how individual infrastructure could alter a wider region. The Model still exists today, elaborate river lines drawn in concrete, but the site is now overgrown with life-sized foliage.

Jackson Volcano

The city of Jackson, Mississippi is built upon a massive extinct volcano located 2,900 feet underground. The actual magma veins are found under the Mississippi Coliseum, which is built upon the uplifted terrain known as the Jackson Dome, the final geologic contribution of the now-dormant volcano.

GM&O Depot

This preserved building was part of a historic rail station which has an intact Merci Train vintage wooden boxcar. These cars were gifted to the United States by France following WWII. One Merci Train was gifted to each state, but most are gone, with only a few still intact in the world.

Longwood Mansion

Otherwise known as Nutt’s Folly, this is a historic octagonal mansion with an impressive façade and iconic colonial features on a historical stie. The mansion was built by enslaved workers and remains a protected site as part of the US National Register of Historic Places.

Grand Village of the Natchez Indians State Historic Site

Also known as the Fatherland Site, this area contains more than 120 acres with a prehistoric indigenous villages, earthwork mounds, Native American informational exhibitions and cultural artifacts. The village complex was constructed around 1200 CE by members of the prehistoric Plaquemine culture.

Bluff Park

Ringed by famous, protected historical mansions, this green overlook gazes over the Mississippi river.  The bluff faces west, granting spectacular sunset views.

Natchez National Historical Park

This is a large park containing beautiful grounds with audio tours describing the history of the region, especially how slavery functioned within societies. The area has several building and Fort Rosalie, a former fortification from the 18th-century constructed by the French. The area has historical notes ranging from European settlers, African slaves, American cotton merchants, Civil Rights influences and Native American impacts on the region. This is one of the most unique things along Natchez Trace to visit.

Bullen Creek

This 10 minute walk through overgrown underbrush has numerous signs explaining the local flora of the region in detail.  The foliage is dense, causing sunlight to spear down visibly every few steps.  the route also has small sunken areas where water pools, resulting in patches of massive mushrooms.

Windsor Ruins

This is an interesting detour found off of the main Trace route. The Windsor Ruins are impressive pillars which belonged to a now-burned-down mansion.  They’re closed off, due to instability and danger, but they’re easy to look at from behind a chain-linked fence. Additionally, the forest along this road has been cleared in areas resulting in entire valleys of invasive ivy plants overtaking everything.

Port Gibson

This is a small town which was spared by General Sherman in his total-war campaign for being “Too pretty to burn.”  The entire town, though slightly decayed, serves as an outdoor museum. The numerous churches cloaked in ivy are especially beautiful, though much of the town has seen better days.

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