Natchez Trace (Nov 2018)

After Nashville our next destination was New Orleans. We studied the road atlas and found a long road marked as scenic and going in the right direction. This road was the Natchez Trace Parkway and turned out to be one of the most delightful finds of our travels in North America. It roughly follows the "Old Natchez Trace" a historic travel corridor used by American Indians, "Kaintucks," European settlers, slave traders and soldiers.

We had never previously come across the expression “Kaintuck”. Farmers and boatmen from the Ohio River regions of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky would float supplies down to ports in Natchez and New Orleans at the beginning of the 1800s. Regardless of where they came from, they were collectively known as "Kaintucks". They would sell their goods, often including any horses and river vessels and then walk back home. Unsurprisingly they are always depicted as travelling in armed groups to protect the money they were carrying.

There are signs along the road attributing its existence to the lobbying of the Daughters of the American Revolution, although Wikipedia credits the initial proposal to U.S. Congressman T. Jeff Busby of Mississippi. The important thing for us was that it did get built; a 444-mile recreational road and scenic drive through three states. There are numerous well signposted places to stop. These may be historical sites, nature trails, scenic views or campgrounds. Trucks are not permitted to use the parkway, and long sections of it are restricted to 40mph, making it a joy to drive. We were there well outside peak season, but the scenery was delightful.

It is quite possible to drive to Natchez in one day, but that would be a dreadful waste. We took four days, although that was partly due to the weather. Tornado warnings were issued!

Water Valley Overlook

An old but well cared for prestige Chevrolet at Water Valley Overlook.

Jackson Falls.

Actual tobacco leaves drying in the Tobacco Farm.

One of the historical sites relates to Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame. He died of a gunshot wound at an inn along the Trace called Grinder's Stand. The debate about whether it was murder or suicide continues.

Part of the old road at “Sunken Trace”.

Some views at Rock Spring:

The first 'mound' site we visited was the Bear Creek Mound. We must confess that before we drove the Natchez Trace Parkway neither of us knew that there had been mound builders North of Mexico. There are several sites along the parkway. From the information provided they seem to have much more in common with the (much larger) temple mounds of the Aztecs than with the burial 'barrows' in England.

The information board that welcomes the visitor to Bear Creek Mound.

The mound itself.

There are several mound sites along the Trace, but only one other one will be described here.

Our first night along the Trace was spent at Tishomingo State Park Campground. The Parkway is administered by the National Parks Service, but the campground was run by Alabama. It was well patronised, even in November, and we had a bit of a hike from our site to the ablutions block. However, it was a very pleasant location beside a lake.

Some of the campground.

A large sign announced that a church service would be held in the camp in the morning. This surprised us because we cannot imagine that a New Zealand government campground would ever arrange similar religious activity. However, attendance did not appear to be compulsory and we gave it a miss.

During the morning we discovered that a tornado warning had been issued. Although the probability declined the further South we drove, it did not vanish entirely. The advice was to spend the night in a campground with a storm shelter.

Small toadstools growing out of a fallen pine cone on a nature trail.

We consulted our various apps with information on camping places and chose one near Kosciusko. Australian readers will be interested to learn that the town is named after Thaddeus Tadeusz Andrzej Bonawentura Kościuszko, 1746–1817, Polish patriot: general in the American Revolutionary army, as is the highest mountain in Oz.

The campground was a very small one. A sign invited us to “Enter here and pull through a site.” We followed the instruction, but ran into some treacherous, muddy ground and got stuck. The owner/manager came across the road and apologised. There were only four proper sites and they were all occupied, but the sign had not been revised or removed. Luckily one of the campers returned after a few minutes with a large, powerful pickup. He easily pulled us back up to the gravelled area. We were offered a level spot on the gravel to park. No facilities, but no fee either. Fair enough.

There was no storm shelter, but the latest weather report was that the tornado warning had been put back by 24 hours so we would be all right. Probably. And we were fine.

You probably wouldn't believe this place name without seeing it.

One of the 'must see' sights along the Trace is the Cypress Swamp. Handy to the road it is a classic grove of water-growing cypress trees.

About half of the grove.

A single tree decorated with a climbing plant.

This caterpillar was found beside the water.

The tornado warnings we read on the Internet were declining in severity, but it was still sensible to take precautions. We selected the Goshen Springs Campground and arrived very early. It had a solid, concrete ablution/laundry block and we were advised to shelter there “if the siren goes”. In the event, it didn't. We still have not experienced a tornado, and that's more than OK by us.

Eve took advantage of the facilities and did a load of washing.

Goshen Springs is adjacent to a large reservoir and the campground caters particularly for fishermen. When full it would be rather boring lines of RVs, but it was not full and the few trees captured the eyes. The ladies in the office were very friendly, which added to the pleasant atmosphere.

The dock.

Some people are so stupid they have to be reminded.

The channel to the reservoir

It is also popular with nature's fishers.

The Great Blue Heron flew off before we got a good photo. This is a Great Egret.

Taking off.

We were curious about Reservoir Police. The two officers belonging to this vehicle were happy to explain that they did all the things that city policemen do. There was nothing special about reservoir policemen. Bill had wondered, but did not say, that they might be specialists in ticketing speeding boats and checking hook sizes. He did say that there probably weren't too many disturbances in the campground. The cops agreed and smiled. We suspect that they are not required to work too hard.

We were intrigued by the abandoned town of Rocky Springs.  There is very little to see and nothing worth photographing.  But there is a lot of information.  The community of Rocky Springs began to decline during the Civil War, at which time Union (i.e. enemy) forces passed through the area. In 1878 the remaining inhabitants of Rocky Springs faced an outbreak of yellow fever. Later, valuable cotton crops were destroyed by an infestation of boll weevils, while at the same time farmers were struggling with severe erosion caused by many years of poor land management. In 1930, the last store closed, and the natural spring, from which the town took its name, dried up.

Perhaps the most photographed part of the Trace is the Southern “Sunken Trace” where the old trail had been trodden down into deep gullies.

Some nice November flowers.

A fallen tree trunk riddled with fungus.

The sunken trace.

We aimed for two more places before the end of the trail. One was the Springfield Plantation, a short drive off the parkway. Alas, it was closed. The other was Emerald Mound. This is the biggest mound along the Trace and the second biggest in the USA. It is actually a gigantic mound, larger than a football pitch, with two other mounds on top of that.

The picture was taken from the top of the bigger 2^nd level mound, which probably supported a temple and several other buildings, looking towards the Eastern secondary mound.

For the Wikipedia article on Emerald Mound, click here.

A man was hunting through the grass beside the road, picking things up and putting them in a basket. A woman started the same activity not far away. By asking directly what they were doing we discovered that they were gathering pecans.

There were a lot more sites where we didn't stop. This is an amazing drive.