A Natchez Trace Trip

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ice chest

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YETI

Hate that road.

go all the way to tupelo, will read some neat old stuff, and see lots, including deer and bunches of turkeys.
I've never done a drag arse pleasure trip on it though, I'm usually doing 47 in the curves and haulin azz in the straightaways, or for as far as I can spot those ranger vehicles.
get out in tupelo, go buy some furniture and see Elvis's home place.

Ill write a detailed post when I get home and link some guidebooks

There are 3 Natchez Trace Parkway campgrounds and many others close by. You can find most of the info your looking for here.

LINK

There are several State/Fed parks close to the Trace around Tupelo.
Davis Lake 20 mi. south of Tupelo couple of miles off trace. Small lake. Decent fishing. Not very crowded.

Trace State Park 6 miles west of Trace @ Tupelo. Decent sized lake and good fishing. Pretty crowded especially on weekends. Has ATV trails.

Elvis Presley Lake a few miles east of trace @ Tupelo. Closed as of now due to tornado damage in April.

Rodney, MS

Just did a similar trip on a motorcycle. Started in Nashville stayed in Collinwood,TN, second night at Tishomingo SP in Miss. Very nice place. Then made it to Natchez, stayed there and came back. Fall is nice. Beginning/middle of October would be my suggestion. Tons of deer and Turkey especially once you get north of Tupelo.

Grew up on the trace on the south end. Trace ain't dull, Jack. My favorite parts are Natchez to Port Gibson in the far south end and Jackson falls, TN to Nashville on the far north end. Lived in Nashville too.

Natchez to Port Gibson on a one or 2 day trip: heading from Port Gibson to Natchez: Take 61 up if you want to save 20 minutes or so.
1) Port Gibson - many fine churches and homes spared from the Yankee torch. Pres church steeple has a gold finger pointing to heaven on the top.
2) Lorman- old country store. Old man cooks up the best fried chicken on planet earth, and it's a really old country mercantile store.
3) Alcorn state- before civil war it was a Presbyterian college. The founder was a Yankee and was stabbed to death with a Bowie knife for allegedly being a unionist at the front door of his house. (his name was Chamberlin as in chaberlin hunt military academy) Presidents house still there on campus next to a neat old chapel. One of his pupils was Granbury the confederate general. Granbury, tx (another cool place) is named for him. He dropped out after the stabbing and settled out there..
4) Windsor ruins-haunting and endless photo opportunities.. You'll find yourself taking a million pictures.
5) Rodney- look it up. Forgotten antebellum ghost town.
6) stop and wade in the many white sandy bottom cold water creeks along the trace.
7) Church Hill has an old no longer used church that looks like something in rural England. Real unworldly. Huge stained glass naturally lights up the whole church. Usually open.
8) Emerald mound- second largest Indian mound in north America. About 3 football fields and about 150 ft tall. Has a temple mound on top of large mound that the sun sets directly behind depending on time of year (know some hippies that married there) drank many a beer to the sunset there.
9) Elizabeth women's academy. America's 1st women's college remains are litterlly on the side of the road. Log cabin. Audubon taught there.
10) Natchez- throw a rock and hit some history.



Nashville end- Jackson falls, duck river lookout, skyway bridge, loveless cafe. (I'd pistol whip my mom for a loveless biscuit)

This is a decent book that tells you lodging camping other hiking spots. It's a cyclist book but I've found it useful. For bikers and cyclists ther's no better ride around us.

LINK

I prefer Dickey. :)

Bump. Zachary Taylor's plantation was in Rodney too. Last home before he assumed the presidency. Flood of 27 washed it into the river.