Exploring the Natchez Trace

Oct 22^nd

Whew! It got cold last night, down into the 30’s but by 8:00 AM it was probably back up to the mid 50’s. We decided last night to continue our exploration of the Natchez Trace north of Tupelo so I put the kayak gear in the trunk and around 10:30 headed for the Natchez Trace Parkway.

The Natchez Trace, also known as the "Old Natchez Trace" (http://www.tngenweb.org/maps/tntrace.htm), is a historical path that extends roughly 440 miles from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee and Mississippi rivers. It was created and used for centuries by Native Americans, and was later used by early European and American explorers, traders and emigrants in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. 

Driving the Natchez Trace Parkway

The route we’re following is the 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway (http://www.nps.gov/natr/), which follows the approximate path of the Trace, as well as the related Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail. Parts of the original trail are still accessible and some segments have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Parkway is maintained by the National Park Service and is an unbelievably beautiful drive running through wooded and rolling hills and along cultivated farmland. With the sides of the road mowed to the edge of the forest and fall colors breaking out, along with blue sky and warmer temperatures we were in for a visual treat.

Confederate Gravesite along the Natchez Trace

Our first stop was at MP 269.4, “Confederate Gravesites and Old Trace”. Much of the Old Trace had been abandoned by the start of the Civil War. However, the war did leave its mark on the Trace as it did upon the rest of the South. The soldiers marched, camped and fought along portions of this historic old road. We leashed the dogs, grabbed our cameras, put on our hiking shoes and made the short 5 minute walk on the Old Trace to the gravesites of 13 unknown Confederate soldiers, a mute reminder of bygone days and of the great struggle out of which developed a stronger nation.

The "Trace" is a sunken trail here

Returning to the car we continued to MP 275.2 and “Dogwood Valley”. Flowering dogwood is a common small tree throughout the eastern United States from Maine and Michigan south to Texas and Florida. Here the Natchez Trace passes through a small valley with an unusual stand of large dogwood trees. We took the trail along the sunken portion of the Old Trace down into the valley and were quickly among a large grove of dogwood these. Even though these are early blooming trees it was quite enchanting with the sun filtering down through the leaves to dapple the forest floor. A 20 minute loop brought us back to the parking area.

Twentymile Bottom Overlook

Our third stop was at MP 278.4, “Twentymile Bottom Overlook”. Twentymile Bottom, now cultivated, was typical of the many low areas along streams through which the Natchez Trace passed. In 1812, Reverend John Johnson stopped at old Factors Stand near this bottom and wrote this account of bottomland travel, "I have this day swam my horse five times, bridged one creek, forded several others besides the swamp we had to wade through. At night we had a shower of rain. Took up my usual lodging on the ground in company with several Indians." We weren’t able to go down to the bottomland as this was an overlook but we could see remnants of the Old Trace below.

No, that's not snow - it's cotton waiting to be picked

It's hard to tell that we're walking through a swamp

Continuing our drive we stopped next at MP 283.3, “Donivan Slough”. With cameras and dogs we made our way along a woodland trail takes through a lowland where rich soil and abundant moisture support a variety of large water tolerant trees including tulip poplar, sycamore, water oak and an abundance of Bald cypress which thrive in the swampy backwaters of a slough. Since this is the dry season there was little evidence of the conditions that would prevail in the rainy season.

Two of the eight mounds - with hay bales in the foreground

MP 286.7 was our fifth stop on our drive. The “Pharr Mounds” is one of the largest and most important archaeological site in northern Mississippi. Eight large dome shaped burial mounds are scattered over an area of 90 acres (100 football fields). These mounds were built and used about 100-1200 A.D. by a tribe of nomadic Indian hunters and gatherers who returned to this site at times to bury their dead with their possessions. None of the mounds was being worked so we didn’t make the trek to visit one as it would just be a small hill on the field.

Everybody Smile!

Leaving the mounds we continued north to MP 293.2 for a view of the “Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway”. Parking the car we hooked up the kids and followed the walkway out to the banks of the waterway. In the mid 1770s Sieur de Bienville, the founder of Mobile, recommended to Louis XIV, a waterway connecting the Tennessee River with the Tombigbee River. Later, American settlers also recognized the advantages of such a shortcut. 

Residents of Knox County, Tennessee first approached Congress in 1810 with a proposal to connect the two rivers. The first survey was made by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1827. Serious consideration was delayed for more than 100 years because of the expansion of railroads. Construction of the Tenn-Tom Waterway was started in 1972 and completed in 1985. 

The waterway provides shallow draft boats and barges operating in some 16,000 miles of other navigable inland waterways with access to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile, Alabama 412 river miles to the south of the Bay Springs Lock and Dam. The junction of the waterway at the Tennessee River is 47 miles north of lock and dam. The lock on the waterway is standard dimension, 110 feet wide and 600 feet long.

The Tennessee-Tombigee Waterway has three main parts - the largest section from Demopolis, Alabama north to Amory, Mississippi utilized the Tombigbee River but changes and shortens the existing channel with dams, locks and shortcuts. From Amory a canal section using a chain of lakes construction extends to the Bay Springs Lock and Dam. The final section cuts deeply through high ground to the Tennessee River. Its total length is 234 miles with the river section being 149 miles, canal section 46 miles and divide cut section being 39 miles. The standard width is 300 feet.

Coming downstream from Big Springs Lake Locks

An amazing construction, I went to the edge of the waterway to take a couple of pictures. I got right down to the rocks at the edge of the channel in time to see a large pleasure boat coming down stream. I quickly snapped a picture and turned to take another shot. Unfortunately I forgot the boats wake and after my right boot was wet to the ankle had to scramble up the bank to avoid getting swept away!

Are you tired yet?

Beaver Lodge

This site has a large grassy park-like area where we could let the dogs run and get some exercise. After the kids had time to tire themselves out we walked back to the car. Driving out to the Parkway we passed several large swamps. In the largest was a big beaver lodge so I stopped to get a photo.

Big Springs Lake Dam and Locks - Photo courtesy NPS

By now it was lunch time so we thought we’d drive over to the marina on Big Springs Lake. We exited the Parkway and headed west to MS-4. Turning south we followed the road past the end of the lake where the dam and locks are located. That’s when I realized the boat I’d photographed had just come through the locks! Getting to the Marina we didn’t find anything except a very pretty marina and lake.

We decided to do a little cross country driving so with map in hand we headed for Marietta, MS to see if we could find a restaurant. 15 miles down the road we came into Marietta, a small community of homes clustered around several service businesses, a post office, bank, gas station and “Rameys Family Restaurant”. Yea!! We went in and we had a Patty Melt while I had a Bacon Cheeseburger and Sweet Potato Fries. We enjoyed our lunch very much!

Leaving Marietta we made our way back to the Parkway and down to our campground, returning home around 3:00 PM to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing.

To see all our photos, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski