Natchez Trace
April 22, 2024
The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile journey through history and time that crosses three states as it follows the “Old Natchez Trace.” We’ve traveled along the southern part, and this year, we decided to camp from the middle north towards Kentucky, which is the direction the “Kaintuck” boatmen would have used returning home after floating their merchandise down the Mississippi River. From Lake Chicot State Park, we wound our way east through the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta backroads to the Kosciusko Information Center of the Parkway in Kosciusko, Mississippi. This town honors a familiar Revolutionary War hero whose statue we have walked by many times at the United States Military Academy West Point, where he was instrumental in designing the garrison defenses. Hello, old friend!
After a brief stop at the visitor center, we started our drive on the Natchez Trace Parkway, stopping at Cole Creek for a pleasant walk through a water tupelo and bald cypress swamp.
Spring is here!
This wayside stroll set the tone for the frequent short stops and hikes we would take along our route. At French Camp, we split a fried catfish lunch at the Council House Restaurant, owned and operated by Christian French Camp Academy, where students are the staff and profits are used to fund scholarships. The fish was outstanding, and the premise reminded us of the College of the Ozarks, one of our special places.
French camp also has a historic village to visit.
We arrived at Jeff Busby campground mid-afternoon and got one of eighteen campsites at this first come, first served campground on a Friday! It was a rainy spring day, but we did get a hike up to an overlook where we waited out a storm, though it was still too misty to see much of a vista. Earlier this year, I had arranged eBike permits to bike the Tanglefoot Trail, so we prepped everything for a ride the next day. We were acutely disappointed when the stormy weather continued, and after a wistful look at the trailhead, we made the difficult decision to save this bike ride for another time. Continuing on the Natchez Trace, we stopped at Bynum Mounds before landing in Tupelo at Elvis Presley’s Birthplace, which still stands in its original location. We bought tickets to tour the home, stood in the bedroom where he was born, watched a movie in the museum, and attended a multiscreen video church service in the church where he first sang. The whole experience was remarkably well done and Carol, the docent at the church was a real treasure!
Other stops for the day included Old Trace and Confederate Gravesites, Pharr Mounds, and the Tenn-Tomm Waterway Overlook.
We camped for the night at Piney Grove Campground on Bay Springs Lake and Army COE Park, which reminded us of our summers at Lake Hartwell.
On Sunday, we stopped at Colbert Ferry to watch some fishermen head out onto the windy cold water, hike around Rock Springs and Sweetwater Branch, and drive the one-way 2.5-mile section on the Old Trace.
This meadow is begging to be wandered through!
The Old Trace was the perfect drive for a truck camper, and we felt like modern-day “Kaintucks” traveling up the Trace.
We stopped for the day at Meriwether Lewis and stood soberly before the monument atop his grave. We’ve been to so many stops on the Lewis and Clark Expedition that it is fitting we are here at last.
The campground is first come, first serve, and we arrived early enough to have a choice of sites. Larry worked on running wires for the RAM digital rearview mirror from the backdoor of the Ute. It is a challenging project, but he’s whittling away as we travel! On Monday, we finished the Natchez Trace with stops at Fall Hollow Falls, Jackson Falls, Gordon House Historic Site, and the Double Arch Bridge.
We celebrated with a delicious breakfast at seventy-year-old Loveless Cafe served by Chaz, a fine young man and devoted father. We might have exchanged stories and photos of our families!
Friends we met along the way had recommended we make a stop at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, so we took the two-hour tour there, learning the history of the Corvette and seeing the sinkhole where some of the Corvettes fell in overnight in 2014.
Larry’s favorite
Our first impression of Kentucky is that we will return to see more of it!
If your pulse isn’t faster, see a doctor, something is wrong!