The Hills Are Alive
...With literary, cultural, and natural wonders
The Hills region of northeast Mississippi encompasses the beginnings of the lush, rugged woodlands, clear lakes, and bubbling streams of the Appalachian foothills. Famed figures like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis hailed from the area—trailblazers who make this Hills country as culturally significant as it is naturally rich. But this massive region comprising nineteen counties has been the stomping ground of other creative giants. Literary legends William Faulkner and John Grisham have called it home.
Situated at a cultural crossroads between the radically different Appalachian and Delta regions, the Hills also formed a geographic crossroads for the Confederacy during the Civil War, when the Union captured the city of Corinth after a brutal, month-long siege. Major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement also left their mark here. One was the enrollment of James Meredith, who in 1962 became the first African-American student admitted into the University of Mississippi at Oxford. Or as it’s more commonly known, Ole Miss.
Even the Natchez Trace Parkway—the forested thoroughfare that winds through 444 miles of scenic countryside between Natchez and Nashville, TN—is a major attraction in its own right. The Trace follows the route traveled by Native Americans for millennia, and later by early European explorers and traders, and covers terrain that William Faulkner dubbed his “postage stamp of native soil.” Travel the Trace and you’ll pass by many picturesque small towns, historic sites, and Civil War battlefields along the way.
For fans of Southern literature, the North Mississippi home of native novelist William Faulkner, Rowan Oak, is a must-see in Oxford. While in this city beloved by writers and literary enthusiasts alike—which has also been touted as the “cultural mecca of the South,” visit the University of Mississippi campus and browse through the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Get to know how “the King of Rock ‘n Roll” grew up at the Elvis Presley Birthplace and Museum in Tupelo, where you can tour his childhood home. Or visit Elvis and Priscilla’s honeymoon cottage in Horn Lake.
The city of Holly Springs is where you’ll find Rust College—one of ten historically-African-American colleges and universities, founded before 1868, and still operating today; and Mississippi’s second-oldest private college. Also in Holly Springs is the Strawberry Plains Audubon Center, a breathtaking, 3,000-acre protected nature property. When entering the town of Walls you’ll encounter the Edgefield Mounds, silent sentinels recalling the Native American people who built them some five centuries ago. Later, this area was home to blues icon Memphis Minnie, and her gravesite is located nearby at New Hope Cemetery. Taking the slow road? The Great River Road National Scenic Byway and the Great River Road Bike Trail both offer a scenic way to stop and smell the wildflowers, and offer picturesque views over the Mississippi River.
You’ll find a little bit of everything in Olive Branch’s Old Towne, where shopping, history, and art collide with pleasing effect. Olive Branch’s Historic Walking Trail highlights local landmarks dating back to the town’s founding in 1836, while Arts in the Alley, a public walkway adorned with local art and home to the Painted Pigeon Art Gallery, also serves as the headquarters for the Olive Branch Arts Council.
Surrounded by some of Mississippi’s prettiest countryside, Grenada offers a wealth of ways to immerse yourself in the natural world. Embark on aquatic adventures at Grenada Lake and the Yalobusha River Paddling Trail, which winds through miles of bottomland forest, sloughs, and croplands. The Malmaison Wildlife Management Area encompasses over 9,000 acres, and harbors abundant game, as well as oxbow lakes and swamps offering spectacular fishing opportunities. Downtown Grenada features three markers on the Mississippi Blues Trail, and the landmark Belle Flower Missionary Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered one of his powerful civil rights speeches. Want one last local treasure? How about the Grenada Historical Museum, which boasts the largest selection of Coca-Cola collectibles outside of Atlanta. At the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the towns of Iuka and Tishomingo are home to three picturesque waterways including Pickwick Lake, Bay Springs Lake, and Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. And for your parting shot, the bird’s-eye view of the Tennessee River from J.P. Coleman State Park’s towering bluff is unforgettable.