Join a 10,000-year tradition taken on by adventurers, nomads, traders, refugees, and warriors by embarking on a journey down the historic Natchez Trace. This network of trails is one of the oldest transportation routes in America, used by people of the Natchez, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and other native nations for centuries before the arrival of the Europeans and enslaved Africans, who would also walk its paths and imbue the land with their stories. Today designated a National Parkway, part of the National Park System, the modern-day corridor is 444 miles long, going from Natchez to Nashville and passing through many of the South’s most stunning vistas.
If you’re staying in Natchez, you’re at ground zero on the Trace, with ample opportunities for exploration. Hop in the car for a day’s road trip, or take advantage of the Trace’s well-appointed bicycle lanes—which can take you all the way to the top in Tennessee. Whatever your steed may be, go slowly and take in the rich scenery of bottomland hardwood forests, swamps, and farms. During the summertime, you can spot meadows dotted with wildflowers like Queen Anne’s Lace, Spider Lillies, Crimson Clovers, Evening Primroses, Milkweed, and more. Here are some must-stop excursions along the way:
Milepost 5.1—Elizabeth Female Academy
Explore the ruins of Mississippi’s first institution to offer women college degrees, now reduced only to a single brick wall in the woods near Natchez. The school operated from 1818–1845 teaching women classical subjects such as Latin, philosophy, and botany. Students attending in the year 1822 even had the opportunity to learn from the renowned artist/naturalist James John Audubon. After closing in 1845, the building was destroyed in a fire in the late 1870s.
1 of 2
2 of 2
Milepost 10.3 — Emerald Mound
Right off the parkway, you’ll find yourself looking up at the second-largest Mississippian Period ceremonial mound in the country, believed to have been built between the years 1200 and 1730. On top of it are two “secondary mounds.” Archaeologists believe that the Mississippians considered the mound the ceremonial center of their village, likely used for burials and religious ceremonies and rituals. How exactly it was built is an enduring mystery. Open from sunrise to sunset each day, the site has a trail that allows visitors to climb to the top of the mound, where they can see the surrounding landscapes just as its builders once did.
Milepost 15.5—Mount Locust Historic Home
One of the oldest structures still standing in the area (which is saying a lot this close to Natchez), the Mount Locust historic house was built by William Ferguson in 1784. Archaeologists have found evidence, though, that people of the Coles Creek culture resided here centuries before that, as early as the year 600. They, in turn, were followed by a village occupied by the Plaquemine people from around 1000–1350.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, under Ferguson, and then later James Chamberlain, the site operated as a cotton plantation and an inn for “Kaintucks” walking back home after floating their goods down the Mississippi River. A community of enslaved also lived on the property, living in what archaeologists have to determined were once twelve to sixteen cabins. Many of these people rest in a cemetery on the west side of the property. You can also observe the brick kiln, where the enslaved handmade the bricks used in parts of the home.
Sunken Trace Trail
Milepost 41.5—The Sunken Trace
One of the most visually iconic sections of the Natchez Trace, this short in-and-out trail near Port Gibson reveals the impact of thousands of years and thousands of feet upon the Trace’s soft, loess soils. This part of the Old Natchez Trace began as one of many animal trails, which would later be traveled as part of a journey made by Native Americans, then Europeans and enslaved Africans, then Americans, now you.
Learn more about exploring the Trace at visitnatchez.org.
