Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Natchez Trace Parkway (March 12, 2014)



The Place

The Natchez Trace Parkway follows an ancient foot highway that was used by pre-historic and more recent Native Americans, by military during the War of 1812 and the Civil War, by Kaintucks who floated their goods from the Ohio River down the Mississippi River to Natchez MS and then walked home, and by postal riders.  It is 444 miles long, running from Nashville TN to Natchez MS.  We entered the Trace at Crocket AL near MP 320 and headed South into Mississippi.


The Adventure

Today, we saw two notable sites.

The Pharr Mounds are 9 burial and religious mounds in an area  inhabited as early as the Late Archaic period with the mounds built during the Woodland period (CE 1-200).  They sit in a 90 acre site.  You can see 6 mounds from the parkway.  They are lovely, large mounds built by hand on a large flat plain.  The site has a quiet beauty to it.  There are other mound sites along the Trace and the surrounding area.


The Confederate Grave Sites can be seen along the “Old Trace”.  We no longer know who is buried there, their graves are marked with more recent stones.  In the photo you can see the track of the “Old Trace” to the left and the headstones to the right.







 
Cold weather arrived along with the predicted wind storm.  Tonight we are camping at Davis Lake, a beautiful gem of a campground run by the Forest Service.  It is located just a few miles off the Natchez Trace Parkway with its own exit off the Trace.  The shaded campsites are dotted among the trees along the banks of Davis Lake.  Most of the sites are right on the water, all of them have great lake views.  It is very lovely and peaceful, and Tiki got to swim.



Resources:

USA's Best Trips from Lonely Planet
Guide to the Natchez Trace Parkway by F. Lynne Bachleda.

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