Natchez Trace Parkway

What is the Natchez Trace Parkway?

Once a pathway in the settlement of the Southeast, the Natchez Trace is now a parkway operated by the National Park Service, running 444 miles from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi, and enjoyed by motorists and cyclists alike.

Started in the 1930s, the Natchez Trace Parkway follows the route of an ancient trail that connected southern portions of the Mississippi River, through northwest Alabama, to salt licks in the Nashville, Tennessee area. The heaviest use of the Old Trace was from 1800 to about 1825 by men, known as "Kaintucks," who floated down the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi rivers and returned north on foot.

Before the 1800s, Old Trace history included Mound Builders, Natchez, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Indians, preachers, bandits, slaves, soldiers, settlers, and even Meriwether Lewis.

Today, visitors can experience this National Scenic Byway and All-American Road through driving, hiking, biking and horseback riding. The Parkway is a designated bike route and is most popular during the cooler spring and fall seasons.