Natchez Trace

 

May 13 2025 Tuesday

We continued westward today, traveling into Mississippi. About 50 miles south of Tupelo we intersected with the Natchez Trace Parkway. We traveled along the old route used by American Indians and later by settlers who came afterward. No one knows the built the trail; it predates recorded history.

More than likely it was originally a trade route but why these two dots in this vast continent? What was there in Tupelo that was so important to the people of Natchez that they would hike 444 miles to trade, or vis-versa the people of Tupelo hike to Natchez? 

I could ramble on about the mysterious origin of the trail, but there is also the more modern query; why do present day RV travelers think it is mandatory to experience the parkway? Someone probably mentioned it in a book or magazine, social media picked it up and now every RV’er thinks it is a right of passage to drive the Natchez Parkway.

The Natchez Trace

The present day “trail” is a two lane 50 mph unbroken ribbon of asphalt that goes from Tupelo Mississippi just below the Tennessee state border to Natchez in southern Mississippi along “the old man river”.

Looking back across the Mississippi to Natchez 

We crossed The Mississippi river and spent the night in Vidalia which also borders “the big muddy”. Our layover for the night is River View RV Park. It has a levy partially blocking the view of the water, but they have a paved walkway that runs along the top giving expansive views of the wide river. We walked on the levy for a good distance, but it went on for many a mile. We were in site 36, $54 a night.

Our campsite at River View CG