NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY
NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY |
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| Home > Travel > USA > Natchez Trace Parkway | ||
Natchez Trace Parkway | ||
| Natchez Trace is a part of history. Natchez Trace starts in Natchez by the Mississippi River and goes through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee to just south of Nashville.
In the last part of the 18th century farmers from the north-east sailed their crops on rafts down the Mississippi to Natchez or New Orleans, where they sold their crops and the wood from the rafts. On their way back the used the Natchez Trace. As the traffic increased, inns and cities rised on the trace. The introduction of steamships meant the death of the Natchez Trace - with steamships it was suddenly possible to sail up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Nashville & Louisville - and it was faster and safer. In the end of the 1930's a modern road was build along the Natchez Trace - it was called Natchez Trace Parkway. Covering 442 miles ~ 711 km it goes from Natchez to just south of Nashville. Only "normal" cars and RV's (Recreational Vehicles) are allowed - that means no big trucks. No commercial signs are allowed and the parkway don't go into cities (not completely but almost). This means that you drive all the way in nature. Along the parkway there are several stops, where you can see historic monuments and other places of interest. Below are som of the pictures I have taken. I started in Nashville on Marts 26th. and was in Natchez the day after. Because the parkway goes almost north-south you can see how the climate and vegetation changes - from early spring in the north to (almost) summer in the south.
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 Tennessee Valley Divide |
 Tennessee Valley Divide | |
 Springcolors in Tennessee |
 This must be "Bluegrass" - grass with a lot of small, blue flowers | |
 Tennessee River at Colbert Ferry, Alabama |
 Natchez Trace Parkway in northern Mississippi | |
 Red flowers |
 Natchez Trace Parkway | |
Rocky Springs | ||
| 55 miles north of Natchez you find the ruins of the town Rocky Springs. It was one of the towns, that rised along the Natchez Trace, but as steamships were used instead of the Natchez Trace, and also because of deseases and erosion of the land, only the ruins exists today. The church stills exists and on the tombstones on the cemetery you can read the history of a place that once was.
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 The church in Rocky Springs - the only building left |
 The church inside | |
 The cemetery |
 The population in Rocky Springs | |
 Part of the old Natchez Trace |
 Natchez Trace Parkway | |
