After leaving Nachez, MS we made our way to Tupelo, MS via the
As most travelers on this roadway for the first time, we picked up a National Park Service brochure telling us the story of the Trace. It is 444 miles long and takes travelers through 3 states and 10,000 years of history.
It bisected the traditional homes of the Natchez, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations. As US moved westward in the late 1700's and early 1800's a growing number of people used the rough trail.
Here are a few to the sites we observed
Milepost 5.1 Elizabeth Female Academy site. Founded in 1818 it was the first school for women chartered by the state of Mississippi. All that remains
Milepost 15.5 Mount Locust. Restored plantation and historic stand. The only such building that is left.
Milepost 41.5 Sunken Trace.... Short trail through a deeply eroded section of the original Trace
Milepost 105.6 Reservoir Overlook Rose R Barrett 51 square mile reservoir on the Pearl River
Milepost 122.0 Cypress Swamp. We did the half mile walk through the water tupelo/cypress swamp.
The Trace has three free campgrounds. Thursday night we stayed at Jeff Busby at Milepost 193.1. A nice no-hook-up campground. But it does have bathrooms with cold water only. There are 18 sites but we were the only ones there with an RV.
One site was occupied by a young couple living in a tent. From the appearances I would guess they are homeless. This morning as we were leaving the young woman asked if we were local and knew of churches in the area as they were running low on food. We gave her our 8 Ramen noodles containers plus a few canned goods. We have met many homeless living in tents at COE and state parks. Sad trend.
Late yesterday we took a walk on the campground road to Little Mountain. The brochure says a 20-minute walk each way. It took us about 25 minutes up as it was ALL UPHILL. This is one of the highest points in Mississippi at 603 feet. I felt as if I had climbed that 603 feet. Took half that time to walk back down. But I did it and I'm thrilled to be getting more strength as the weeks go on.
Milepost 232.4 Bynun Mounds - Indian burials These were constructed between 2,050 and 1,800 years ago.
The weather has been near perfect and we are happy!
nice pics, glad to hear you are getting stronger...hoping can catch up to you around hershey
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to do the Natchez Trace. Things always got in the way. Glad I could see it through your eyes.
ReplyDeleteLove the history of the Natchez Trace. Maybe someday I will get on there too.
ReplyDeleteWow, beautiful area. Love the campground. We've seen a lot of homeless living in or nearcampgrounds, it is sad.
ReplyDeleteWow, beautiful area. Love the campground. We've seen a lot of homeless living in or nearcampgrounds, it is sad.
ReplyDeleteWow, beautiful area. Love the campground. We've seen a lot of homeless living in or nearcampgrounds, it is sad.
ReplyDeleteWe drove that route in our MH. We didn't get to do any stopping. Thanks for the great tour. Looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteWe drove the entire Trace two years ago, it was great but I think once was enough:) Thanks for the revisit.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures of the Trace - one of the things on our list still to do. Because we are full-timers, we, too, see what can only be homeless people in public and private RV parks. You can see a lot of still empty stores and businesses and foreclosed homes for sale. Despite what our politicians tell us, the nation has not recovered from the recession and for a lot of people, they never will. May God bless them and those who care for them and bring them all grace and peace.
ReplyDeleteWell spoken. Thanks.
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