The Natchez Trace Parkway - Overview

[NOTE: The Natchez Trace Parkway is the National Scenic Byway and All-American Road created to honor the historic Natchez Trace. The latter, referred to as the Trace, was a system of trails used by buffalo and other wildlife in migration or searching for known salt licks; Native Americans (Natchez, Choctaw, and Chickasaw), hunters and trappers, and by men returning north from selling their wares/goods in Natchez or New Orleans. They would float their goods down on a flatboat, sell their wares and the lumber from the boat itself then walk or ride horseback to their home.

The Trace was mapped as an Indian trail by the French as early as 1733 and, by 1810, it was the most heavily traveled route in the “Old Southwest” -- Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The steamer New Orleans arrived in Natchez in January of 1812, thus began a shift to steamboat travel, leaving the Trace to melt into the forest once again.]

OVERVIEW: Neither of us remember being taught much about the Natchez Trace (the Trace, for short). After we started RVing full-time and met other RV folks, we began to hear and read about it and the Parkway. All reports said the latter was a beautiful and informative drive. One thing leads to another…

Last fall, we began thinking about this summer’s 5 or 6 months’ travel opportunities. Our primary desire was to see our niece Catron, her husband Chris, and their 2 gorgeous toddlers living up in northern VA.

So, road atlas in hand, we developed a reasonable route up to VA and back. Coming from TX, it was natural to wander up through LA and MS, thus a decision was made to “do” the Trace as we headed north.

 The Parkway, administered by the National Park Service (NPS), is 444 miles long, beginning at Natchez, MS, and ending 15 miles s.w. of Nashville, TN. There are no commercial vehicles allowed on the Parkway; no businesses or services are located on the Trace itself but are available in nearby towns and cities. The speed limit is 50 mph (strictly enforced), enabling visitors to enjoy the beauty and history of the Trace at a leisurely pace. There are no billboards. There is NO LITTER – the parkway is continually patrolled by maintenance workers who pluck up any roadside litter with special tongs and empty the trash containers at all the pull-offs.

In our busy lives, when do we ever get to drive slowly along a route, savoring the tranquility, enjoying the fresh green landscape – no visual insults, no pressure – and get to learn so much in addition? The Trace offers many lessons about the Civil War, about slavery and the Emancipation, about the “Old Southwest” (as mentioned above), about today’s South and about southern hospitality. There are many locations en route where you can view portions of the Old Trace itself, worn down by possibly hundreds or thousands of years of foot and, later, carriage travel.

We enjoyed the actual design of the Parkway itself. The Parkway Visitor Center (MM 266) has an exhibit that mentions the concept of “viewshed”. (Yes, like “watershed”) Viewshed means everything within the visitor’s view along the Parkway must be pleasing and appropriate. Therefore, even the way the roadside grass is mowed has a design plan. There are very few straight lines, only along fences; the tree line gently undulates in and out. A small grove stands in the clear, neatly mowed around its feet. A little “cove” is created by mowing back into the tree line, inviting the eye to wander back in. All this thought creates a visual banquet that is so restful and interesting.

The NPS map is arranged by mile marker, corresponding to the actual numbered markers alongside the road. The parkway property varies in width on either side of the roadway, sometimes no wider than a few hundred feet on each side (a total of 800’ wide at its narrowest). Other times, there are dense woods on either side, and a sense of blissful separation from civilization. Oh, there’s an occasional glimpse of a farmhouse or outbuilding but it’s never jarring.

Signage along the Parkway is discrete, identifiable by its brown color and by the arrowhead-shaped signs at the various pull-offs or historic sites. Access to the Parkway from county or state roads only has one brown sign saying “Natchez Parkway” in each direction; they are really easy to miss!

There are 3 free NPS campgrounds on the Trace, offering basic amenities but no hookups or dump stations: Rocky Springs (MM 54.8), Jeff Busby (MM 193.1), and Meriwether Lewis (MM 385.9). All are first come-first served (no reservations) and all three campgrounds are open year-round. They each have a few sites which can accommodate today’s larger RV’s but suit smaller rigs or tents a bit better. Please visit the websites noted below for further information.

We chose to explore the Trace in segments, making one-week stops in Natchez (already posted), Vicksburg, Jackson, and Tupelo, MS, and two weeks in Hohenwald, TN. We then drove the Trace to its northern terminus in Pasquo, 15 miles s.w. of Nashville.

Our posts on traveling the Parkway itself are next.

RESOURCES: We recommend purchasing “Guide to the Natchez Trace Parkway” by F. Lynne Bachleda [2005, Menasha Ridge Press, Birmingham, AL]. It was FULL of valuable information and more than worth its $15 price! We found our copy at the Natchez Visitors Center; it’s for sale at all the Visitor Centers along the Parkway.)

Helpful websites:

http://www.nps.gov/natr/planyourvisit/index.htm

http://www.scenictrace.com/

Frogmore Plantation, nr. Natchez, MS

Before we left Texas, neighbors recommended that we visit Frogmore Plantation. So, we built it into a day trip in conjunction with a visit to Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge. Frogmore is appropriately located in Frogmore, LA, just across the Mississippi River from Natchez. It’s named after a town in England by the same name. The Plantation’s website noted at the end of this post is exceptionally well-done!

This place is a definite “must-see”! It’s devoted to the history of slavery, on a general level and particularly how it related to local history. At the beginning of the tour is an introductory film narrated by Lynn Tanner who, with her husband, owns Frogmore. The film is very professional and well-researched. What fascinated us was the portion on the Emancipation. What we DON’T learn in history classes is that freeing the slaves was not always a good thing for them. First, they no longer had a place to live, no source of income or livelihood, no supportive community, and nowhere to go in order to find those things. Second, out of desperation, many of them returned to their previous plantations. Third, for some, their masters made them sharecroppers. They now had land to live on and work but they didn’t own it. They were obligated to share a certain percentage of the income derived from crops harvested off the land. Finally, a very small minority were given land to own. Still others managed to move to other states where slavery wasn’t allowed.

The main house at Frogmore is not part of the grounds tour. The 19 dependency buildings (outbuildings) were well-preserved, modest, not too noteworthy nor photo-worthy. The tour guide does give a good idea of how slaves lived during this era.

This property is still a working cotton plantation and the modern cotton gin is on the second part of the tour. However, we visited during the off-season so the gin was inactive and undergoing maintenance. During the introduction, we had viewed a second film which explained the ginning process: how the cotton balls are cleaned of trash (stems & leaves) and seeds, then baled, and readied for shipment to cotton mills. Both films are worth seeing by themselves!

Helpful website:

http://www.frogmoreplantation.com/

Welcome to Natchez!

5/29/09

(NOTE: Not posted in order time-wise; should have been inserted earlier. Sorry!)

Our first destination in Natchez was the Visitor Center, well-located just across the bridge from our RV park.

We opted for a 1 1/2 hour bus tour to get an overview of Natchez. With some time to spare, we dashed to the “Pig Out Inn” nearby for a delicious BBQ sandwich for lunch. (We liked the food and atmosphere here so much, we returned one evening for dinner! Customers are given stickers reading “The Pig Out Inn BBQ, Best Smelling Pits in Town!”)

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The Pig Out Inn’s interior is delightful! Various signs, compatible with a old river town, warn of avoiding gamblers, pickpockets, and women of ill-repute. The more recent and featured sign above reads: “We were invited to the recession but we declined.” Now isn’t that just SO southern in tone – so polite??!!

Our tour driver, Doris, spoke in a southern accent as thick as molasses on a cool day! Plus, she spoke in a type of local dialect which meant we had to ask her to repeat several things!! This just added to our discovery process – Doris was so agreeable and her summary of Natchez history was a great help. We were Doris’ only passengers, a real treat for us. Doris made 2 brief stops, one at Melrose, an antebellum mansion, and at Forks In The Road, the site of an enormous slave market many years ago. Slaves were dressed in fine clean clothing and paraded slowly in a circle; if not immediately purchased, they were waited until the next “parade”. (For more information about slavery, please see our blog posting about Frogmore Plantation.)

Melrose, now owned and maintained by the National Park Service is a “must-see” when visiting Natchez. On the grounds, various outbuildings still exist, one of which houses an exceptionally good slavery exhibit. Melrose has remained relatively unaltered, unlike the bed-and-breakfast conversions elsewhere in town. We feel that’s kept it more authentic.

Once our driving tour was finished, we returned to Melrose for a longer visit.

At this time of year, the magnolia and mimosa trees are all in bloom. Magnolias are so fragrant and the tree is quite handsome! The leaves are shiny green on one side and bronze on the other. Mimosas are covered with a haze of feathery pink blooms and are everywhere! They’re a very common native tree.

Also in bloom everywhere this time of year is Crape Myrtle, a flowering tree which blooms in several different shades of pink (both soft and bright), red, purple, as well as white. (I borrowed the photo below from HowStuffWorks.com) It has no scent and is a delightfully showy shrub or well-formed small tree. Southern gardeners use it with great spirit to add color to the landscape. It’s in the median of highways, in front of banks, in parks, and seems unparticular as to where it’s planted.

After wandering through Melrose, we came back into town and did the “Walking Tour”.  We recommend it! (Maps are available at the Visitor’s Center.) “Downtown Natchez” is filled with dozens of tidy red brick, stone, and stucco buildings, many on the National Register of Historic Places. Several are currently being restored. There’s a real pride in preservation here. We apologize for not providing photos -- there were too buildings from which to choose! The websites below might be helpful.

FACTOID: the area near the border of LA & MS is known as “Miss-Lou”. So, the local newspapers and radio stations frequently use this as a point of reference. (For a brief moment, Richard and I had wondered just who this important “Miss Lou” was!!!)

Here’s a couple of good resources:

http://www.visitnatchez.org

http://www.allthingsnatchez.com

North to Natchez, MS

5/27/09

Interesting drive up through Alexandria, LA, to Natchez. We passed through the “Nursery Capital of Louisiana” from Forest Hill to Woodworth: acres of flower, shrub and tree nurseries. An enormous and stunning “crazy quilt” of color, though the individual color blocks were extremely neat and tidy.

After a stay in the Texas Tropics, Louisiana’s countryside looks so lush and green! Blooming along the roadside are magnolia and mimosa trees, lilac, and others I have yet to learn.

Churches of all types and sizes are in abundance – the South is known as the “Bible Belt” for good reason! We’ve seen several mega-churches up through Texas and into Louisiana. It’s comforting to know we’re in such good hands!

Our home for the coming week was the River View RV Park in Vidalia, LA, just across the bridge from Natchez, MS.  We found this park through RV Park Reviews. River View honors the Escapees RV Club 15% discount as well as Passport America (50% discount for first 3 nights). The park graciously gave us the Passport America for our 1st 3 nights and Escapees for our last 4 nights. The park is clean, quiet, and very convenient to Natchez, and nearby grocery stores. Our site had a pretty good view of the Mississippi River, so we enjoyed watched the tugs and barges navigate up and downstream. We quickly became tuned to the thrumming of an approaching tug.

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Our week was exciting (we viewed it as the official kickoff to our summer tour!); it was also educational, and restful. Natchez itself was not damaged by Civil War battles; the fighting occurred further north, thus its buildings remain well-preserved. It was a cotton capital and wealthy plantation owners built numerous antebellum mansions now available for tours. (We were reminded that “antebellum” means “before the war” -- in this case, the Civil War –- therefore, before 1863.) They’ve been beautifully restored and preserved, though many have been converted to bed-and-breakfasts. Ironically, the actual plantations were across the Mississippi River on flat Louisiana floodplain; the Natchez bluffs and hills discouraged such agriculture. However, the bluffs offered panoramic view of the River.

And, next, our tour of Natchez…

“Creole Nature Trail” – Part 4 (Final-5/26/09)

After Holly Beach, LA 27 heads east along the coastline and, just before reaching Cameron, there’s a free ferry which crosses the outlet of Calcasieu Lake (Remember, that’s “Calca-shoo”!). The ferry was named “Cameron No. II”, and carried the Louisiana Dept. of Transportation’s motto “Louisiana On The Move”. That struck me as pleasantly reassuring, given the wreckage from Hurricane Ike we’ve been seeing!! Makeshift repairs to buildings, blue tarps, snack shops operating out of RV’s. A lot of RV’s were moved down here to live in while debris was being removed and current efforts are made to rebuild. New construction is now all up on stilts, including mobile homes! Some homes are being built up on berms or raised mounds. Many new churches are being built. Humor still survives, as shown by the “Hurricane Cafe” we saw in town! However, don’t trust any area where the trees lean inland!

The Trail continues north from Cameron on LA 27 through the village of Creole to the Cameron Prairie Refuge. We arrived just as the Refuge’s Visitor Center was closing for the day. We were still able to see Red Eared Slider turtles floating or sunning on a rock in the pond in front of the Center building. Look at this guy’s pretty red streaks behind his eyes!

Within the Refuge, we drove the 3-mile Pintail Drive. This was really fun for us! Lots of wildlife sightings! (OK, you non-birders can just move on to the next posting! All birders can appreciate the following list.) We saw Glossy Ibises, Black-necked Stilts, Egrets, Common Moorhens, White-face ibis, Tri-color Heron, Little Blue heron, Anhingas, Grackles, and –- drum roll, please –- Roseate Spoonbills! (Tried for a close-up picture of the latter but wasn’t successful. They are so stunning!) We also spotted 2 small alligators: one in the roadside slough and one lurking in a culvert beside the road. (See pictures below)

Doesn’t look like much, right? Look closer at the opening of the culvert…look for his eyes and forehead. You may need to increase the magnification just a bit. (MS Vista users: look in the lower right of your task bar. You’ll see 100%; click on the "Plus" sign just before it. This will increase your image size. The "Minus" sign decreases the image size. Cool, huh? Windows XP users: I dunno what to tell you!)

And a few birds…Black-necked Stilt, Glossy Ibis, Great Egret.

If you squint while looking at the shot below, you can just make out the Roseate Spoonbill in the center, surrounded by various kinds of egrets! (OK, it’s a lousy shot!)

We covered a lot of country today. Thanks for following us so far! We drove north back up toward Lake Charles and saw a mini-storage business named “Cajun Storage”. Do you suppose this was a place to store Cajuns????????????

“Creole Nature Trail” – Part 3 (5/26/09)

After lunch, we continued on our drive, stopping at the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge Walking Trail, but the bugs chased us off in short order. There were hideous biting flies and mosquitoes – vicious! Insect repellent didn’t phase them. So away we went!

LA 27 leads down to Holly Beach on the coast. It and 26 miles of Gulf Coast beaches have been known to locals as “The Cajun Riviera”!! However, it was decimated by Hurricane Ike (2008); a good percentage of this community was simply washed away. Now, only concrete slabs remain as monuments. Mangled roofing is still trapped in fencing or in roadside ditches, along with entire vehicles and boats now rusting away. A surprising number of hearty souls are hanging on; houses have blue tarps for roofing; and small businesses cling to life with measured breaths. The post-hurricane debris has been transported to a centralized location, where it is sorted and gradually trucked away. Meanwhile, shreds of people’s former homes now lie there in huge mounds of wreckage. There are stories and heartbreak in those mounds. Just east of town were two ENORMOUS red buoys beached forever above the waterline.

Life perseveres here. Along the way, we’ve seen plenty of Red-winged Blackbirds. At a roadside fishing spot, we saw an enormous flock of Laughing Gulls. Their name is apt – they do indeed sound like they’re laughing! In addition, we’ve seen Black-necked Stilts, a Brown Pelican, Egrets, of course, Great Blue Herons, signs of raccoons, deer, and armadillos.

“Creole Nature Trail" – Part 2 (5/26/09)

The Creole Nature Trail is just over 180 miles long. It can be accessed from Sam Houston Jones State Park, from I-10/Exit 20 at Sulphur, LA, or from I-10/Exit 36, LA 397. The tour route signage is good. The tour route heads south toward the Gulf Coast, primarily on LA 27. In addition to seeing some wildlife, we wanted to see how the coastal communities have recovered from Hurricane Ike last fall (2008).

We began on the western arm of the tour route, coming down from Sam Houston Jones State Park. The route passes through agricultural areas until reaching the Intracoastal Waterway just north of Hackberry. Then we started seeing signs for fishing guides, RV parking, crawfish and crab for sale – the focus now changes to water activities.

We crossed the Waterway on the Ellender Bridge, and stopping for lunch at the Intracoastal Park on the south side of the bridge. This was a really pleasant stop. The Intracoastal Waterway goes from New England all the way down to Brownsville, TX. We watched a couple of long barges – one going in each direction – as they navigated these protected waters.

Here’s a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intracoastal_Waterway

“Calcasieu” Parish is pronounced “Calca-shoo”! We’ve really enjoyed listening to everyone’s Cajun accent. The Cajun (really Acadian) French dialect is now being taught in southwest Louisiana schools as an effort preserve the Cajun heritage. For so many years, the Cajun people have been the brunt of derogatory humor. Only recently has the richness of that culture been recognized and efforts made to save it.