Sights Along the Natchez Trace Parkway

Spring was gorgeous on the Natchez Trace Parkway!  In Natchez, Mississippi the leaves were all out on the trees and you could feel summer on the way.  Farther north in Tennessee, spring was just getting started.  Many of the trees were only beginning to bud out with dogwood blooms and the first spring flowers making their appearance.  It was fun to see the changes from almost summer to just getting to be spring as we drove north on the Trace. 
 

 

Fields of crimson clover along the Natchez Trace
 

 

  

 

Cypress - Tupelo Swamp north of Jackson, MS 

Maya and Cindy 'disappearing' in the Sunken Trace

 

 

Beaver Pond at Rock Spring in Alabama

 

 

Emerald Mound, an ancient Natchez Indian Ceremonial Site

and second largest Native American mound in North America

 

Blue-eyed grass on Emerald Mound

 

 

Dogwoods near one of our campsites along the Trace

 

 

Jackson Falls, south of Nashville, named for Andrew Jackson

 

 

Some people go both ways...

 

Our Natchez Trace journey was mostly a driving one but we did manage a little hiking everyday.  Here are David's stats for our hiking on the Trace.  

 

Days Hiked on Trace    8  
Total Miles Hiked     21.8 
Ave. Miles per Day     2.7  
Total Elevation Gain     2,513 
Ave. Elevation Gain per day   314