Fall Foliage on the Natchez Trace Parkway

It won't be long until the leaves start turning colors. Fall foliage color along the northern half of the Natchez Trace Parkway (Tupelo, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee) is generally at or near its peak from mid-October to the first week of November. South of Tupelo to Natchez, MS fall colors usually arrive mid to late November.

Shown below is a slide-show of fall pictures taken during the 2008 and 2009 fall seasons from the northern terminus of the Trace south to the Tennessee River crossing in Alabama.

For additional fall pictures from 2008 and 2009 and hopefully from 2010 go to NatchezTraceTravel.com's Fall Season Natchez Trace Pictures.

Natchez Trace Parkway divided into 15 geographic sections

The 444 mile-long Natchez Trace Parkway starts in Natchez, Mississippi and goes northeast through Mississippi, northwest Alabama and middle Tennessee before ending in Nashville, TN. There is quite a difference in climate from the southern terminus of the Trace at Natchez, MS (latitude 31.5) and the northern terminus at Nashville, TN (latitude 36.0).

NatchezTraceTravel.com has divided the Natchez Trace Parkway into fifteen geographic sections, each approximately 30 miles in length. The first nine sections are in Mississippi, one section in Alabama and the last five sections are located in Tennessee. Each section is named after nearby towns and cities.

We have written an article about each of the sections. Each article includes a map of that section of the Trace, a short description of each of the park service interpretive stops on the Trace, information about some of the nearby attractions and towns and a short video slide show of pictures.

Click on the section/article links listed below. We hope you enjoy this virtual tour.

Mississippi:

• Natchez and Lorman
• Port Gibson and Vicksburg
• Raymond and Jackson
• Jackson and Canton
• Kosciusko
• French Camp
• Houston
• Tupelo
• Belmont and Tishomingo

Alabama:

• Tuscumbia and Florence 

Tennessee:

• Collinwood and Waynesboro
• Summertown and Hohenwald
• Centerville and Columbia 
• Fly and Leiper's Fork
• Franklin and Nashville

Natchez Trace Parkway - Florence | Tuscumbia, Alabama

This 33 mile section of the Natchez Trace Parkway travels through the northwest corner of Alabama from milepost 341.8 at the Tennessee-Alabama state line to milepost 308.9 at the Alabama-Mississippi state line.

Traveling south to north you will encounter several sites that are part of the Natchez Trace Parkway and are overseen by the National Park Service:

• Bear Creek
  A large, shady picnic area with several picnic tables and grills sits next to Bear Creek.
• Freedom Hills Overlook
  A steep, 1/4 mile paved trail takes you to the overlook.
• Buzzard Roost Spring
  Named Buzzard Roost in 1801 by Levi Colbert, a renowned Chickasaw chief, the spring was a water source for his house which was also an inn for travelers on the Old Natchez Trace. A short trail takes you to Buzzard Roost spring.
  
• Colbert Ferry
  The park service provides a ranger station, restrooms, visitor center (in season), picnic area, boat launch and fishing at the site where George Colbert operated a ferry across the Tennessee River from 1800 to 1819.
• Lauderdale
  This picnic area is located across the Tennessee River from Colbert Ferry on the north shoreline.
• Rock Spring
  A 20 minute self-guided trail takes you along Colbert Creek.

For additional pictures, information and interactive maps of the Florence | Tuscumbia, Alabama section of the Trace please see NatchezTraceTravel.com.

Also, just off the Trace you will find:

• Wichahpi Commemorative Stone Wall
  Tom Hendrix has been building a stone wall for over 30 years in memory of his great-great-grandmother's journey. His great-great-grandmother Te-lah-nay was part of the Yuchi Indian tribe that lived near here along the Tennessee River in the 1800s.
• Tuscumbia, Alabama
  Tuscumbia, located 20 miles east of the Natchez Trace Parkway, is the birthplace and home of Helen Keller.

Bed and breakfast travelers will enjoy Riverside Cottage Bed and Breakfast located between Cherokee and Tuscumbia.

Next section north on the Trace: Waynesboro | Collinwood
Next section south on the Trace: Tishomingo | Belmont

Most Popular Alabama Attractions on the Natchez Trace Parkway

The Natchez Trace Parkway generally follows the route of the Old Natchez Road for 31 miles through the northwest corner of Alabama. Along the Alabama section of the Trace, the parkway offers 7 historical and/or natural attractions. During 2009 the most popular attractions along this section of the Natchez Trace Parkway were (ordered south to north along the parkway - mileposts start at zero in Natchez, MS):

• Colbert Ferry - milepost 327.3 (near Cherokee AL)
  George Colbert operated a ferry across the Tennessee River from 1800 to 1819. Today, a half-mile long bridge transports Natchez Trace travelers across the river.
• Rock Spring - milepost 330.2 (near Florence, AL)
  A self-guided nature trail and stepping stones lead you across Colbert Creek past Rock Spring and through the woodlands.

Popularity was determined by how often each attraction's information was viewed during 2009 at NatchezTraceTravel.com. Would love to hear your comments about your favorite attractions on the Natchez Trace Parkway in Alabama.

Charlotte Observer - The Southeast's other parkway

On November 21, 2009 the Charlotte Observer wrote an article about the Natchez Trace Parkway titled "The Southeast's other parkway", comparing it to the Blue Ridge Parkway:

"Unlike the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Natchez Trace is flat, uncrowded and snow-snarl free."

Click here to read the entire article.

Natchez Trace Parkway trip with Mom and Dad - Day 2

Day 2 - Collinwood, TN to Northeast Mississippi and back

As mentioned in Day 1  we stayed at Miss Monetta's Country Cottage in Collinwood, TN last night and will be there tonight as well. We are using Collinwood as our home base to explore the Trace in Tennessee, Alabama and northeast Mississippi.

After breakfast at Chad's Family Restaurant in Collinwood we headed south on the Trace. Collinwood is located about 15 miles north of the Tennessee-Alabama stateline on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Just a few miles into Alabama and about 150 yards off the Trace sits one of the most unique memorials you will ever see and hear about. It is known as the Wichahpi Commemorative Stone Wall. The stone wall honors the great-great-grandmother of Tom Hendrix. Tom has been building the wall on his property for more than 30 years. Tom has placed by hand over 7 million pounds of rocks to create the curving waist-to-head high wall that represents the journey his Native American great-great-grandmother made from northwest Alabama to Oklahoma as part of the Trail of Tears and back to Alabama.

Our next stop took us over the Tennessee River to Colbert's Ferry at milepost 327. Today, Natchez Trace Parkway travelers drive over the river on this beautiful bridge. During the early 1800s George Colbert, who was half Chickasaw Indian, operated a ferry from this spot that took Old Trace travelers across the river.

Colbert's Ferry is one of the largest areas that is operated by the National Park Service on the Trace. There is a large picnic area overlooking the river, a boat ramp, the interpretive area where the ferry was located and a ranger/information station that is open except during the winter months.

Our next stop was barely into Mississippi at Cave Spring at milepost 308. Here we talked to a couple taking a break from riding their motorcycle. Mom wouldn't get any closer to the cave than she is here in this picture.

The weather was absolutely awesome for early November. Temperature around 70 degrees and lots of sunshine. September and October most of the Trace saw 2 to 4 times as much rain as normal. So far, November has been one sunny day after another.

Our next stop was Pharr Mounds at milepost 286.  Eight Indian burial mounds sit within sight of the Trace. We were now about 70 miles south of Collinwood so we decided to turn around and head back. This means that we were unable to see the southern 285 miles (64%) of the Trace. I'll try to talk Mom and Dad into coming back so we can see the Trace from Tupelo to Natchez.

We took a slight detour off the Trace so we could check out Bay Springs Lake. On the way down the Trace we had driven over the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway at milepost 293. The Trace bridge over the waterway is located just below the dam that holds back the huge lake. Dad likes to watch barges and boats go through locks. The dam has a huge lock that takes a vessel "down" from the lake to the river or "up from the river to the lake. As we made our way to the dam we saw a barge heading up the river towards the dam. Mom and I knew we were going to be here for awhile. We found the dam observation parking area and off Dad went with his camera. You can walk down to within about 75 feet of the lock. It really is impressive to see the lock fill up with water and lift the barge up to the level of the lake. The picture here shows the barge heading out into the lake. Three medium sized fishing boats then headed into the lock to be taken "down" to the river level. But we had to go. We assume they made it to the river.

We made our way back to the Trace and headed north to Collinwood and the comforts of Miss Monetta's Country Cottage.