Yockanookany Trail Map (click to enlarge)
Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
At 25 miles long, Yockanookany is the longest of the five trail segments that make up the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (NST). Based on my limited experience, it is also the worst. I only hiked .6 mile, but that wasn’t by choice. That’s as far as I got before the trail disintegrated into a wasteland. The trail isn’t even maintained from the Highway 43 trailhead to the northern terminus at the Yockanoonkany stop near Mile Post 131 on the Natchez Trace Parkway, which makes up 16 of the trail’s 25 miles.
I had to circle around the southern trailhead parking area three times to even find the trail. Located at the West Florida Boundary stop near Mile Post 108 on the Natchez Trace Parkway, the trailhead is nearly obscured by trees. To find it, look carefully into the woods between the information panel and the picnic tables. On a beautiful, fall Sunday afternoon not a single car was parked here, which speaks volumes as to the trail’s popularity. At the hiker-biker Multi-Purpose Trail a few miles south, the parking lot was packed.
Yockanookany trailhead and sign can barely be seen due to trees blocking the view
At the Yockanookany’s northern terminus at the Yockanookany stop on the Natchez Trace Parkway, the trailhead is marked with nothing but a Proceed At Your Own Risk sign posted by the National Park Service.
Northern trailhead for the Yockanookany segment of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
I attempted to hike north for a couple of miles starting at Cypress Swamp (MP 122). I should have known better when I couldn’t even find the connector trail that leads from the parking area to the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail. I could see the trail through the woods and eventually had to traipse through the high grass to get to it. From the start it didn’t look like it saw much traffic. Parts were overgrown with briers and trees were down. In my voice notes I described it as looking “like a pit of garbage.” I lost track of the trail two times before coming to a section that looked like a tornado had come through. At that point, .6 mile into the hike, the trail completely disappeared and I simply bushwhacked my way towards the Parkway—which you could see for most of the hike anyway—and walked back along the road to my car.
End of the line for the Yockanookany hike
About the only section of the Yockanookany segment that I can guarantee you can hike unhindered is the eight-mile section that runs along the Ross Barnett Reservoir, and that’s because the trail is the Natchez Trace Parkway. You have to walk on the shoulder of the road starting just north of West Florida Boundary, which is located near the middle of the reservoir. I can tell that nobody ever hikes this section because there is no path worn into the grass on the side of the road. Why not just start the trail north of the reservoir as a normal trail? I can understand having to hike along the road if the trail runs both north and south of the reservoir, but that’s not the case here. I suppose some high-minded fellow got the grand idea of extending the trail an extra eight miles without having to actually do anything. Might as well claim the trail is 444-miles long and just tell everyone to walk along the Parkway for the entire length.
National Scenic Trail along the Ross Barnett Reservoir–the road shoulder
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Last updated on December 7, 2021
