Original Natchez Trace segment at MP 397 on the Natchez Trace Parkway
At Mile Post 397 on the Natchez Trace Parkway is a very short segment of the original Natchez Trace that is open for walking. The parking area is located in the middle of the trail. If you hike to the right, you can walk a short .1-mile stretch, making it a .2-mile walk out and back.
If you head to the left, the trail splits a short ways down with no indication as to which way to go. I first took the fork to the right on what starts off as a wide foot trail that resembles the Natchez Trace but soon devolves into a slightly overgrown trail complete with briers before veering off park property and into what appears to be a neighborhood. Needless to say, this is not the way to go. If you stay to straight, which is the correct path to take, the trail ends at the Natchez Trace Parkway and is even shorter than the segment to the right. I hiked out and back in three minutes.
Regardless of which way you go, there is nothing at all interesting about this segment other than you can now say that you walked on the Natchez Trace. If you are heading to the very southern end of the Parkway, I suggest hiking some segments down there. Because of the sandy soil, much of the southern Trace segments are what can be termed as “sunken.” So many men, animals, and wagons used the trail that a deep trench was worn into the ground, in some spots as deep as ten feet.
Example of a sunken Natchez Trace segment
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Last updated on November 28, 2021
