Rocky Springs Trail
As far as I could tell, the Natchez Trace Parkway’s Rocky Springs Trail—not to be confused with the Rocky Springs segment of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail—no longer exists. Its purpose was to take you to the spring that once supplied the now defunct town of Rocky Springs with water. To find the trailhead, take the main road through Rocky Springs all the way to the end where it forms a loop. As you drive around the loop and start to head back, look to your right for the trailhead. It has its own parking area.
A path leads downhill and appears to have once been paved because you can see old asphalt. At the bottom is a deep ravine. There is asphalt on the other side, but there is no way to get across. I am assuming there was a bridge here at one time, either that or a huge storm washed the trail away and formed this massive gully. Anyway, the spring dried up long ago, so even if the trail was still intact there wouldn’t be much point to it.
A chunk of asphalt can be seen in the ravine and at the top edge
I did see a neat spider, for what that’s worth. I nearly ran into it on the way down, so I was double careful not to get caught in its web on the way back. I call these “hiker catchers,” for their webs are large enough to catch a good size human being. It is a banana spider, and it is harmless to humans.
Banana Spider (aka Golden Silk Spider)
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Last updated on December 10, 2021
