A generation which ignores history has no past – and no future.

Robert A Heinlein

The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile drive through 3 states (Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi) and 10,000 years of history. It commemorates the most significant highway of the Old Southwest.

Because of road closures and detours we picked up the Trace at mile marker 302, in Alabama thereby unfortunately missing the Tennessee portion. This history-rich area transports you back in time.  At mile marker 269.4 we stopped at the Old Trace and Confederate Gravestones. This was a short walk to unidentified graves of 13 Confederate Soldiers. A somber remembrance of the past…

We did manage to take in some fun history when we took a little detour to Tupelo, Mississippi, the birth place of Elvis Presley. Anything for a photo op.

After a two-night stay in Davis Lake (see separate post) we continued south on the Trace. We took a short but pleasant stop at Kosciusko Welcome Centre at mile marker 160. Then to my favorite part of the Trace, the Tupelo-Baldcypress Swamp Boardwalk (mile marker 122). This 20-minute boardwalk is full of trees, water and reflections; it has a subtle beauty that I found very soothing.

We veered off the Trace just north of Jackson City and headed west to the Mississippi Petrified Forest in Flora, Mississippi. This was an even further walk back in time; 36 million years!