ZaNatchez Trace

Founded in 1951, Loveless Cafe at milepost 444 advertises hot biscuits, country ham, and air conditioning, so stop in for a filling Southern meal and to cool down after walking the trails. The family biscuit recipe is a guarded secret, so don’t even try sneaking one home for analysis. You can, however, buy a Loveless Cafe Bacon Sampler for all of your fried pork needs.

What better way to honor one of the original adventurers of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Meriwether Lewis, than with a road trip to his memorial statue? The Natchez Trace was his last journey – he was killed by two gunshot wounds while staying in an inn by the side of the road, and the reason for his murder remains unclear to this day. Stop at mile marker 385.9 to see the monument dedicated to the man, and even visit a reconstructed version of the inn where he was killed.

No trip along the Natchez Trace is complete without nods to the Native American history imbued in the trail. Pharr Mounds is a collection of eight burial mounds where tribes buried their dead from 100-1200 C.E. It's now a major archaeological site, where firepits and artifacts have been excavated. Stop for a moment at milepost 286.7 and imagine the lives of the people who left their mark here nearly 2,000 years ago.

The Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor's Center is a much-respected and much-beloved visitor center. There's also a small museum onsite, and the staff is very informative and friendly. Watch the video explaining the history and significance of the parkway, browse the bookstore, and plan your next stops!

Just under 30 miles southwest from Tupelo, MS, you'll find the ancient Bynum Mound and Village Site just off the Natchez Trace Parkway at milepost 232.4. It's open to the public for free, and makes for a peaceful stroll before hitting the open road again.

If the natural beauty and the rhythm of the road start lulling you to sleep, pull off at mile marker 180.7, where the log cabin village of French Camp offers four bed and breakfast cabins. Awake refreshed in the historical village, and view the cabins that were constructed in the 40s – the 1840s, that is. Experience life as it was in early America, except with the comforts of modern indoor plumbing.

Although the trace is no longer terrorized by highway bandits, you can still get your fill of danger at mile marker 122, where alligators lurk beneath the smooth surface of the Tupelo-Baldcypress Swamp. Walk the loop around the swamp and marvel at the the stately cypress trees with roots plunging into the still waters. In the summer, when the water is blanketed with algae, it seems as though you could step right onto it... but you may not want to once you look closer at that bumpy log and realize it's actually an alligator!