Natchez Trace

We left Memphis Tuesday morning and drove until Hwy 64 intersected the Natchez Trace Parkway then drove on the Trace to the Meriwether Lewis Campground.   We are dry-camping for free in a very nice park that is the sight of Lewis’ death and gravesite. The campground is underused at this time.  There must be 30 some sites and only about 8 of them are occupied.  It is very quiet and peaceful, cool in the mid-day heat, and cool enough for a great nights sleep.

The Trace was once just a small trail used by Indians and buffalo until the settlers started moving into the region. They found this was a recognizable route and expanded it. In 1801 Thomas Jefferson designated the Trace as a national post road for mail delivery between Nashville and Natchez. River men would float cash crops, livestock etc. down the Mississippi to New Orleans, sell their goods and their boats for lumber, then walk or ride horseback back up to Nashville and start over again. The Trace also played important rolls in the War of 1812 and the Civil War. It became a part of the National Park System in 1938 and was officially completed in 2005.

Meriwether Lewis was traveling from New Orleans to Washington, DC to file his final report of his exploration of the Louisiana Purchase when he became unexpectedly ill and died in 1809 while on the Trace. The site has a model of the log home he died in and the monument that was erected over his burial site in 1814.

Today we rode our bikes all over the Meriwether Lewis Site and then onto the Trace. This is a designated bike route so the traffic has to yield to us bikers, the speed limit is only 50 mph, no commercial vehicles are allowed on the trace and there are frequent historical sites along the road. All this and a shaded road made for a pleasant, though strenuous (as in hills) 18 mile ride.