This trip is from the northern terminus of Natchez Trace National Road and off it at the southern terminus into Mississippi and Louisiana.
We got an early start the next morning and drove back to the visitor center. We were going to check on storm damage on the Trace, but we were too early and it wasn’t open yet. But the Trace wasn’t closed, so we figured the damage couldn’t bee too bad. We were wrong. There were trees down all over, and a lot of standing water (but nowhere was the road flooded). We saw a lot of trees and limbs along the side of the road. Apparently, crews had already gotten to work clearing the road. But there was one big tree down across the road they hadn’t gotten to yet, totally blocking it. Luckily, there was just enough space to drive around it, without getting stuck in the sodden ground. Good thing we hadn’t gotten started any earlier.
We were concerned about the road conditions, so we did not make many stops. Our first one was to hike to Black Belt Overlook (app. MM253).
We didn’t stop again until we reached Bynum Mounds (app. MM232), more Native American burial mounds.
We stopped to hike another section of the Old Trace (app. MM222).
We stopped at the next free campground on the Trace, Jeff Busby (app. MM193).
Although it was a muddy mess, we had stopped so early in the day I was too restless. I had energy I needed to burn off. So I slopped through the mud on their hiking trail.
Next Location – Natchez Trace Parkway south-central segment
From the North Rim 