Hiking the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail

Bit by bit over the last few months, I’ve been hiking and mapping out the Ridgeland District section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail. In spite of being the only national scenic trail (out of 11 total) that is entirely on National Park Service land, nobody seems to know about it or hike it. Partly that may be due to it being the most incomplete of the national scenic trails (65 miles out of over 400 miles authorized) and spread out over multiple widely spaced sections. At a little over 25 miles, the Ridgeland section is the longest. It’s also close to the metropolitan area of Jackson (Mississippi, not Tennessee!).

When Helen McGinnis’s book “Hiking Trails of Mississippi” was published in 1994, this section was still under construction and was listed under the tentative name of the Lonesome Pine Trail. I suspect that the name didn’t hold partly because pines are not really the predominant forest type for much of the trail. In any case, what I found was a surprisingly enjoyable trail, with a feeling of remoteness even though closely paralleling the roadway of the Natchez Trace Parkway. In some parts the trail was in quite good condition, while in others it deteriorated to the point of almost being nonexistent. The biggest problem by far was the presence of a lot of fallen trees on the trail. There were also a couple of bridge challenges, some aggressive briars, occasional wet areas, and some open mowed areas that had to be crossed without a trail.

So what were the more pleasant surprises? A feeling of silence and isolation that is hard to come by in Mississippi. In over 60 miles of hiking (going over most sections at least twice) spread over several days, I saw maybe five people on horseback and not one single hiker. Most days I saw no one on the trail. It was apparently by design that this would be the one national scenic trail to give a special focus on equestrian use, to reflect the historic heritage of the original Natchez Trace. But this is one nationally significant trail that I believe I can say is actually in need of more hikers. Only at River Bend (near the middle) and Yockanookany (the northern end) were there trail registers available. I was the first to sign them in over a year!

So why is no one else on the trail? I’m sure that the inability to do loop hikes is a factor for some, though one-way linear hikes are the norm for national scenic trails anyway. Another factor surely would be the lack of dramatic scenery. But the biggest problem is probably that people just don’t know. They don’t know the trail exists, they don’t know what to find on it, and they’re not really sure how to hike it. At least those were some of my excuses over the last few years. About the only reliable information is the NPS website, which only gives the basics. There is no mention of the historic cemeteries, overnight camping opportunities, where to access the trail, or how to follow it. Amazingly, at the north and south ends of the trail there are no signs at all visible from the parking areas to alert anyone to the presence of a trail nearby. And at Upper Choctaw Boundary, there is an interpretive trail that goes within about 20 feet of the (much more enjoyable) national scenic trail, but you have to know where to look to see that the trail is there.

A short distance away from the southern end, the City of Ridgeland and NPS have built a paved multiuse (mainly jogging) trail that is well used and will probably be connected with the national scenic trail soon. Although that could possibly be viewed as an extension of the trail, it certainly does not offer the same type of experience.