Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail
Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
7.2 h fully dark
Hikes
Strenuous
🔴
Entrance
Free entry
Partial Closure of Rocky Springs Trail
The Rocky Springs section is closed from the Rocky Springs campground at milepost 55 to the northern terminus at milepost 59 until further notice. Visitors should observe posted closures. The trail is unsafe due to trail erosion and deteriorated bridges.
Yockanookany Trail Section Closed to Equestrians
The Yockanookany section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail is closed to equestrian use effective immediately, due to safety concerns with trail bridges and boardwalks. The trail will remain open to pedestrians.
Official NPS alert →The Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail is five sections of hiking trail running roughly parallel to the 444-mile long Natchez Trace Parkway scenic motor road. The foot trails total more than 60 miles and offer opportunities to explore wetlands, swamps, hardwood forest, and the history of the area.
Activities
Topics
No entrance fee.
Hours & seasons
The Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail is open every day during daylight hours. Severe weather resulting in washouts and downed trees can cause temporary trail closures. The trail is located entirely within the property boundaries of the Natchez Trace Parkway and questions about the trail and its condition should be directed to the Parkway's visitor center by calling 662-680-4027.
Hours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 662-680-4027
✉ natr_interpretation@nps.govConditions
Weather now: ☀️ Clear, 94°F
☀️ 95°/70°
☁️ 94°/74°
🌦️ 96°/72°
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Things to do
Hiking the Blackland Prairie Section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail · 6 mi · You can hike as much or as little of this six mile trail as you would like. If you do the whole thing out and back you would travel a total of 12 miles.
Hiking the Yockanookany Section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail · 26 mi · This trail is 26 miles in one direction. Dispersed camping is not permitted on the trail. All camping must take place in <a href="https://www.nps.gov/natr/planyourvisit/camping.htm">designated campgrounds </a>unless you have received a special use permit in advance.
Hiking the Highland Rim Section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail · 1.3 mi · This trail is 20 miles in one direction. Dispersed camping is not permitted on the trail. All camping must take place in <a href="https://www.nps.gov/natr/planyourvisit/camping.htm">designated campgrounds.</a>
Trails on the Natchez Trace Parkway · 27 mi · There are 200-foot paved trails and 27 mile long rustic trails.
Hiking the Potkopinu Section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail · This trail is three miles in one direction.
Tent Camping on the Natchez Trace · Camping is permitted for 14 days total in a calendar year.
🔴 Hiking the Rocky Springs Section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail · 6 mi · This trail is 6 miles in one direction.
Finding Flowers · You can search for as little or as much time as you want.
Visitor centers
Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center
Accessibility
21 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail — each spans a cross-park journey.
Meriwether Lewis
— Travel Lewis Clark, Lewis And Clark, ExpeditionPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center
Places to see
Blackland Prairie Section Southern Terminus Trailhead, West Jackson Street
audio
Blackland Prairie section Northern Terminus Trailhead, Milepost 266
audio
Burns Branch, Milepost 425.4
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Chickasaw Village Site, Milepost 261.8
audio
Cypress Swamp, Milepost 122
audio
Fly Trailhead On The Highland Rim Section, Milepost 416
audio
Garrison Creek and Highland Rim Section Northern Terminus, Milepost 427.6
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Highland Rim Section Southern Terminus Trailhead, Milepost 408
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Highway 43 Trailhead, Milepost 114.9
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Old Town Overlook, Milepost 263.9
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Owens Creek and Rocky Springs Section Southern Terminus, Milepost 52.4
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Potkopinu Section Northern Terminus, Milepost 20
audioAudio & media
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Learn more
Although the abolition of slavery emerged as a dominant objective of the Union war effort, most Northerners embraced abolition as a practical measure rather than a moral cause. The war resolved legally and constitutionally the single most important moral question that afflicted the nascent republic, an issue that prevented the country from coalescing around a shared vision of freedom, equality, morality, and nationhood.
Long ago Ofi' Tohbi', a great white dog, led Chicsha and Chatah and their people to settle in the southeast.
This press kit compiles relevant resources, links, and information for reporters to use in their reporting within the Natchez Trace Parkway. Specifically focusing on safe driving within the Parkway.
In celebration of the 55th anniversary of the National Trails System Act, learn more about these significant trails and their history.
Read the abstract and get the link to a published paper on a model to predict mercury risk park waterbodies: Kotalik, C.J. et al. 2025. Ecosystem drivers of freshwater mercury bioaccumulation are context-dependent: insights from continental-scale modeling. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c07280
How Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
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