Sunken Trace

Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness

"Today on our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are visiting an exhibit 8 miles north of the Tennessee-Alabama State line. The exhibit is called SUNKEN TRACE and offers visitors a look at how this old road through the wilderness changed with the passage of time and traffic.

"We've seen how the Natchez Trace grew out of the geography of the land and the movement of animals and man, and rivers and streams. Just as the animals and people have changed during the course of the trail's history, the trail itself changed in response to the life it bore.

"The Old Natchez Trace itself relocated as it became worn. Heavy traffic would eventually turn spots along the trail into dangerous mud holes, and travelers would begin to make their way around these spots. As a result a new trail would soon grow to replace the old worn spot. At SUNKEN TRACE visitors can see three distinct cuts through the woods, that were made to avoid the mud. Each of these was at one time a part of the path we know today as the Natchez Trace.

"Join us on our next program when we will visit McGLAMERY STAND. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."

For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com