Friday 3-30 Driving the Natchez Trace Parkway

Driving the Natchez Trace Parkway

I woke up at 6:20 and couldn't get back to sleep so I crawled out of bed. Larry was already up and wondered why I was getting up so early. I made breakfast and then got the Minnie ready to go.

Last year when we drove the Great River Road that runs along the Mississippi River we also drove part of the Natchez Trace Parkway. This year we didn't have any plan on where we were going but as we were traveling east the Natchez Trace Parkway was coming up so we decided we would drive the rest of it. The Natchez Trace Parkway was established and is run by the National Park System. It is a beautiful road that meanders 444 miles through three states, it is two lanes with a maximum speed of 50 mph, commercial vehicles are not allowed. Along the parkway there are points of interest to learn about the history.and there are three campgrounds.

Today we drove 110 miles of it. We got on it at the City of Clinton and drove to Jeff Busby Campground. The scenery is gorgeous with tall pine trees and at places the trees drape over the parkway like a canopy. Early on we stopped at a National Park Service visitor center to get information about the Natchez Trace Parkway. The gentleman, who was a volunteer was very helpful and shared what he knew about points of interest to stop at. We stopped at Ross R. Barnett Reservoir. It was a beautiful 50 square mile reservoir. As we drove by the reservoir we saw a lot of fishermen. We drove through Jeff Busby Campground to check it out. It is a free campground and this time of year it is very busy because Canadians are headed back home from their winter stays in the southern US. There were a few spots left but we decided we would go to a National Forest Area, that is 16 miles off the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Bridge over the Mississippi River from Louisiana to Mississippi

National Park Visitor Center on Natchez Trace Parkway

The campground we chose to stay at was Choctaw Lake Campground in the Tombigbee National Forest. We arrived at the campground around 12:30. The campground is very well maintained and the sties are very level. We decided on a site that looked over Choctaw Lake. Once we setup the Minnie we had lunch. The camp hosts came by to introduce themselves and to register us in the log book. They couldn't take our money so we had to walk to the entrance to pay. The lady gave us three pages of hiking trails in the area. In our campground there is a hiking trail that goes around the lake. 

A little bit later we went for a walk to pay for our stay. We ended up walking for about 45 minutes to the entrance and around the day area. The trail that goes around the lake is a gravel trail and we walked part of it during our walk. We had a very nice walk.

Larry standing at the entrance to campground

Assembling the new grill

Relaxing before barbecuing dinner

Breaking in the new grill

A gazebo looking over Choctaw Lake

The other day we bought a new gas grill so when we got back to the Minnie Larry assembled it. When it was time for dinner he decided to break it in by barbecuing hamburgers. After dinner I walked around for a half hour to get my steps in. We had a great day.