The Natchez Trace Trail is a designated National Scenic Trail in the United States whose route generally follows sections of the 444-mile (715 km) Natchez Trace Parkway through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. Unlike other national scenic trails, however, the trail is not envisioned as a long, continuous footpath, as is the case with other national scenic trails including, notably, the Appalachian Trail. Rather, only a limited number of trail segments along the route, currently over 60 miles (97 km) of trail, have been developed for hiking and horseback riding. Unlike many other trails that rely heavily on volunteers for trail construction and maintenance, these segments are managed by the National Park Service. Sections of the trail follow along the Parkway road shoulder and cross county and state roads.
The Parkway and National Scenic Trail commemorate the historic Natchez Trace, an ancient path that began as a Native American trail and has a rich history of use by explorers, "Kaintuck" boatmen, post riders, and military men.
Read more about Natchez Trace Trail: Trail Sections
Famous quotes containing the words trace and/or trail:
“Yet ere I can say where—the chariot hath
Passed over them—nor other trace I find
But as of foam after the ocean’s wrath”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
“We sank a foot deep in water and mud at every step, and sometimes up to our knees, and the trail was almost obliterated, being no more than that a musquash leaves in similar places, where he parts the floating sedge. In fact, it probably was a musquash trail in some places.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)