Natchez Trace Parkway - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 795

15. Freedom Hills Overlook
After spending three-quarters of its journey in Mississippi, the drive crosses into Alabama
forabriefvisit—just33miles.AtFreedomHillsOverlook(milepost317),ashortbutsteep
trail leads to a view of tree-covered highlands along the western edge of the Cumberland
Plateau.Thedrivethenbreezesonpastlushrollinghillsthatareespeciallyprettyinthelate
afternoon, when long shadows cast a bluish tint on the gently folded landscape.
16. Colbert Ferry
At Colbert Ferry the parkway crosses Pickwick Lake via the mile-long John Coffee Me-
morial Bridge. Well over a century before the bridge was built, the site's namesake, a
mixed-blood Chickasaw chief named George Colbert, operated an inn and ferry here for
Natchez Trace travelers. A shrewd businessman, Colbert reportedly charged Major Gener-
al Andrew Jackson $75,000 to ferry his troops across the Tennessee River on their return
from the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. A section of the old trace leads past the site of
Colbert's house. At the north end of the bridge, near milepost 329, is a picnic area and a
boat ramp.
17. Sunken Trace
Rather than following one unvarying line, the original Natchez Trace had paths that often
shifted—theresultofchangesinterrain,weather,orthewhimsofSpanishColonialrule.At
Sunken Trace, located at a spot nine miles beyond the Alabama-Tennessee border at mile-
post 350, visitors can spot three distinct trails, evidence that early travelers changed course
at various times to skirt miring mudholes.
18. David Crockett State Park
Just past milepost 370, Rte. 64 leads eastward from the Natchez Trace to David Crockett
State Park, named for the legendary Tennessee pioneer who died at the siege of the Alamo
in 1836. (Despite the words of a popular song about the “king of the wild frontier,” he was
known in his time as David, not Davy.) Crockett established a powder mill, gristmill, and
distillery here on the bank of Shoal Creek in 1817; all were washed away by a flood in
1821. Today campers can catch a bass for supper on Lindsey Lake, and hikers on the park
nature trail canpausetoenjoyCrockett Falls, aseries ofcascades onShoalCreek. Back on
the parkway continue to milepost 375, where an unpaved, forest-fringed section of the old
trace—unsuitable for large trailers and recreational vehicles—climbs to a high ridgeline
with fine views of the surrounding hills and valleys.