Mill and overlay asphalt repair work continues on the ramps to I-55 resulting in nightly closures from 6:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. Closures move as work progresses. Crews are also working from milepost 101 to 102.5 during daylight hours. More
3/19/2025 Closure update for Chisha Foka Multi-Use trail rehabilitation
All of the trail north of Old Canton Road is open. The Choctaw Agency parking lot is closed and contractors are working on the sections of trail adjacent to it. More
Mount Locust Inn/Stand and Visitor Center Closed - Grounds Open Wednesday-Sunday
Due to storm damage, the visitor center is closed. The historic inn/stand is also closed due to serious structural concerns. The grounds are open Wednesday through Sunday, 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM. You can still view the stand but cannot enter.
Fall Hollow, an example of the natural beauty found along the Natchez Trace Parkway. Photo by Marc Muench.
Photo by Marc Muench
Nearly 39,000 of the Natchez Trace Parkway's 52,000 acres are maintained in a "natural" condition, i.e., forests, non-agricultural fields, and open water. The majority of these lands are contained within the narrow 800 foot wide boundary that parallels the parkway itself. While it is by no way an intact, pristine ecosystem, the park is still exceptional from a natural resources standpoint. The Natchez Trace Parkway forms an almost continuous greenway, or transect, from the southern Appalachian foothills of Tennessee to the loess soil bluffs of the lower Mississippi River. Over its length it crosses four ecosystem provinces, eight major watersheds, and twelve physiographic regions. Forest types range generally from oak-beech in the far south, to oak-pine mixes covering the vast middle section, to oak-hickory dominating in the north. Habitats represented within the park are diverse and include: streams, lakes, swamps, riparian woodlands, bottomland hardwood forests, upland hardwood forests, pine and mixed hardwood forests, prairie, fallow fields, and agricultural croplands. These habitats are preserved as living laboratories for scientific research, but are also available for the enjoyment and education of the visiting public.
Sites:Geologic Resources Division, Buffalo National River, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Great Basin National Park, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Mississippi National River & Recreation Area, Natchez Trace Parkway, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Prince William Forest Park, Rock Creek Parkmore »
Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks, along with the Blue Ridge Parkway that connects them, pass through rocks from the core of the Appalachian Mountains. The mountains began forming during the Ordovician and eventually attained elevations similar to those of the Himalayas.
Sites:Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Buffalo National River, Canyonlands National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Death Valley National Park, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Denali National Park & Preserve, Dinosaur National Monument, Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Grand Teton National Park, Great Basin National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Mammoth Cave National Park, Mississippi National River & Recreation Area, Natchez Trace Parkway, Natural Bridges National Monument, New River Gorge National Park & Preserve, Noatak National Preserve, Obed Wild & Scenic River, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Prince William Forest Park, Rock Creek Park, Russell Cave National Monument, Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Wind Cave National Park, Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve, Yellowstone National Park, Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preservemore »
During the Paleozoic Era (541 to 252 million years ago), fish diversified and marine organisms were very abundant. In North America, the Paleozoic is characterized by multiple advances and retreats of shallow seas and repeated continental collisions that formed the Appalachian Mountains. Common Paleozoic fossils include trilobites and cephalopods such as squid, as well as insects and ferns. The greatest mass extinction in Earth's history ended this era.
Sites:Wildland Fire Program, Grand Teton National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Kings Mountain National Military Park, Natchez Trace Parkway
Cynthia Worthington is a fire effects monitor and has worked in several different units of the National Park Service during her career. The importance of collaboration with other fields and the built-in adaptability of fire programs is one of her favorite parts of working in fire that keeps her coming back.
Ozone risk assessment employs a biologically-based method to evaluate the risk of foliar injury from ozone at parks within the 32 Vital Signs Networks, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail.
Winding through historic countryside that has witnessed many years of human settlement, the Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile drive from Natchez, Mississippi to just a few miles south of Nashville, Tennessee. The parkway is a trip through fine scenery and 10,000 years of human history on the Old Trace, which was used by American Indians, “Kaintucks,” settlers, and others who played a role in American history.
800 305-7417
The Parkway Visitor Center near Tupelo, MS, is open 9am-4:30pm seven days a week. The visitor center is closed Thanksgiving, December 25th and January 1st.
