Old Trace Sections to Hike or Walk

Named for a nearby 1801-02 U.S. Army post, Garrison Creek is a trailhead for horseback riders and hikers on the Highland Rim Trail of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail. Plenty of horse trailer parking is available. This part of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail is 20 miles in length. From the Garrison Creek trailhead you can hike or ride your horse south to Tennessee Highway 50, milepost 408, near the Gordon House.

The high ground at this site are part of a long ridge that divides central Tennessee. Streams south of the divide flow to the Duck and Tennessee Rivers, while streams to the north empty in the Cumberland River. This is also a trailhead for the Highland Rim Section of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail.

The brick home of Captain John Gordon and his family, built in 1818, was one of the impressive homes in the area. It was a landmark for travelers of the Old Trace, letting them know that soon they would be in Nashville, TN, where simple human comforts could be found after weeks of walking on a well-traveled but rustic trail. The Gordon family called it home, but it was a business as well. A ferry provided a safe way for travelers and locals alike to cross the Duck River.

Preserved here is a 2,000 foot long section of the original Old Natchez Trace which follows a ridge 300 feet above the Duck River. A 10-15 minute walk will take you to the end of the trail and back and provide a change of pace from driving. As you walk the Old Natchez Trace imagine the ordeal of early 1800s travelers who had to make 20 to 30 miles a day on foot or horseback.

While on the Old Trace Drive you will be driving on a section of the Old Natchez Trace and see for yourself this frontier road much as it appeared in the early 1800s. The modern parkway follows the general route of the Old Natchez Trace. Engineering standards and the necessity of preserving sections of the Old Natchez Trace have made it impractical to follow it exactly. This is not recommended for RVs, Buses and low clearance vehicles.

Before 1805 the Chickasaw owned all the land in this vicinity. When the Chickasaw ceded the land to the United States in the early 1800s the Natchez Trace became a boundary. In 1837 the Chickasaw were removed from their homeland. Chickasaw Removal is the most traumatic chapter in Chickasaw history. As a result of Congress’ Indian Removal Act, the Chickasaw people were forced to remove to Indian Territory.

Follow this trail to a preserved section of the Old Trace (Old Trace section is not paved), where Meriwether Lewis, renowned explorer, took his last steps. He met his untimely death at the inn that once stood hear here. As you follow the trail, you will encounter some "people" who walked along the Old Natchez Trace, a footpath used by thousands of travelers that spanned over 400 miles from Mississippi through Tennessee.

At Metal Ford, milepost 382.8, travelers on the old Natchez Trace crossed the Buffalo River which was fordable except after heavy rains. The ford takes its name from its stone bottom, which reminded these earlier travelers of stone surfaced or “metaled” roads back home. Also at this location is a short trail, 5 to 10 minute walk, which will take you to an old millrace, a river channel whose current fed Steele’s Iron Works to produce primitive pig iron in the 1820s.

Dogwood Mudhole is located a mile to the south of the parkway. The Old Natchez Trace crossed a depression in the flat, dogwood covered ridge. After heavy rains it became almost impassable for wagons. Its name, "Dogwood Mudhole", recalls the ordeals of frontier travel. It shows too, how place names arising from local conditions of long ago are carried down through the years.

This early early interstate road building venture produced a snake infested, mosquito beset, American Indian traveled forest path. Lamented by the pious, cussed by the impious, it tried everyone's strength and patience. When the trail became so water logged that wagons could not be pulled through, travelers cut new paths through the nearby woods as a detour.