What combines educational experiences, physical exercise, with quality family time? How can you learn about history, geology, and botany while hiking, biking, or picnicking? The answer lies in the hidden treasure of the Shoals—the Natchez Trace. The Natchez Trace is a scenic 450-mile highway extending from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi, cutting through the Northwest corner of Alabama. It is an old road that began as several different paths used by deer, buffalo and other animals which later evolving into an Indian trail. During the 1700’s and early 1800’s, it was an important wilderness road, opening up the Old Southwest to the people migrating to the sparsely settled territories. Now, as part of the National Park Service, the Trace provides many opportunities for the vacationer and sightseer.…show more content… One can access the Trace just twenty miles from O’Neal Bridge, off Savannah Highway. By turning south you soon come to Rock Spring and can enjoy a twenty-minute hike and learn about beavers and their effect on the environment. Continuing south and crossing the bridge over the Tennessee River, one can enjoy fishing, swimming, boating and picnicking at Colbert Park. Nearby is the site for Colbert Ferry, where Chief Colbert owned an inn and operated a ferry across the Tennessee River. Here you can learn about how Andrew Jackson and his troops crossed the river. Further south is Freedom Hills Overlook, a quarter mile hike to the highest elevation on the parkway in Alabama. Near the Mississippi-Alabama line one can find Bear Creek Mound, an Indian mound constructed sometime between 1200 anAD. If you really enjoy Indian mounds, you can travel a little further to Pharr Mounds just north of Tupelo, Mississippi. This ninety-acre field contains eight Indian mounds dating back to 200
