National Park Guide: Mississippi's Natchez Trace Parkway

— -- The Natchez Trace Parkway isn't your typical interstate highway. The speed limit is 50 mph. There are no billboards and few road signs. You won't find any 18-wheelers.

And, oh, yes, it's a national park.

The 444-mile scenic parkway connects Natchez, Miss., to Nashville by way of Alabama, retracing paths first used by American Indians, European explorers and American settlers in the 1700s. Later, the paths were connected into one of early America's most important roads, widely used by traders until the mid-1820s.

Established in 1938 and completed in 2005, the Natchez Trace has the usual parkgoer attractions — hunting, camping and fishing stops — as well as historic sites such as the Emerald Mound, a ceremonial mound built by the Natchez Indians.

Sara Maurer, a graduate student at Tulane University, first visited last summer, driving a moving truck with her brother.

Not 30 miles in, they were asked to leave by a park ranger: To preserve the park's natural beauty, no commercial vehicles are allowed.

"When the ranger pulled us over all of a sudden, I was like, 'Oh, I guess we are kind of an eyesore with this big, yellow truck,' " Maurer recalls.

She returned with more appropriate transportation in January with her sister. They started in Nashville, and early on they crossed over, then under, the 1,600-foot double-arched bridge over the Birdsong Hollow valley.

"The way it's set up, you're just driving, looking at the trees and the landscape, and all of a sudden, there's this huge bridge," Maurer says. "It's really quite stunning." At 52,289 acres, the parkway claims the title of America's largest War of 1812 park. American soldiers took the route to fight the British at the Battle of New Orleans.

"It surprises people," says Tony Turnbow, president of the Natchez Trace Parkway Association. This summer, re-enactments are planned to mark the war's bicentennial.

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About the park

Size: 52,289 acres; 444 miles of roadway

Visitors: 5,765,343 in 2011

Established: 1938

History: The parkway was established as a result of grass-roots efforts from people who wanted the route's rich history preserved. In the 1700s, American Indians, European explorers and American settlers frequented paths along the route that later would become the Old Trace highway. Until the mid-1820s, it was frequented by traders, became a postal route and was crucial to troop movements during the War of 1812.

When visiting: The Natchez Trace Parkway map is an excellent starting point. Every place along the parkway can be referenced by milepost. The system starts in the south, at Natchez, being Milepost 0. The north end, near Nashville, is Milepost 444. The Parkway Visitor Center in Tupelo is about midway, at Milepost 266. Visitor info: 800-305-7417.

Of note: It is the largest War of 1812 park in the country.

Eason also reports for Jackson's Clarion-Ledger