Emily Davie: It's not like any other road in America.
There's lots of scenic roads in America,
most of which are never going to be National Parks.
Kristen Maxfield: The Natchez Trace Parkway is really made for recreation.
You can enjoy the natural beauty at a slower pace.
Stephanie Garrette: The experience of driving on the Natchez Trace versus driving the normal
highways is the natural beauty.
You don't see a lot of traffic.
You see lots of wildlife,
and it's just beautiful, beautiful scenery.
Emily Davie: I would think that the designers of the Parkway definitely had an idea that
they could highlight the landscape really well if they approached it carefully and thoughtfully.
So I think they had an idea in mind when they built the Parkway:
if they do it right, we can preserve a lot of the history,
and we can make it a beautiful drive.
Amy Vanderford: It's refreshing, it's calming.
It slows you down.
Life gets busy,
and this is one place where you can come,
and you can take a nice slow drive down the Trace.
You can enjoy it.
There's not a lot of distractions on the Trace and I like that.
Kristen Maxfield: The Parkway is actually a fantastic place,
not just to drive, but to get out of your car and explore.
There are small, short little half-mile trails that
you can walk all up and down the Parkway, with something different at each trail.
[sounds of a waterfall]
Stephanie Garrette: Jackson Falls is one of my personal favorite places
to come along with my husband.
The children love to come here,
and this is a personal favorite of mine
because this is where my husband proposed to me.
[Stephanie Garrette laughs]
Emily Davie: The Natchez Trace Parkway, I think, has something special in the amount
of history that it has tied up in it as well.
This was the Old Southwest, and this was the
road that kind of opened it up.
This trail was how so many people traveled.
Kristen Maxfield: You can get out and hike where you can actually walk in the footsteps
of the Kaintucks, who walked along the Natchez Trace 200 years ago.
That valley was created by the footsteps of the people before you.
We have 65 miles of National Scenic Trail.
You can do that on your own two feet,
or many of those trails are available for horses.
We have people who take their bikes up and down the Parkway every year,
thousands of them.
You can actually bike the entire thing.
We have areas set aside specifically for bikes to camp.
[bird singing]
Nikeya Bullock: To me, the Natchez Trace means a place where I can get away from
all the world's cars, buildings, chaos.
When you go into like a secluded place that you're just
surrounded by raw beauty, it's almost like a stress reliever.
You know, it's that relief you get from the world and all of its stress.
Amy Vanderford: I was brought here as a child, and I grew up and I loved it.
Now I want to give back to my children
and maybe one day, they can give back to their children.
As my family and parents brought us out here and taught us,
and maybe when my children are grown,
they'll bring their kids to the Natchez Trace.