Natchez Trace

If you are looking for a wonderful self contained tour or just a lot of scenic miles the Natchez Trace http://www.scenictrace.com/ is a great place to ride a bicycle.
I have ridden sections and side trips (Vicksburg Battlefield)off of the Trace but I have yet to ride it end to end. I'm planning to rectify that this year. There are campgrounds along the way plus a variety of scenic stops. Here is just one of the journals from CGOAB (Crazy guy on a bike for those not familiar) that outlines the Trace.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1gci&doc_id=2114&v=82

Walt

My son lives in Columbus Mississippi and we've seen this "trace" and it looks like a lovely place to cycle.

But I have a question - what the devil is meant by calling these pathways "a trace". I searched definitions of the word trace, and none seemed to fit with how it is used to describe these routes. The closest I found was the "retrace" my steps by going back the way I had come. I suppose if re-tracing means going back over your steps, the first time you go you would be tracing? It is just an odd use for that word.

That's someplace I'd like to cycle. I have an interest in Civil War stuff and that would be cool to ride through all that history.

Mark

Fortkentdad wrote:But I have a question - what the devil is meant by calling these pathways "a trace". I searched definitions of the word trace, and none seemed to fit with how it is used to describe these routes. The closest I found was the "retrace" my steps by going back the way I had come. I suppose if re-tracing means going back over your steps, the first time you go you would be tracing? It is just an odd use for that word.

The Sage ( http://www.sequencepublishing.com/ ) says one meaning as a verb is:

"Mark one's own course or travel along a path; travel or pass over, around, or along."

It's no wonder the English language is so difficult!

Walt

Thanks for the "sage" insight.

I suppose if you call it that often enough it comes to mean what you call it.

Humpty Dumpty like logic from Alice in Wonderland went something like this "I can call it whatever I want to call it" said Humpty. "Well I suppose you could" said Alice, "But how will anyone ever know what you are talking about?".

But I digress

Well, you sure got me there...

This is from the Webster Dictionary Online. My dad is from Mississippi (Columbus, as a matter of fact) and I have a cousin that is a retired school teacher there. He always told us that the name came from the early French explorers. It was a term they used for path. The definition below seems to agree with that. The Natchez were the local indians of the area, and the Trace was originally a commonly used pathway for trading with other tribes in the region.

Trace
Pronunciation: \ˈtrās\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from tracer to trace
Date: 14th century

1archaic : a course or path that one follows

2 a: a mark or line left by something that has passed ; also : footprint
b: a path, trail, or road made by the passage of animals, people, or vehicles