Old Town Overlook

Old Town Overlook presents a medley of possibilities to enjoy. Will it be history, nature, agriculture, recreation? You can experience them all at this overlook that combines everything the Natchez Trace Parkway is about.  Folks interested in nature and recreation can fish in the pond, watch turtles pile up and warm their shells in the sun, or imagine back more than 11,000 years ago and picture mastodons ambling to the creek. Walkers can stretch their legs on a short jaunt into the woods or down to Town Creek. Hikers can access the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail and walk a little more than 2 miles south to the Chickasaw Village Site, or head northward for little less than two miles to the Beech Springs Trailhead.  Over time, people have used this area in many ways. The human history of Old Town started with American Indians who settled here. The name Old Town was what the English called a large established Chickasaw village.  Old Town was not always a peaceful bottomland. The 1914 DAR marker indicates that the Battle of Ackia took place near here, which is debatable, but we know that during the Civil War's Battle of Tupelo, on July 15, 1864, an intense battle was fought in the bottoms at the creek.  Standing on the north side of the overlook, there are views of both natural and cultivated land protected by the Natchez Trace Parkway. The agricultural land is leased and planted with traditional crops to help conserve the rural beauty of the Parkway.