Trail of Tears Water Route Overlook on the Natchez Trace, Milepost 328.7
in Alabama
Three detachments of Cherokee, totaling about 2,800 people, traveled by river past this location to Indian Territory. The first of these groups led by Lieutenant Edward Deas left on June 6, 1838 by steamboat and barge from Ross Landing, present-day Chattanooga, Tennessee. They followed the Tennessee River, Ohio River, Mississippi River and the Arkansas River and arrived near Fort Coffee on June 19, 1838.
The second detachment, led by Lt. Robert H.K. Whiteley, left in mid-June and arrived two months later near Stilwell, Oklahoma. The final detachment, led by John Drew, left in the late fall and arrived in Indian Territory the following March.
See Trail of Tears on the Natchez Trace for additional information.
- States
- Alabama
- Trail type
- Parkway trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Birmingham, AL · 111 mi · ~3.2 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 34.8403°, -87.9249°
About Natchez Trace Parkway
This trail is inside Natchez Trace Parkway, a parkway managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/trail-of-tears-water-route-overlook.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Trail of Tears Water Route Overlook on the Natchez Trace, Milepost 328.7 and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.