Join a Park Ranger for a Wildflower Walk on Saturday, May 3, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. at the Chickasaw Village Site (milepost 261.8 on the Natchez Trace Parkway near Tupelo, Mississippi). This one hour program will take participants on an easy walk through both prairie and forest ecosystems, and will include wildflower identification and ecology. Visitors are encouraged to bring insect repellent, sunscreen, and wear comfortable walking shoes.

Cajunfest serves up great music, award-winning wines and authentic Cajun cuisine, such as spicy boiled crawfish, boudin, jambalaya and alligator.

HEADQUARTERS, TUPELO, MS: “The Natchez Trace Parkway experienced an increase in March recreational visits in 2014 over 2013 figures,” stated Superintendent Mary Risser. “This year, 491,577 people used the Parkway in March compared to 349, 273 who were counted in 2013.”

TUPELO, MS – The Natchez Trace Parkway will recognize National Park Week and National Junior Ranger Day with the annual “Celebrate Wildlife Weekend” on Saturday, April 26, at the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The “Muscle Shoals” documentary will makes its debut on National Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and Alabama Public Television (APT) on Monday, April 21 at 8 p.m. On Thursday, April 24, footage from the Alabama Music Hall of Fame induction banquet will air on APT at 7 p.m. and will be followed by another showing of the documentary.

The third annual Glitz and Glam, a jewelry and accessories show, is scheduled for Saturday, April 12, 2014, and will be held indoors at the Lewis County Middle School gymnasium, 310 Park Ave. South, located 3 blocks south of downtown Hohenwald, Tennessee.

The Natchez Trace Parkway invites children and their families to “Nature Bingo,” a special Junior Ranger program held at the Parkway Visitor Center on Saturday, April 19, 2014, at 10:00 a.m.

Tishomingo State Park will be hosting the 36th Annual Hollis Long / Archie Lee Memorial Ole’ Tyme Music Gathering on Saturday, April 12, 2014 at the Loochapola Lodge starting at approximately 12:00 noon and concluding around 5:30 p.m.

TUPELO, MS: Weather depending, the Natchez Trace Parkway is planning to conduct a prescribed fire (controlled burn) in Lewis County, TN between April 1 and April 2.

TUPELO, MS: Weather depending, the Natchez Trace Parkway is planning to conduct a prescribed fire (controlled burn) in Lewis County, TN between March 26 and March 28. The prescribed fire is located at Milepost 386.

TUPELO, MS: Join a Park Ranger for a Wildflower Walk on Saturday, April 5, 2014, at 10:00 am at the Chickasaw Village Site (milepost 261.8 on the Natchez Trace Parkway near Tupelo, Mississippi). This one-hour program will take participants on an easy walk through both prairie and forest ecosystems, and will include wildflower identification and ecology. Visitors are encouraged to bring insect repellent, sunscreen, and wear comfortable walking shoes.

TUPELO, MS: Weather depending, the Natchez Trace Parkway is planning to conduct two prescribed fires (controlled burns) in Lee County, MS between March 20 and March 22.

HEADQUARTERS, TUPELO, MS: The Natchez Trace Parkway experienced an increase in recreational visits in 2013 despite the Government shutdown. More than 6.01 million people used and visited the Natchez Trace Parkway in 2013, which is up from the 5.56 million people on the Parkway in 2012. This made the Natchez Trace Parkway the eighth most visited National Park Service site. When the non-recreational user numbers, such as commuters in the Tupelo and Ridgeland areas, are added to the equations, more than 14.7 million people used the Parkway in 2013.

CHEROKEE, AL: Natchez Trace Parkway officials announce that inspections to the bridge over the Tennessee River near Cherokee, Alabama, will require the closure of one lane on the bridge starting Tuesday, March 11, through Saturday, March 15, 2014.

TUPELO, MS – The Tombigbee Pioneer Group will demonstrate pioneer-era crafts and skills at the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 22, 2014. The presentations will show the challenges faced, and creative solutions developed, by those Americans who lived in the area from the 1700s to 1840.

HEADQUARTERS, TUPELO, MS: A new National Park Service (NPS) report for 2012 shows that 5.6 million recreational visitors to the Natchez Trace Parkway spent $125.9 million in the communities surrounding the Park. This spending supported over 1,550 jobs in the local area.

TUPELO, MS: A traveler advisory is in effect for the Natchez Trace Parkway from mile post (mp) 266 (Mississippi) north.