Jackson, the state capital of Mississippi and a city of nearly two hundred thousand people, sits on the Pearl River, and the Natchez Trace Parkway skirts it along the shore of the Ross Barnett Reservoir, a big artificial lake to the north and east. It is a southern city of broad avenues, heavy heat and deep history, and it is not an obvious tourist destination, but it rewards a curious visitor. The state capitol, a grand building finished in 1903 with a copper dome, is a good place to start, and it still stands over the downtown.
The city's history is complicated. It was named for Andrew Jackson and founded as the state capital in the 1820s, and during the Civil War it was attacked and burned so often that Union soldiers reportedly called it Chimneyville, after the brick chimneys left standing. In the twentieth century, Jackson was a centre of the civil rights movement. Medgar Evers, the state's field secretary for the NAACP, was murdered in his driveway here in 1963, and his house is now a memorial, and the Freedom Riders arrested in 1961 were taken from here to Parchman prison. A civil rights museum in the city tells the story with care.
For a rider, Jackson is a place to rest and refuel, and the Parkway makes a lovely approach. North of the city, the Trace passes through Ridgeland and along the reservoir, with its marshes and cypress, and a craft centre beside the road sells local pottery, quilts and baskets. The roads in the city are wide and busy, and the heat from May to September is serious, with high humidity and storms. In the shoulder seasons, the weather is mild and the azaleas bloom in spring. Watch for potholes and heavy traffic on the interstates.
Fuel, food and hotels are plentiful, and you will not go hungry. Mississippi cooking is a good reason to stop: fried catfish, collard greens, cornbread and a very sweet pecan pie are standard fare, and barbecue and soul food restaurants fill the older neighbourhoods. The writer Eudora Welty lived in the city for most of her life, and her house is open to visitors, with its garden and its books. If you finish your ride here, give yourself time for a slow evening, because Jackson is a place that repays attention.