Best time to go
Morning or late afternoon gives softer, kinder light on the river. Daylight also helps for reading the panels and for the walk up to the ridge. Midday works fine if you are mainly here for a picnic table in the shade.
Overview
About Colbert Ferry
Why stop
- Tennessee River access combines history with a real picnic stop
- Chickasaw and Old Trace history is easy to explore on foot
Heads up
- Little of the stand or ferry survives
- River views are narrow and the longer walk can be hard to follow
This stop puts Old Trace history and open water side by side. At milepost 327.3 in Alabama, the pull-off drops you next to the Tennessee River with a picnic area, a boat ramp and fishing access, plus a short walk up to the site of a stand, an inn on the old road. Plan on roughly 15 to 45 minutes here, and more if you are eating or fishing.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy stop hereMap
Where it is
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Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
Best time to go
4 active Natchez Trace alerts
- ClosureParkway sections closed for bridge and road constructionTwo Natchez Trace Parkway sections are closed to through traffic; follow the signed detours.Official details
- ClosureMount Locust historic stand closedThe historic stand at Mount Locust Inn & Plantation (MP 15.5) is closed because of structural concerns.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Natchez Trace Tour Guide
Your drive to Colbert Ferry, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Natchez Trace Parkway. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Colbert Ferry on the Tennessee River0:00 / 0:35
“You're approaching Colbert Ferry, where travelers on the old Trace crossed the Tennessee River. George Colbert, whose mother was Chickasaw, ran a ferry and a stand, or inn, here in the early eighteen hundreds.”
Plays as you drive up to Colbert Ferry in the Parkwolf Natchez Trace Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
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- Rock Spring
- The River That Moved a Town
- 272 audio storiesacross Natchez Trace’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor American Alligator, White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkey, and 9 more
- Works offlinemaps, 26 trails, 62 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Colbert Ferry
The historyGeorge Colbert lived on the ridge above the river and ran a stand, meaning an inn that fed and…
George Colbert lived on the ridge above the river and ran a stand, meaning an inn that fed and lodged travelers on the Trace. He had a Scottish father and a Chickasaw mother, and he used that bilingual, cross-cultural knowledge to build his enterprises. Under treaty rights as a Chickasaw, he operated a ferry across the Tennessee River from 1800 to 1819.
Colbert and his family were also slaveholding planters. A nearby plantation depended on the labor of 150 enslaved African Americans, a fact recorded as part of the site's history alongside the ferry and the inn.
What is actually thereStand site: a short trail from the parking area, roughly 50 yards, leads to a grassy clearing…
- Stand site: a short trail from the parking area, roughly 50 yards, leads to a grassy clearing on the ridge with interpretive panels. Nothing of the house remains, so the signs do the work.
- Ferry area: an information panel near the river, with a narrow window of view across the water where vegetation opens up.
- Picnic area: many tables and grills spread along the river flat.
- Boat ramp and fishing access on the Tennessee River. Alabama state fishing regulations apply.
- Restrooms at the back of the former ranger station building. The building itself is permanently closed and is not a visitor center.
- An optional 20-minute stroll along the Old Trace to a bluff overlook of the river.
Practical notesThere is auto parking at the stop, and a separate short walk leads up to the stand site.
There is auto parking at the stop, and a separate short walk leads up to the stand site. This is a historic stand-and-ferry site with no historic building to enter: a signed site, not a museum. If you plan to launch a boat or fish, it is simplest to arrive with your own gear and to check Alabama state fishing regulations before you go.
Honest drawbacksThis is not a dramatic overlook.
- This is not a dramatic overlook. Vegetation blocks much of the surrounding view at the ferry panel, and the clearing at the stand site is quiet and plain.
- The longer Old Trace walk to the bluff can be hard to follow, so treat the 20-minute estimate as a rough guide and turn back if you lose the route.
- Interpretation is limited to a handful of panels. Read them slowly, or the history will feel thinner than it is.
- The bicycle-only campground farther south is a separate stop, not part of this one.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Natchez Trace
39 sightingsAmerican AlligatorMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
35 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
53 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
28 sightingsGreat Blue HeronMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
29 sightingsRed-headed WoodpeckerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
32 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around noonSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Natchez Trace. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
